Ludwig van Beethoven was the son of Johann van Beethoven, a singer
of the Hofkappelle in Bonn. His grandfather was the musician
Ludwig van Beethoven (1712-1773) from Mechelen, who had moved
to Bonn. His first music teacher was his father and Franz Anton
Ries taught him the violin. Christian Gottlob Neefe taught him
composition and he collaborated with him as assistant organist
from 1782. He often visited the Von Breuning family where he
gave piano lessons to the children and was cared for by the
widowed Frau von Breuning. Here he met the medical student Franz
Wegeler who became a friend for life. In 1787 his mother died
and in 1789 his father was fired from the Court because of his
alcoholism.
Late in 1790 Beethoven probably first met
Joseph Haydn. In 1792 they met again in Bonn. Beethoven travelled
to Vienna in November 1792 and Haydn became his teacher until
1794. Afterwards he was taught by Albrechtsberger and Salieri.
In 1795 he gave his first public performance at the Burgtheater
in Vienna. His close ties with noble people soon enabled him
to live as a free artist. He explored new musical paths with
his symphonies and would influence a next generation of composers,
among them Brahms. In 1794 he started having trouble hearing.
In 1799 he was piano teacher to the daughters of Countess Anna
Brunsvik. He fell in love with Josephine Brunsvik, but she married
the much older Joseph Count Deym. After Deym's sudden death
in 1804 and he continued to see her afterwards.
After
1801 Beethoven's hearing problems worsened. He wanted to write
a symphony based on Napoleon's career, but after Napoleon crowned
himself emperor in 1804, he removed his name from the title
page of the manuscript. When "Symphony No. 3" (also known as
"Eroica") was performed in 1805 and it was seen as the end of
Classicism and the beginning of Romanticism. He gave piano lessons
to Archduke Rudolf of Austria, the son of Emperor Leopold II.
He became friends with Rudolf, and they met until 1824.
In
1808 Jérôme Bonaparte offered him a position as musical director
in Kassel, but Archduke Rudolf, Prince Kinsky and Prince Lobkowitz
managed to keep him in Vienna by offering him a substantial
pension. In 1812 in Teplitz he wrote a long love letter to his
'immortal beloved' that he never sent to the recipient, whose
identity is still unknown. Speculations have pointed at Antonie
Brentano, Julie Guicciardi, Therese Malfatti and Josephine Brunsvik.
In
1815 Beethoven performed for the last time. He never went completely
deaf and in his last years he could still hear low tones and
loud sounds. After his death in 1827 the actor Heinrich Anschütz
read a funeral speech written by Franz Grillparzer. Beethoven
was buried at the Währinger Friedhof in Vienna. When that was
closed in 1888 his remains were moved to the Zentralfriedhof
in Vienna.
Family
• Mother: Beethoven, Maria Magdalena
Related persons
• cooperated with Adamberger, Antonie
• was pupil of Albrechtsberger, Johann Georg
• was a friend of Anschütz, Heinrich
• knew Benedict, Julius
• was admired by Boito, Arrigo
• was visited by Boucher, Alexandre
• was sculpted by Bourdelle, Antoine
• was a friend of Brentano, Antonie
• knew Chézy, Helmina von
• was teacher of Czerny, Carl
• met Goethe, Johann Wolfgang von
• has a connection with Grillparzer, Franz
• was admired by Hanslick, Eduard
• met Haydn, Joseph
• met Hiller, Ferdinand
• was a friend of Hummel, Johann Nepomuk
• has a connection with Kreutzer, Rodolphe
• knew Lachner, Franz von
• met Liszt, Franz
• has a connection with Mendelssohn-Bartholdy, Felix
• had work performed by Milder-Hauptmann, Anna
• was a friend of Reicha, Anton
• was pupil of Ries, Franz Anton
• was a friend of Röckel, Elisabeth
• was pupil of Salieri, Antonio
• was a friend of Spohr, Louis
• was visited by Stein, Matthäus Andreas
• was painted by Stieler, Joseph
• was a friend of Streicher, Andreas
• was a friend of Streicher-Stein, Nanette
• has a connection with Unger, Caroline
• knew Varnhagen von Ense, Karl-August
• was visited by Wieck, Friedrich
• was sculpted by Zumbusch, Kaspar, Ritter von
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