Ludwig van Beethoven (pronounced LOOD-wig vahn BAY-toe-ven) was born in December 1770 in what is now Germany. No one knows the actual date, but baptismal records suggest it was December 16.

 

Music was in his family’s blood. Beethoven’s father and grandfather were musicians, but it became clear early that Ludwig was special. He was playing keyboard instruments by age 4. He also played violin and viola.

 

Beethoven’s father was a strict teacher who forced him to practice daily. At school, Ludwig struggled in math, spelling and writing and left after only a few years to focus on music. Beethoven gave his first concert at age 7 and by age 12, was a published composer.

 

When he was 16 he traveled to Vienna, the capital of the Austrian empire. He reportedly played for the great composer Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (MOTE-sart), who later told friends to “keep your eye on him” as he would “someday give the world something to talk about.”

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Mozart was right, Beethoven did just that. Over a 45-year career, Beethoven wrote more than 700 works, including nine symphonies, 32 piano sonatas and one opera.His great success was accompanied by a great self confidence, and the gruff and rough around the edges Beethoven was not shy or tactful. When a critic disliked his 1813 piece “Wellington’s Vic- tory”, he annotated the review with the comment: “What I shit is better than any- thing you could think up.” (Boone, 97)

 

 Amazingly, Beethoven continued composing even though, in his late 20s, he began losing his hearing. The ringing in his ears became so painful that he stuffed them with cotton and avoided going out in public. By his mid-40s, a decade before his death, he was deaf. Beethoven’s loss of hearing also marks the start of what has been defined as his “middle” or “heroic” period. His first writ- ten acknowledgement of his deafness came in a letter to a close friend, Franz Gerhard Wehler, in 1801: “For almost two years, I have ceased to attend any social functions, just because I find it impossible to say to people: I am deaf... in my profession it is a terrible handicap.” It didn’t stop his composing.(Bottle, 95) He “heard” his music in his mind and wrote it down. He also reportedly cut the legs off his piano so he could feel the vibration of the notes on the floor. Musically, Beethoven bridged the gap between two eras — classical, which featured order, simplicity and balance; and romantic, which stressed individual freedom, emotions and drama.

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