Ludwig+van+Beethoven

TAP Article Ludwig van Beethoven By Jordan Springer Music has been around since humans first walked this Earth and is still widely celebrated in the world today. There have been fails, and there have been greats- Mozart, Bach, Elvis, etc. But there has been one that has stood far above the others- Ludwig van Beethoven. Many know about his work, but few know much about him personally. Beethoven was a composer and a pianist in the late 1700’s and early 1800’s. He was born around December 16, 1770 in Bonn, a city in a principality, or territory, of the Holy Roman Empire. Despite official documents, Beethoven stubbornly thought he was born in 1772, two years later than his actual birth date. When he was seventeen, Beethoven was sent to Vienna, Austria by the court he worked for as an Assistant Court Organist. This was done so young Beethoven could learn with Mozart, who was thirty-one at the time. But only a few weeks later, his mother, Maria Magdalena van Beethoven, became seriously sick, and Beethoven hurried back to Bonn. Several months later, Maria died, and Beethoven became depressed for years. When French revolutionaries started coming into the Electorate of Cologne, Beethoven left for Vienna to work on music. He became an accomplished pianist there and soon began composing very original and accomplished pieces. He starting going deaf sometime around 1797, and finally admitted it in an 1801 letter to a friend. This did not prevent him from composing amazing pieces such as // Missa Solemnis. // His last piece, his Ninth Symphony, was completed in 1824. Ludwig van Beethoven died soon after, in 1827, of cirrhosis of the liver. However, his work lived on. Beethoven was a proficient worker and composed many pieces, so it is hard to say what his definite best is. What can be addressed, however, is which few of his pieces are the most well known. Such compositions are divided into two main categories: his most well-known symphonies and his most well-known piano pieces. Although no-one is sure, it is widely thought that his Fifth and Ninth symphonies are his most renowned symphonies. Although not as vast and impressive as his symphonies, Beethoven’s piano pieces are still something to be admired. Moonlight Sonata, a sonata completed in 1801 and dedicated to student [|Giulietta Guicciardi], is a very well-known piano piece by Beethoven. It derived its name from a comment by music critic Ludwig Rellstad, who compared the piece’s first effect to moonlight shining on Lake Lucerne. Although Beethoven’s work greatly impacted the world of music, he also impacted Europe, especially Vienna. Beethoven’s work in music was incredible, but it conveyed more than notes. It conveyed his beliefs. Before Beethoven, Vienna was very Baroque. This means that it was very religious, and its art and music reflected that. Beethoven, however, managed to change that. He made music that was very energetic, and he managed to bring it into the religious world. Beethoven’s music reflected ideas that were developing around then, such as that people classified themselves by ethnic group and nationality, instead of who they worshipped. His music also expressed the social changes that were spreading through Viennna, for instance the idea of democracy instead of dynasty. Beethoven’s music had a great influence on Vienna’s culture at the time. Finally, Beethoven’s Third Symphony, //Eroica,// expressed his view of Napoleon. //Eroica// is a tale of heroes, of light and dark, and at first Beethoven viewed Napoleon as a hero and, as suggested by one of Bonaparte’s diplomats, intended //Eroica// to be a tribute to Napoleon. However, //Eroica// was released in the same year Napoleon enunciated himself the emperor of France, and Beethoven changed his view of the Frenchman. Instead, he then dedicated //Eroica// to an unnamed great man. Overall, Beethoven was a great man and a great musician. By the end of his life, he had written 9 symphonies, 11 concertis, 13 overtures and incidental music, 5 works for soloists and orchestras, 12 piano trios and over 50 song compositions. He has done other compositions on piano as well as sonatas too. And some of this was done after he started going deaf around the late 1790’s. His work also conveyed amazing beliefs, and he changed not only Austria, but the world of music.