Ludwig van Beethoven was born in Bonn, Germany, in 1770, and became one of the most influential composers of all time. His father and grandfather were both musicians, with his grandfather holding the position of Kapellmeister in Bonn and his father having less. His parents had seven children, but only three survived, and he was the oldest of the three.
Beethoven began piano and violin lessons at a young age, but if stories of young Ludwig crying at the piano are true, his father appears to have been a tyrannical teacher. At the age of seven, he gave his first public performance on the clavier. He went on to take more keyboard lessons, as well as music theory and violin and viola lessons, but his formal education did not extend beyond elementary school.
Beethoven was already a published composer by 1782, when he was 11 and a half years old, and he was filling in for the court organist, from whom he was also receiving piano and composition lessons, and who predicted that he could be the next Mozart. Three piano sonatas dedicated to Emperor Maximilian Friedrich, considered his first notable compositions, were published before he turned thirteen.
Beethoven petitioned for half of his father’s salary to be turned over to him in 1789, when he was 18 years old, to be used primarily for the support of his brothers, and his request was granted, and he effectively became the head of his family. In 1792, he relocated to Vienna, where he would remain until his death, to study with (Franz) Joseph Haydn.
Around 1796, the first signs of a deafness that would later become quite severe appeared. Beethoven’s deafness was severe by 1802, despite medical intervention. Beethoven’s life was significantly influenced by this illness. His work is divided into three periods. 1794–1800 is the first period. The 1801–1814 period is the second. The final period is from 1814 to 1827, when he died.
Beethoven is regarded as a bridge between the Classical composers Haydn and Mozart and the Romantics on the one hand, and the Romantics on the other. His expansion of the quartet, concerto, sonata, and symphony forms, as well as the construction of his Sixth Symphony (The Pastoral) as program music, were among his innovations. And these are some of his most well-known forms. He composed nine symphonies, seventeen string quartets, 32 sonatas, five piano concerti, a violin concerto, and a triple concerto, in addition to an opera, ballet, incidental music, and overtures. Many people know his Fifth Symphony, Ninth (Choral) Symphony, and Emperor Concerto by sound, if not by name.