Beethoven Study Guide Ludwig Van Beethoven was born in 1770 in the town of Bonn, Germany His was given the same name as his grandfather who was a court musician in Bonn His father, Johann, was not a talented musician and was a cruel first tutor for Ludwig Beethoven had 2 brothers Beethoven wrote his first music composition when he was just 12 years old. v Christian Neefe was Beethoven’s first legitimate tutor and quickly recognized his talents. Neefe took Beethoven to Vienna when he was just 16 years old. Vienna was the music capital of Europe at the time. In 1787, Beethoven played for Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart.
Mozart recognized Beethoven’s talents and knew he would be a great musician, and many in Vienna considered Beethoven to be the next “Mozart.” Beethoven and Mozart met only one time. Beethoven had to return to Bonn just a few weeks later after his mother, Maria, died. v Beethoven remained in Bonn to care for his brothers. He took a job in the Bonn court orchestra. The only instrument position available was the viola.
He taught himself to play it and got the job. The income allowed Beethoven to compose music in his spare time. v Beethoven met his next tutor, Joseph Haydn who would help Beethoven to return to Vienna in 1792. Beethoven quickly became a celebrity. v Beethoven had a terrible temper and mood swings. He considered himself a true celebrity and tried to convince everyone he was of noble birth because he had the word “Van” in his name.
The Essay on Beethoven And Mozart Music Age Father
Beethoven and Mozart are the two most important musicians of their time. Their pieces are everlasting and will live on forever. Their styles are so unique and uplifting that they could never be matched. These masterminds played in the same time period but their lives differed tremendously. There are some similarities and many differences between these two but one fact will remain: They are the ...
v When Beethoven was in his late 20’s he began to lose his hearing. He wrote most of his most famous works while he was going deaf. Symphony number 9 was written when he was completely deaf. v Beethoven admired Napoleon Bonaparte very much and dedicated his 3 rd Symphony to him.
When Napoleon declared himself Emperor of France, Beethoven was very angry and scratched up the original score to remove Napoleon’s name from it. Beethoven, however, did not destroy the music itself, he just renamed it. v Beethoven fell in love many times, but never married. He fought his sister-in-law for custody of his nephew and won, although his nephew, Karl, hated him.
v As Beethoven lost more of his hearing he became more and more angry as well as reclusive. He would wander the streets of Vienna like a homeless man and then return to his apartment to compose music. v Later in his life, Beethoven returned to the church and had a spiritual awakening. He wrote a beautiful mass for the church called the Missa Solemn isv Beethoven also wrote an opera “Fidelio” in 1805 v In 1826, Beethoven caught cold coming back from his brother’s place. The illness complicated other health problems from which Beethoven had suffered all his life.
He passed away encircled by his closest friends on March 26 th 1827, just as a storm broke out. v The funeral rites took place at the church of the Holy Trinity. It is estimated that between 10, 000 and 30, 000 people attended. Franz Schubert, timid and a huge admirer of Beethoven, without ever having become close to him, was one of the coffin bearers, along with other musicians. Schubert died the next year and was buried next to Beethoven. Compositional Processes It is relevant at this time to include a few words about Beethoven’s compositional processes.
Mozart was able to get on a train, a few hours later get off with a whole opera composed in his head. Beethoven couldn’t do that. In fact every phrase, every note was like pulling teeth. Beethoven never had less than one composition going on at the same time.
He used sketch books to write down his ideas when they flew into his head, before he forgot them. Even after he had an idea, he had to work it out just right. What resulted was a mess of erasures and scribbles on a piece of paper that a copyist would later have to decipher. One look at the page below from his sketches on the Missa Solemn is and one wonders how the music ever made it out.
The Term Paper on Napoleon Bonaparte 7
Prior to the French Revolution, the system of government was based on Absolute Monarchy which meant that the monarch claimed total authority of the state. They were answerable to no one and their word was law. At that time, the social structure in France was in need of desperate reform. It was divided into three estates; the clergy, nobles and peasants. Each estate, especially the nobles and ...
