Beethoven, Ludwig van |
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BORN 16 Dec 1770, Bonn, Nordrhein-Westfalen: Bonngasse 20 - DIED 26 Mar 1827, Wien: Schwarzspanierstrasse 15 GRAVE LOCATION Wien: Zentralfriedhof, Simmeringer Hauptstraße 234, Simmering (Gruppe 32 A, nummer 29) |
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Son of a singer of the Hofkappelle in Bonn. In 1790 he met Joseph Haydn in Bonn. Haydn became his teacher until 1794 and 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 noblemen 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. After 1801 this became worse and around 1818 he was completely deaf. In 1815 he performed for the last time. After his death in 1827 the actor H. Anschütz read a funeral speech written by F. 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 • was pupil to 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 teacher to 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 to Ries, Franz Xaverius • was a friend of Röckel, Elisabeth • was pupil to Salieri, Antonio • was a friend of Spohr, Louis • was painted by Stieler, Joseph • has a connection with Unger, Caroline • knew Varnhagen von Ense, Karl-August • was sculpted by Zumbusch, Kaspar, Ritter von Events |
| 21/11/1796 | Performance of Beethoven's "Ah, perfido" in Leipzig. The singer was Josefina Duskova. Beethoven had written it for her when he was in Prague. At that time she wasn't available and it was performed in Prague by Josephine Clary, to whom Beethoven dedicated the piece afterwards. [Duskova, Josefina] |
| 20/11/1805 | Premiere of Beethoven's opera "Fidelio" at the Theater an der Wien. Anna Milder-Hauptmann performed the title part. Ignaz von Seyfried was the conductor. [Milder-Hauptmann, Anna] |
| 0/7/1812 | Beethoven and Goethe meet in Teplice. Both were in that city at the time and Bettina von Arnim arranged their first meeting. They saw each other several more times during the next days. [Goethe, Johann Wolfgang von] |
| 7/5/1824 | Premiere of Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony. At the Kärtnertortheater in Vienna. It was longer than any previous symphonie and required a larger orchestra. It also had vocal soloists in the final part. Allthough he was almost deaf, Beethoven was on the stage and gave directions to the orchestra allthough it was officially directed by Michael Umlauf. Soloist Caroline Unger tapped his arm to make him turn around and face the reaction of the audience. She had tears in her eyes because she realised how deaf he was. Henriette Sontag also sang. [Unger, Caroline] |
| 11/9/1825 | Private rehearsal of Beethoven's "Quartet in A minor op. 132". Two private rehearsals took place on 9 and 11 September at the hotel "Zum wilden Mann" in Vienna. The piece was commissioned by Prince Nikolai Borissowitsch Golitsyn. Among the few guest who were present on 11 September were Maurice Schlesinger and Catherine Cibbini. The public premiere took place on 6 November 1825. |
| 0/4/1841 | Beethoven's "Emperor Concerto" performed by Berlioz and Liszt in Paris. Berlioz was the conductor and Liszt was the soloist. [Berlioz, Hector][Liszt, Franz] |
| 5/4/1846 | Richard Wagner conducts Beethoven's sixth symphony in Dresden. The performance took place at the Old Opera House. [Wagner, Richard] |
| 29/9/1949 | Ginette Niveu plays the Beethoven Violin Concerto at the Kurhaus in Baden-Baden. The next month she would die in a plane crash. [Neveu, Ginette] |
| Images | ||
 The statue of Beethoven in Bonn. Franz Liszt helped to pay for it. Picture by Androom (24 Apr 2005) |
 The grave of Ludwig van Beethoven at the Zentralfriedhof, Vienna. Picture by Androom (20 Aug 2007) |
 "Beethoven" by Joseph Stieler. (1820) |
 'Ludwig van Beethoven'. (1818) |
 The house in Baden where Beethoven lived during the summers of 1821, 1822 and 1823. Picture by Androom (21 Aug 2009) |
Sources • Bauer, Werner T., Wiener Friedhofsführer, Genaue Beschreibung sämtlicher Begräbnisstätten nebst einer Geschichte des Wiener Bestattungswesens, Falter Verlag, Wien, 1991 • Gutman, Robert, Richard Wagner, Der Mensch, sein Werk, seine Zeit, Wilhelm Heyne Verlag, München, 1989 • Halloran, Annemarie, Liszt’s Heroes: An investigation into the Artistic Interdependence, 2005 • Österreich-Lexikon, 1998 • The Unique Story of Beethoven's Ninth Symphony - In Mozart's Footsteps - Uncommon Musical Travel • A meeting of genius: Beethoven and Goethe, July 1812 | Gramophone |
