My 3 main
men of classical music are Bach, Brahms and Schubert so I didn't know a lot
about Beethoven except what everyone
knows – Fur Elise and that he went deaf.
So the
library came to the rescue and I thought I would share a little bit more about
him with you.
He was boan
in Bonn Germany in 1770. He was the
second of seven children – four of whom died as young children.
He was
musical from an early age and was in fact seen as Mozart's successor. He studied with Haydn so was taught by a
great master.
He was a
very grumpy man – even before he was tormented by increasing deafness. He had romantic entanglements but never
married. He proposed a few times but was
always turned down. He was extremely
messy but very methodical about his music.
He was the
first major composer whose music was regularly published during his
lifetime. This was a source of income
although he got one off payments from the publishers rather than royalties.
He was in
his early 30's when the deafness became a major issue although he had complained for years about a variety of illnesses. He might have been a bit of a hypochondriac.
What about
his music, I can hear you saying. Well
he had done all his greatest works (except the 9th symphony) by the
time he was 41. Even if he hadn't
composed he would have been famous as a pianist.
His most
famous works include (if I've done it right, if you click the name there should
be a short audio clip of the work);
He died in
Vienna in 1827 and is buried there.
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