Mr. Welch
Music Appreciation 101
1142
02-18-15
Ludwig van Beethoven
The great German composer and pianist Ludwig van Beethoven was born in 1770. There is no exact date of his birth but he was baptized December 17, 1770. The baptism took place in a Roman Catholic service at the Parish of St. Regius. Most children of that era with Beethoven were baptized the day after birth in the Catholic Rhine country. Therefore, Beethoven’s family and friends celebrated his birthday on December 16. He had six siblings but only he and his two younger brothers survived their early childhood. However, Beethoven was taught to be a musician at an early age. When he first began to learn music his father was his teacher whom was very harsh and had an unpredictable behavior. Beethoven was a hard learner, self-involved, and impatient. His father knew he had a gift though, and so did Gottlob Neefe (German Organist) who became Beethoven’s mentor. Gottlob sent Beethoven to Vienna to meet Mozart, but Beethoven’s mother got sick before they formally met. When he returned to Vienna Mozart had died, so he allowed another German composer to be his second mentor and to teach him new styles of music. In addition, Beethoven did his first show in Vienna in 1795. He supported his self with money from selling his music. Unfortunately, he had to confront major health issues in 1796 and he began to suffer from hearing problems. Beethoven was only 26 years old at the time, his condition became so acute that he even considered committing suicide. Beethoven gave up public performances and started communicating with friends through conversation books, which became written documents about his life. Furthermore, in 1802 Beethoven became very depressed and thought a lot about suicide. He went away and stayed in a small village in Germany