home of J.S. Bach's musical family) to its east, Salzburg, Austria, Mozart's hometown
(bottom-most arrow) and an arrow pointing towards Vienna (just off the map)
Ludwig van Beethoven was baptized on December 17, 1770 in Bonn on the Rhine river, in the
state of North Rhine-Westphalia, just south of Cologne. He was probably born the prior day. Josef
Haydn was 38 and Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart was 14 that year. Johann Sebastian Bach had died
20 years earlier.
Beethoven's family was Catholic although, as an adult, he did not go to church.
The "van" in his name is Flemish and means "from." However, it does not signify nobility like
"von" in German (which means "from the house of"). "Beethoven" may refer to an area near
Tongeren called "Betho" where beets were grown.
Beethoven's family:
Grandfather - Ludwig, 1712-1773, Flemish. From Mechelen in the Duchy of Brabant (current
day Belgium). He moved to Bonn in 1733 and married the same year. He was a singer and later a Kappelmeister (a court musical director), and he also a fairly prosperous businessman (merchant).
His wife Maria (Beethoven's grandmother) was an alcoholic who was institutionalized.
Father - Johann van Beethoven, 1740–1792. A singer and music teacher, he was never as successful
as his father. Like his mother, Johann was an alcoholic. Eventually it made him unemployable and
young Ludwig raised his two younger brothers.
Mother - Maria Magdalena Keverich, 1746–1787.
Of seven children, only Ludwig and two younger brothers, Kaspar Anton Karl (b. 1774) and Nicholas Johann (b. 1776), survived infancy.
Beethoven first studied music with his father, who was demanding and treated the boy
roughly, and later with several other teachers. Beethoven had a close and loving relationship
with his mother, Maria. But she didn't keep Ludwig clean and this caused ridicule from the
local children.
The most important of Beethoven's teachers for his development as an artist was Christian
Gottlob Neefe who came to Bonn in 1781 from Leipzig, where t J.S. Bach lived for decades.
Leipzig was larger and more cosmopolitan than Bonn, and was steeped in the German Aufklärung
(Enlightenment).
The German Enlightenment, more so than the Enlightenment in other countries, accented
personal growth, a duty to God to serve humanity, and an exalted idealism about aesthetics in
direct subjective experiences of beauty that produced a proto-Romantic movement Sturm und
Drang (late 1760s to early 1780s). It was primarily Neefe who instilled these artistic values in
young Ludwig. By the 1780s, continental Enlightenment's focus on political freedoms had also
produced a revolutionary fervor on the continent that culminated in a revolution in France
starting in 1789, resulting in wars throughout Europe that lasted until 1815.
Johannes tried to market the young boy's playing for profit as Mozart's father had done, but
he was not as good a promoter as Leopold Mozart. Nevertheless, Beethoven gained popularity in
Bonn where people often gathered outside the Beethoven home to listen to him.
Summers, young Ludwig was taken on performing "vacations" in the family wagon, during
which we would play in the homes of the rising middle class merchants and sometimes those of
aristocrats up and down the Rhine. Also on those vacations, Ludwig also spent much time hiking
in nature, one of his greatest enjoyments. Beethoven's sixth symphony, the 'Pastoral', showed his
love of nature, but Beethoven's love of nature didn't extend to the exalted worship of nature that
some Romantic poets of his time embraced.
Beethoven traveled to Vienna in March 1787 hoping to study with Mozart, but returned in a
few months due to his mother's being very ill. The story that Mozart heard the 16 year old play and
pronounced him the next great composer cannot be verified and is probably a myth (a similar story
exists about Beethoven hearing 12 year old Franz Liszt play).
Maria Beethoven died soon after Ludwig return to Bonn and for the next six years Ludwig
remained in Bonn to take care of his two younger brothers as his father's alcoholism had made
him unemployable by that time.
Beethoven's adult years:
Just before his 22 birthday, Beethoven again left Bonn for Vienna in November 1792 to study
with Josef Haydn (Mozart had died the previous year). He lived in Vienna the rest of his life. At
22 he was probably the best pianist in Europe. He quickly established himself in Vienna getting
support from some local aristocrats. He published his first work, a set of three piano trios, in 1795.
The first two trios reflected the mild temperament of late 18th century composers like Haydn and
Mozart. The third displayed a ferocity that shocked conservative Vienna and announced the new
type of composer Beethoven would be.
Before Symphony No. 3, "Eroica" (composed 1803-04), Beethoven's symphonies sound very similar to Haydn's and Mozart's. While Eroica often marks the beginning of Beethoven's move towards romanticism, some earlier works, such as the famous Pathétique (1799) and Moonlight (1801) piano sonatas, anticipate this development.
Beethoven's famous hearing problems began before 1800. By 1802, a period of depression had
him contemplating suicide, but he rebounded. A renowned piano virtuoso, he quit playing in public by 1814 as his hearing worsened. The rest of his career he would only compose and market his music. In
the last decade of his career, when he wrote his most profound works, he was extremely deaf. He was
was also plagued by severe digestive system illness and other maladies in his adult life, perhaps caused
by lead poisoning.
Beethoven in 1815
Politically, like many Romantics, Beethoven inherited the classical liberalism of the 18th century Enlightenment. He was a proponent of a more egalitarian society and freedom of conscious and expression. Born a commoner in an era that a growing middle class was increasingly taking issue
with the special privileges of those born into the aristocratic class, Beethoven embraced their view
that a man should be free to rise as far as his talent and ambition could take him.
Thus Beethoven became enamored with the goals of the French Revolution including ending
tyrannical monarchy and aristocratic privileges, and instituting human rights in France and Europe
Haydn was 38 and Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart was 14 that year. Johann Sebastian Bach had died
20 years earlier.
Beethoven's family was Catholic although, as an adult, he did not go to church.
The "van" in his name is Flemish and means "from." However, it does not signify nobility like
"von" in German (which means "from the house of"). "Beethoven" may refer to an area near
Tongeren called "Betho" where beets were grown.
Beethoven's Grandfather: Ludwig van Beethoven
Beethoven's family:
Grandfather - Ludwig, 1712-1773, Flemish. From Mechelen in the Duchy of Brabant (current
day Belgium). He moved to Bonn in 1733 and married the same year. He was a singer and later a Kappelmeister (a court musical director), and he also a fairly prosperous businessman (merchant).
His wife Maria (Beethoven's grandmother) was an alcoholic who was institutionalized.
Father - Johann van Beethoven, 1740–1792. A singer and music teacher, he was never as successful
as his father. Like his mother, Johann was an alcoholic. Eventually it made him unemployable and
young Ludwig raised his two younger brothers.
Mother - Maria Magdalena Keverich, 1746–1787.
Of seven children, only Ludwig and two younger brothers, Kaspar Anton Karl (b. 1774) and Nicholas Johann (b. 1776), survived infancy.
Beethoven first studied music with his father, who was demanding and treated the boy
roughly, and later with several other teachers. Beethoven had a close and loving relationship
with his mother, Maria. But she didn't keep Ludwig clean and this caused ridicule from the
local children.
The most important of Beethoven's teachers for his development as an artist was Christian
Gottlob Neefe who came to Bonn in 1781 from Leipzig, where t J.S. Bach lived for decades.
Leipzig was larger and more cosmopolitan than Bonn, and was steeped in the German Aufklärung
(Enlightenment).
The German Enlightenment, more so than the Enlightenment in other countries, accented
personal growth, a duty to God to serve humanity, and an exalted idealism about aesthetics in
direct subjective experiences of beauty that produced a proto-Romantic movement Sturm und
Drang (late 1760s to early 1780s). It was primarily Neefe who instilled these artistic values in
young Ludwig. By the 1780s, continental Enlightenment's focus on political freedoms had also
produced a revolutionary fervor on the continent that culminated in a revolution in France
starting in 1789, resulting in wars throughout Europe that lasted until 1815.
Johannes tried to market the young boy's playing for profit as Mozart's father had done, but
he was not as good a promoter as Leopold Mozart. Nevertheless, Beethoven gained popularity in
Bonn where people often gathered outside the Beethoven home to listen to him.
Summers, young Ludwig was taken on performing "vacations" in the family wagon, during
which we would play in the homes of the rising middle class merchants and sometimes those of
aristocrats up and down the Rhine. Also on those vacations, Ludwig also spent much time hiking
in nature, one of his greatest enjoyments. Beethoven's sixth symphony, the 'Pastoral', showed his
love of nature, but Beethoven's love of nature didn't extend to the exalted worship of nature that
some Romantic poets of his time embraced.
Beethoven traveled to Vienna in March 1787 hoping to study with Mozart, but returned in a
few months due to his mother's being very ill. The story that Mozart heard the 16 year old play and
pronounced him the next great composer cannot be verified and is probably a myth (a similar story
exists about Beethoven hearing 12 year old Franz Liszt play).
Maria Beethoven died soon after Ludwig return to Bonn and for the next six years Ludwig
remained in Bonn to take care of his two younger brothers as his father's alcoholism had made
him unemployable by that time.
Beethoven's adult years:
with Josef Haydn (Mozart had died the previous year). He lived in Vienna the rest of his life. At
22 he was probably the best pianist in Europe. He quickly established himself in Vienna getting
support from some local aristocrats. He published his first work, a set of three piano trios, in 1795.
The first two trios reflected the mild temperament of late 18th century composers like Haydn and
Mozart. The third displayed a ferocity that shocked conservative Vienna and announced the new
type of composer Beethoven would be.
Beethoven in 1802 (aged 32)
Before Symphony No. 3, "Eroica" (composed 1803-04), Beethoven's symphonies sound very similar to Haydn's and Mozart's. While Eroica often marks the beginning of Beethoven's move towards romanticism, some earlier works, such as the famous Pathétique (1799) and Moonlight (1801) piano sonatas, anticipate this development.
Beethoven's famous hearing problems began before 1800. By 1802, a period of depression had
him contemplating suicide, but he rebounded. A renowned piano virtuoso, he quit playing in public by 1814 as his hearing worsened. The rest of his career he would only compose and market his music. In
the last decade of his career, when he wrote his most profound works, he was extremely deaf. He was
was also plagued by severe digestive system illness and other maladies in his adult life, perhaps caused
by lead poisoning.
Beethoven in 1815
Politically, like many Romantics, Beethoven inherited the classical liberalism of the 18th century Enlightenment. He was a proponent of a more egalitarian society and freedom of conscious and expression. Born a commoner in an era that a growing middle class was increasingly taking issue
with the special privileges of those born into the aristocratic class, Beethoven embraced their view
that a man should be free to rise as far as his talent and ambition could take him.
Thus Beethoven became enamored with the goals of the French Revolution including ending
tyrannical monarchy and aristocratic privileges, and instituting human rights in France and Europe
as a whole. But he became disenchanted with Napoleon when Napoleon proclaimed himself
Emperor of France in 1804.
After Napoleon's exile in 1815, Europe's monarch's suppressed further speech about political
freedoms and rights. Beethoven's famous Symphony No. 9 was, in part, a response to this suppression. Overall, much of Beethoven's music is about liberation, whether from political
constraints or overcoming disillusionment when facing life crises, such as his encroaching deafness.
Beethoven's legacy:
Beethoven helped create the 19th century idea of the "romantic genius," seemingly idio-
Beethoven's legacy:
Beethoven helped create the 19th century idea of the "romantic genius," seemingly idio-
syncratic artists who were seen as challenging convention and authority and living beyond customary norms. The great romantic poet, Lord Byron, who went off to fight in the Greek
virtuoso became wildly popular in public theaters. Crowds would gather when Beethoven
develop cult-of-personality personas similar to Elvis Presley and the Beatles in the 20th century.
For all of Beethoven's influence on the Romantic Era musicians that followed him, Beethoven never became a full romantic. He never accepted the Romantic's rejection of the "harsh, chilly
light of the Enlightenment" (Novalis) that was supposedly produced by the Enlightenment's focus
on rationalism, logic and science, nor did he embrace all of the Romantics' tenets, such as the exaltation of the mythical and mystical.
Beethoven c. 1824 (somewhere around 54 years old)
Most, but not all, music historians divide Beethoven's career into three periods, roughly:
Early - 1794 - 1803 (age 24 - 32) - General adherence to the formats of the classical era
with some innovations: Symphonies No 1 & 2, Piano Concertos 1 & 2,
15 piano sonatas, first 6 string quartets.
Middle - 1803 - 1814 (age 34 - 43) - A decisive turn towards romanticism. This is
the era of his famous "heroic" style: Symphonies 3 - 8, Fidelio,
many great sonatas, String Quartets 7 - 11, more. His deafness gets much worse.
Late - 1815 - 1826 (age 44 - 56) - Beethoven's composing turns introspective and
deeply personal. As of c. 1818, he is completely deaf. This is considered his most
Beethoven c. 1824 (somewhere around 54 years old)
Most, but not all, music historians divide Beethoven's career into three periods, roughly:
Early - 1794 - 1803 (age 24 - 32) - General adherence to the formats of the classical era
with some innovations: Symphonies No 1 & 2, Piano Concertos 1 & 2,
15 piano sonatas, first 6 string quartets.
Middle - 1803 - 1814 (age 34 - 43) - A decisive turn towards romanticism. This is
the era of his famous "heroic" style: Symphonies 3 - 8, Fidelio,
many great sonatas, String Quartets 7 - 11, more. His deafness gets much worse.
Late - 1815 - 1826 (age 44 - 56) - Beethoven's composing turns introspective and
deeply personal. As of c. 1818, he is completely deaf. This is considered his most
profound period: the 5 "late" string quartets & piano sonatas, the Missa Solemnis,
and Symphony #9.
A List of Beethoven's Musical Contemporaries
A Beginner's Guide to Beethoven's Compositions
and Symphony #9.
A List of Beethoven's Musical Contemporaries
A Beginner's Guide to Beethoven's Compositions
The Rhine with Bonn near the northern end
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