In this research project you will read about Beethoven's life. You will read about his works , his childhood, and the rest of his life from birth to death. Hope you enjoy it.
The exact date of Beethoven's birth is unknown, but as he was baptised on the Dec 17th 1770, and the custom was for this to take place within 24 hours of birth. It is likely that he was born on 16th December 1770 in Bonn. Most of the information that we have of Beethoven's early years comes down through an account known as the 'Fischer manuscript' which was written by Gottfried Fischer and his sister Cäcilie Fischer who both lived in the house known as the Fischerhaus in the Rheingasse, where the Beethoven family also had lodgings intermittently from 1776-1786. When the Beethoven monument was unveiled in Bonn in 1845, the Fischers were still living in the Rheingasse. From their account, we learn that Beethoven attended elementary school in the Neugasse, he then went to the school attached to Bonn cathedral and subsequently to a school in the Bongasse. His father, Johann (a Court Tenor) gave him instructions in piano, Violin and possibly Viola.
His first public concert was 0n 26th March 1778 when he was aged 7 (the same day he was to die 49 years later). Realising the boy's talents and his own limitations as a teacher, Johann found other tutors for Ludwig and the most notable of these was C.G.Neefe who was responsible for introducing Beethoven to the music of J.S.Bach. In 1782 Beethoven was assisting Neefe as deputy court organist and his first work, a set of variations on a march by Dressler was published. Soon he was playing the Viola in the court orchestra, gaining invaluable knowledge of orchestral music and the art of writing for the orchestra.
About 1813 there is a marked slowing in Beethoven's output of major works, and for the next 6 years or so, he produced mainly smaller pieces, songs and song arrangements. There are many reasons for this; his deafness by now was quite advanced (he had ceased giving public performances as a pianist) and this isolation was producing an inner transformation (spiritually). He was also taking more time over his works, with major compositions taking sometimes many years to perfect. In 1815, another burden in the form of his nephew Karl came into his life. For the next 5 years Beethoven was involved in legal disputes with Karl's mother for sole custody of the boy. Karl was to prove a source of anxiety to Beethoven from then on, resulting finally in Karl's failed suicide attempt of July 1826.
Beethoven's method of composition changed as he developed. Particularly from the middle period on, he would refine an original idea, sometimes many times and over a period of years before he was satisfied. These working outs would be written in sketch-books (which he often carried around with him whilst out walking) and are fascinating to study as they demonstrate the many transformations a work would go through.
This is also the time when the middle period starts. Beethoven's Middle Musical Period18041813 From now up until 1813, Beethoven develops and enhances the high classical style into a more dynamic and individualistic style. It is now that he writes symphonies Nr. 3 - 8, piano consert Nr. 5 and a lot of chamber music. But as he learns to control his craft and develop the music into new undiscovered grounds, he also suffers from reminders of the pains of real life. He has early in life discovered that his hearing wasn't what it should be, and the disorder gets worse as time goes by. It gets to the point where Beethoven is thinking of ending his life as he sees no way out of his despair. That fact is documented in the letter he wrote to his brothers in 1802, the so called "Heiligenstadt Testament". Beethoven Writes Heiligenstadt Testament1802-10-06.
This hearing disorder seems to have affected his social life to
a great extent. He became difficult to handle in social interactions
and could suddenly burst into outbreaks of anger and show bad
temper where he usually insulted someone. If that is the reason
for his troubles with women, or if their is something traumatic
hidden in his childhood, I don't know, but the fact is that he
never got involved with a woman in a normal relation. Beethoven
seems to have been attracted to women he couldn't get, or at least
was hard to get. An example is Antoine Brentano, with whom he
had a relationship, but who broke up with him to marry a friend.
It is she who is known as the "immortal beloved" in
letters addressed to her from Beethoven in 1812. Beethoven Writes
Letters Addressed to His "Immortal Beloved"1812-07-061812-07-07
Around the same time, as this wasn't enough, his deafness reached
the stage where he no longer could perform.
Now came a couple of years without much creative work. Instead
he was tormented by personal matters concerning his nephew of
which he tried to gain custody when the brother died in 1815.
But Beethoven didn't have the capacity of a domestic human being,
and even though he did win the struggle for custody, Beethovens
relation with the nephew was tense and burdensome and it reached
the point where little Karl tried to take his own life in 1826.
This is also the so called late period in Beethoven's musical
career. Beethoven's Late Musical Period18151827 His music is described
as less dramatic and more introvert, but also, I would like to
add, more mature and secure. It has a flavour of the genius growing
old and an obvious attitude. Listen for example to symphony Nr.
9 - it is complete! There is really not much to add as I see it.
The above mentioned piece gave him, at last, at bit of economical
success and he could live his last years in relative wellfare.
But this period is still characterized by his lack of funds, much
because his former patrons no longer could support him. Maybe
the lifelong poverty is a reason for his deteriorating health
and his death on March 26 1827. Beethoven Dies1827-03-27
"Beethoven's works is usually divided into three periods: early (up to 1802), middle (1803-1814), and late (1815-1827). some works of the early period show the influence of Hayden and Mozart, but others clearly show Beethoven's personal style. the works of the middle period tend to be longer and more heroic; the sublime works of the late period often contain fugues as well as passages that sound surprisingly harsh and "modern." When a violinist complained that the music was very difficult to play, Beethoven reportedly replied, 'Do you believe that I think of a wretched fiddle when the spirit speaks to me?'
"Critics of Beethoven's day often found his works impossibly
wayward and incomprehensible. He returned their scorn, often filling
his next work with the very qualities they had condemned in his
last. To this day there are people who believe the elliptical
arguments of his late string quartets are not the musings of genius,
but the ravings of madness. By the end of his life Beethoven had
covered more ground, from his first simple pieces for mandolin
to the cosmic cries of the Ninth or 'Choral' Symphony, than any
composer who had lived until then.
"For many people, Ludwig Van Beethoven (1770-1827), represents the highest level of musical genius. He opened new realms of musical expression and profoundly influenced composers throughout the nineteenth century.
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