The unique musical talent of the great composer Ludwig van Beethoven combined in it with a quarrelsome gloomy character, because of which unpleasant stories always happened to him. He was withdrawn, unsociable and too straightforward, so he rarely aroused warm feelings in someone. The composer was also unlucky in relationships with women, but thanks to one of them, a brilliant piece of music appeared - "Moonlight Sonata".


Both grandfather and father possessed musical talent in their family. Ludwig owes his daily music lessons to his father's ambition - noticing his son's natural abilities, he locked him in a room with a harpsichord, in the hope that his son would surpass Mozart. The boy worked out for 7-8 hours a day. As a result, at the age of 8, he already gave his first concert in Cologne. The family lived in poverty, and Ludwig did not finish school, as he was forced to work. He read a lot, but he had serious problems with spelling and arithmetic. Until the end of his days, he never learned to multiply.


Beethoven had many strange habits. For example, before starting to compose music, he lowered his head into a basin of ice water. He loved coffee and brewed it strictly from 64 grains. The composer was always casually dressed and not combed. Om could appear in public in crumpled and dirty clothes, which frightened those around him.


Straightforwardness and harshness in dealing with people sometimes seemed bad manners to them. Once, during his performance, one of the guests began to talk to a lady. Beethoven immediately interrupted the performance with the words: “I won’t play with such pigs!”. In the heat of anger, he wrote to one of the high-ranking patrons: “Prince! What you are is due to chance and origin; what I am, I owe to myself. There are and will be thousands of princes, Beethoven is one!”


Goethe said of him: “This Beethoven is an unpleasant and completely unbridled personality. Of course, he is a shrewd and intelligent person, and it is difficult to disagree with him when he claims that this world is disgusting. However, I am forced to note that the presence of Herr Beethoven in this disgusting world does not at all make the world more attractive. Haydn said that Beethoven's music is so gloomy, gloomy and disturbing, "that the soul becomes bad and very restless."


In 1796, Beethoven begins to lose his hearing - inflammation of the inner ear leads to constant ringing in the ears and immunity to the sounds of the outside world. Already gloomy and withdrawn, the composer withdraws even more into himself. On the advice of doctors, he settled in a small town, but peace and quiet did not prevent the development of the disease. It was during these years that he created his most famous works.


The horror of progressive deafness receded when Beethoven met the 17-year-old Italian aristocrat Juliet Guicciardi in Vienna. The 30-year-old composer fell in love and convinced himself that the girl reciprocated. She took piano lessons from him until she had an affair with an 18-year-old mediocre composer. Soon she married him and left for Italy. Beethoven dedicated the Moonlight Sonata to her.


A few years later, Juliet again came to Austria and came to Beethoven to ask for help for her impoverished family. He gave her money, but asked her never to disturb him again. The composer tried to build relationships with other women, but these attempts were unsuccessful. Once a singer from the Vienna theater refused him, because "the composer is so ugly in appearance, and besides, it seems too strange." Until his death, he remained alone.

Ludwig van Beethoven (1770 - 1827)

Ludwig van Beethoven German composer, conductor and pianist, one of the three "Viennese classics". Ludwig van Beethoven was born in Bonn to a family of musicians. Presumably the date of birth is December 16, 1770. The house in which Beethoven was born

Beethoven's first music teacher was his father. It is traditionally believed that he was very harsh towards little Ludwig, who "often was in tears at the instrument." Beethoven's real teacher was Christian Gottlob Nefe. He introduced Ludwig to the works of Bach and Handel. Thanks to Nefe, Beethoven's first composition, a variation on Dressler's march, was also published. Beethoven was twelve years old at the time and was already working as an assistant court organist. Portrait of Beethoven at the age of 13

From the youthful works of the composer, three children's sonatas and several songs are known, including "Marmot". At 17, Ludwig visited Vienna to study with Mozart. But the classes did not take place, because. his mother got sick. After the death of his mother, the seventeen-year-old boy was forced to become the head of the family and take care of his younger brothers. He joined the orchestra as a violist.

In 1892 Beethoven went to Vienna again. Here Antonio Salieri becomes his mentor. Already in the first years of his life in Vienna, Beethoven won fame as a virtuoso pianist. His playing amazed the audience. In Vienna, Beethoven did not immediately become famous as a composer, despite the fact that he devoted a lot of time to studying composition. Portrait of Beethoven, probably 1800

Beethoven's first public performance in Vienna took place in March 1795, where he made his debut with his piano concerto. Beethoven's compositions began to be widely published and enjoyed success. Beethoven composes the Sixth Symphony

The disease Progressive deafness (the first signs of which appear from 1797) forced Beethoven to eventually reduce his concert activity, and in the last years of his life to completely abandon public performances. Due to deafness, Beethoven rarely leaves the house, loses sound perception. He becomes gloomy, withdrawn. It was during these years that the composer, one after another, creates his most famous works Beethoven at work at home

Creativity 9 symphonies: No. 1 (1799-1800), No. 2 (1803), No. 3 "Heroic" (1803-1804), No. 4 (1806), No. 5 (1804-1808), No. 6 "Pastoral" (1808 ), No. 7 (1812), No. 8 (1812), No. 9 (1824). 11 symphonic overtures, including "Coriolanus", "Egmont", "Leonora" No. 3. 5 concertos for piano and orchestra. 6 Youth Sonatas for Piano. 32 piano sonatas, 32 variations and about 60 piano pieces. 10 sonatas for violin and piano. concerto for violin and orchestra, concerto for piano, violin and cello with orchestra ("triple concerto").

5 sonatas for cello and piano. 16 string quartets. 6 trio. Ballet "Creations of Prometheus". Opera Fidelio. Solemn mass. Vocal cycle "To the distant beloved". Songs based on poems by various poets and arrangements of folk songs

Death Beethoven died on March 26, 1827. Over twenty thousand people followed his coffin. Beethoven's grave in the central cemetery of Vienna, Austria

Thanks for attention! Remember the classics!

What did Beethoven really look like? In this matter, one has to trust the skill of artists who happened to work with the great composer as a model. Here are attributed images of Beethoven that were made "from life" and which can be considered as a historical document.

"Genuine" portraits of Beethoven.

This silhouette was created by Joseph Neesen and is the first confirmed image of Beethoven available to us. According to his friend Franz Gerhard Wegeler, it was made in 1786 at the von Breuning family home in Bonn (where Beethoven gave music lessons and spent much time as a friend at home) on one of the two evenings when the silhouettes were made all family members.

The earliest attributed painting of Beethoven is believed to be around 1800. This is a portrait by the Austrian artist Gandolph Ernst Stainhauser von Treuberg, which was painted shortly after the composer's first great success in Vienna (the first "Academy" at the Burgtheater, 1800). The original portrait has not survived, but it served as a model for several engravings that were created in Vienna and Leipzig by order of Beethoven's publishers from 1801 to 1805.

Miniature portrait on ivory from 1803 by Danish artist Christian Horneman. Beethoven in this portrait looks like an elegant young man of the world, dressed and cut in the latest fashion. Apparently, the composer himself really liked the portrait, because a year later Beethoven gave it to his Bonn friend Stephan von Breuning as a sign of reconciliation. It can be assumed that the artist was able to perfectly convey the lively expression and inquisitive gaze of the young Beethoven.

The Viennese amateur artist Joseph Willibrord Mähler was introduced to Beethoven by Stefan von Breuning around 1803. A year later, in 1804, Mahler painted his first portrait of the composer - in the "academic" style, in the garden of Arcadia and with a lyre in his hand. Now the portrait is kept in the Vienna Pasqualati-Haus. In the 19th century, this image gained great fame thanks to a lithograph by Josef Kriehuber based on it.

There are two versions of this portrait by the Berlin artist Isidor Neugass. The first was created by order of one of Beethoven's main patrons, Prince Karl Lichnowsky in 1806, the second was commissioned by the Hungarian aristocratic Brunsvik family, with whom the composer also supported close friends. friendly relations, presumably in 1805. The versions differ mainly in the color of the clothes, as well as in one small detail: on the version belonging to the Brunswick family, you can see a lorgnette ribbon (which in the literature is often called a watch chain), on Lichnowsky's version it is absent. Neugass chose the half-length portrait format that was popular in Vienna at the time. The artist somewhat "smoothed out" Beethoven's facial features (especially on Likhnovsky's version), bringing them closer to the ideal that existed at that time.

Pencil drawing by Ludwig Ferdinand Schnorr von Carolsfeld, presumably 1808-1810. (Gleichenstein Collection) Under the drawing there is an inscription, the author of which is unknown: "From the old director Schnorr von Karolsfeld from Dresden, in 1808 or 1809 in the album of the Malfatti family in Munich. Property of Mrs. von Gleichenstein (Frau von Gleichenstein), née Malfatti in Freiburg at the Breisgau.

Probably the only absolutely objective depiction of Beethoven can be considered a lifetime mask, made in 1812 by the sculptor Franz Klein, on which many later sculptural and pictorial images are based. In 1812, Beethoven's friends, piano maker Andreas Streicher and his wife Nanette, opened a large piano salon, which also served as concert hall. They decided to decorate it with busts famous musicians, among which was supposed to be a bust of Beethoven, and the most realistic. The sculpture was commissioned to Franz Klein, who until 1805 was engaged in the manufacture of plaster copies of casts from the original for Franz Joseph Gall, M.D.

In 1814, the Viennese publisher Dominik Artaria published an engraving of Beethoven by the master Blasius Höfel. The sketch for the engraving was commissioned from a French artist named Louis-René Létronne, who worked from 1805-1817. in Vienna. However, Letronne's pencil drawing did not suit Höfel, who asked Beethoven to pose for him again. The composer agreed, and Höfel painted a new portrait, which eventually served as a sketch for the engraving. The drawing by Letronne also served as a sketch for at least one anonymous etching and is now in a private collection in Paris.

The engraved portrait was extremely liked by Beethoven, he sent copies with personal dedications to his Bonn friends Gerhard Wegeler, Johann Heinrich Crevelt and Nikolaus Simrock. The composer at that moment was at the zenith of his fame after the premiere of his compositions dedicated to the Congress of Vienna: the cantata "Der glorreiche Augenblick" Op. 136 and the battle symphonic piece "Wellingtons Sieg oder Schlacht bei Vittoria") Op. 91, as well as the successful revival of Fidelio.

Engraving quickly became popular in Vienna, and the following year the portrait was re-engraved by Karl Riedel (Karl Traugott Riedel) in Leipzig. In 1817, this engraving was published in the Leipzig "Allgemeine Musikalische Zeitung" and thus received wide circulation.

Interestingly, it was this image (more precisely, Höfel's version) that served as one of the grounds for the theory of Beethoven's African roots, which has become widespread on the Internet.

A picturesque portrait by an unknown master, probably painted from an engraving by Höfel or a drawing by Letronne, is kept at the Teatro alla Scala.

Russian German Gustav Fomich Gippius (Gustav Adolf Hippius) studied painting abroad and in 1814-1816. lived in Vienna. It is not known whether Beethoven posed for him, in any case his pencil portrait of the composer (56×40 cm), presumably dating from 1815, is not a copy of any of the known images. Now the drawing is stored in the Beethoven-Haus in Bonn.

Around 1815, Joseph Willibrord Mähler painted a series of portraits of contemporary Viennese composers, which included a portrait of Beethoven. Several versions of this portrait were created, one of which Mahler kept for himself and kept throughout his life.

Portrait by Johann Christoph Heckel, 1815. The portrait is now in the Library of Congress in Washington DC. On the website of the Beethoven-haus museum you can also see an anonymous copy of the painting (oil on canvas) and a lithograph by A. Hatzfeld.

Ferdinand Schimon painted several portraits of musicians, including Spohr, Carl Maria von Weber and Beethoven. The history of this portrait of Beethoven, created in 1818, is known from the words of Anton Schindler, who, as he himself writes, was the initiator of this work of Shimon. Since Beethoven did not like to pose, Shimon worked on the portrait right in the composer's apartment when he was composing. However, it was not possible to complete the portrait in this way, and some time later, Beethoven invited the artist to make the necessary improvements, which were especially needed in the area around the eyes. As a result, the composer was "quite satisfied" with the portrait obtained in such an intricate way.

In contrast to many other idealized depictions of Beethoven, Klobert's pencil drawing, created in the summer of 1818 in Mödling, conveys well the direct and immediate perception of the composer's appearance (Beethoven did not pose for this portrait). According to Klobert's memoirs, Beethoven himself believed that nature was successfully captured in this sketch, and that his hairstyle turned out especially well.

Klaubert created two more portraits of Beethoven based on this drawing. One of them, oil on canvas, is now considered lost. On it, Beethoven was depicted together with his nephew Karl in the bosom of nature. However, a drawing in charcoal and chalk, created a few years later and depicting Beethoven in a much more idealized form, has survived. There were two more versions of this drawing, but they have not survived.

Since the 40s of the 19th century, the Berlin lithographers Theodor Neu and Carl Fischer created several lithographs based on charcoal and chalk drawings - under the direct supervision of the artist, as evidenced by the inscriptions on some prints. Thanks to the wide circulation of these lithographs, which were copied by many artists of the 19th century, this image of Beethoven became especially popular. Claubert's pencil drawing did not attract much attention until the 20th century.

The portrait of Beethoven by Joseph Karl Stieler, created in the spring of 1820, is perhaps the most popular image of the composer. Stieler's portrait shaped the general public's view of Beethoven's personality and appearance for two centuries. In the eyes of subsequent generations, in his idealized image, the artist recorded the creative genius of the great composer. The portrait was commissioned by Franz and Antonie Brentano, who had been Beethoven's friends since about 1810. "Conversation notebooks" give a fairly detailed idea of ​​the origin of the portrait. The composer posed for this portrait 4 times - an unusually large number, since, according to Beethoven himself, he was not able to sit still for a long time.

In 1823, Ferdinand Waldmüller (Ferdinand Georg Waldmüller) received an order from the Leipzig publishing house Breitkopf & Härtel for a portrait of Beethoven. As can be seen from several letters and notes in "conversational notebooks", the composer posed for this portrait only once. Moreover, the session was interrupted ahead of time and there was no continuation. Therefore, it is assumed that Waldmüller managed to write only the composer's face, and the clothes and, possibly, part of the hair were added later.

An 1823 portrait by Johann Stephan Decker. This is the last known portrait of Beethoven, now it is kept in the City Historical Museum of Vienna (Hisctorisches Museum der Stadt Wien).

Bibliography:
Comini, Alessandra. The changing image of Beethoven: a study in mythmaking. New York: Rizzoli, 1987.
"Ludwig Van Beethoven, Bicentennial Edition 1770-1970", LOC 70-100925, Deutsche Grammophon Gesellschaft mbH, Hamburg, 1970.
Robert Bory. Ludwig van Beethoven: His Life and His Work in Pictures. Atlantis Books, Zurich, 1960.
http://www.mozartportraits.com/index.php?p=3&CatID=1

In this episode, we'll talk about recent years life of the great Beethoven.

In the previous issue, we talked about the life of the composer, overshadowed by a meager financial situation and consistent failures in relations with the fair sex. But these details, as well as the character, far from the most beautiful character of the composer, did not prevent Ludwig from writing his beautiful music.

Today we, finishing our brief tour of Beethoven's biography, will talk about the last twelve (1815-1827) years of his life.

Beethoven's family problems

It cannot be said that Beethoven once got along well with his brothers, especially with, who by that time was already a wealthy pharmacist who supplied medicines to the army.

In 1812, after meeting with Goethe, the composer went to the city of Linz to visit Johann. True, apparently, Ludwig was inspired to this trip by a selfish idea, namely, to upset the engagement between Johann and one of his employees, Teresa Obermeier, whom the composer simply could not stand. True, the result was not in favor of Ludwig, because his younger brother did not listen to him.

A few years earlier, back in 1806, Ludwig prevented the marriage of his other brother, and part-time secretary - Kaspar, and the attempt was just as unsuccessful. But all these attempts by the composer to interfere in the personal lives of his brothers were not without reason.

After all, the name BEETHOVEN by that time thundered throughout Europe, and the composer could not afford to have his younger brothers disgrace this family. After all, both Teresa and Johanna, the potential daughters-in-law of the great composer, to put it mildly, were not worthy to bear this surname. But still it was useless, because the brothers did not listen to him.

In other matters, Kaspar himself will understand that he made a stupid mistake - in 1811 he will be so disappointed in his wife that he will even try to divorce her, although he still will not reach the final divorce. His wife, Johanna, turned out to be far from the most decent woman, as her elder brother, Ludwig, predicted a few years ago, in every possible way preventing their marriage.

Well, in 1815, Kaspar left this world. The late Kaspar Karl, in his dying will, asked Ludwig, his elder brother, to become the guardian of his son, a nine-year-old boy, also named Karl.

This boy, as he grew up, brought his uncle, the great Beethoven, a huge amount of trouble.Moreover, immediately after the death of his brother, Ludwig had to “fight” with the child’s mother, the widow of Kaspar, Johanna, whom he could not stand. For five years, Beethoven tried with all his might to deprive Johanna of parental rights, and in 1820, he finally achieves his goal.

Financial problems still haunted the composer, who struggled to earn money in order to feed his beloved nephew and continue to be creative.

There was even a case when the British pianist Charles Neath, together with Ferdinand Rees, advised Beethoven to hold a concert in England. Beethoven's music was greatly appreciated in this country. The composer had an excellent reputation in England, which means that his performance at a solo concert would guarantee him an excellent income.

Beethoven understood this very well, and, in general, he had long dreamed of going on tour to London, as one of his teachers once did, Joseph Haydn. Moreover, the British Philharmonic sent an official letter to Ludwig with conditions that were simply amazing for a composer basking in everyday problems, partly related to poor financial condition.

But at the last minute, Beethoven changed his mind, or rather, was forced to refuse to go to England due to illness. Moreover, the composer felt that he could not leave his nephew for such a long time, so he refused such a generous gift of fate.

We will not dwell on Beethoven's nephew, for it will be dedicated to him. In the meantime, just note that the guy brought the composer a lot of everyday problems and emotional experiences, which were reflected for the worse on Beethoven's already “undermined” health.

But still, the composer was madly in love with his nephew and helped him in every possible way, despite all the bad sides of his character. After all, the composer understood that he would no longer have other heirs. Even in letters, the composer addressed his nephew as "Dear son."

The last "Academy" of a deaf composer

Beethoven continues to write his beautiful music, which is radically different from the works written in his youth. The composer completes the last piano sonatas, while simultaneously composing simple piano pieces and chamber music commissioned by publishers in order to provide himself and his nephew with an income for subsistence.

One of the most important events of this period of Beethoven's life is his last "Academy" held on May 7, 1824 in the famous theater Kärtnertor.


His famous "Solemn Mass" was performed there, and the famous "Ninth Symphony" was presented to the public for the first time - a unique work that breaks all ideas about the traditional classical symphony.

Viennese old-timers testified that at this event there was a standing ovation, previously unheard of at any concert by any other musician. Even now, there is no need to invent anything about the success of the Ninth Symphony, because a fragment of this particular work is used in the anthem of the European Union.

Well, on that evening, when the absolutely deaf composer first presented this masterpiece to the Viennese public, the delight of the audience was indescribable. Hats, along with scarves, flew through the air. The applause was so loud that it simply cut the ear. But only the absolutely deaf composer, unfortunately, did not see anything of this (because he stood with his back to the audience) and did not hear, until Carolina Unger, one of the vocalists, turned Ludwig towards the applauding audience.

The applause touched Beethoven so emotionally that the composer, who saw the flying handkerchiefs and tears in the eyes of the applauding listeners, literally fainted.

At that moment, the hall simply exploded from the applause that subsided with renewed vigor. The emotions were so powerful that after a while the police officers were forced to intervene. It was a huge success. Well, in less than 2 weeks, the performance will be repeated already in the Redoubt Hall of the same Vienna.

True, the artistic success of the work still did not bring serious material benefits to Beethoven. The material side again let the composer down - both concertos turned out to be absolutely unprofitable and even unprofitable for Beethoven himself.

Of course, in a short time, one authoritative publishing house paid the composer both for the Ninth Symphony and for the Solemn Mass and several other works, but all the same, the artistic success of the works was much higher than the material profit.

Beethoven was such a unique composer: all the dukes, barons, lords, kings and emperors of Europe knew his name. But until the end of his days he remained poor.

progressive disease. last months of life.

In 1826, Beethoven's health deteriorated further after the twenty-year-old Carl, his beloved nephew, attempted suicide, possibly due to large gambling debts (however, this has not been confirmed).

After this reckless act of his nephew, Beethoven's health will deteriorate so much that he will never recover again, unlike Karl, who survived this moment and soon joined the army.

Pneumonia, inflammation of the intestines, cirrhosis of the liver and subsequent dropsy, due to which the composer's stomach was pierced several times - even in our age, the chances of being cured from such a set of diseases seem to be something supernatural.

IN last days the life of a sick Beethoven was visited by a variety of people: Kramolini with his bride, Hummel, Yenger, Schubert (though it is believed that he could not enter the composer’s room. And, in general, the fact of Schubert’s visit to Beethoven has not been proven) and other people who appreciated creativity composer.

But most of the time with Beethoven was spent by his courting friends - Schindler and another old friend - the same Stefan Breuning from Bonn, but now already living nearby with his family.


Speaking about the Braining family, it is worth noting that in these days clouded by illness, Beethoven was especially pleased with Stefan's son, Gerhard, nicknamed "Ariel". Beethoven simply adored this boy, who did not understand anything and was constantly “shining”, and this love was mutual.

Even the stingy brother Johann began to spend a lot of time with the dying composer. And this, despite the fact that just a few months before his death, Ludwig and his nephew (after his suicide attempt) came to Johann with some requests, and the latter treated his brother like a stranger - he took money from him and his nephew for an overnight stay , and also sent them home in an open wagon (after which, it is believed, Ludwig fell ill with pneumonia).

The material poverty of the composer in the last weeks of his stay was diluted by a good amount received from the London Philharmonic Society, and collected thanks to Moscheles, one of Beethoven's students.

Another joy for Ludwig was another, truly valuable and for that time extremely rare gift sent from the English capital by Johann Stumpf (a harp maker) - it was the complete works of Handel, whom Beethoven considered almost the greatest composer.

Modest, but, at the same time, very pleasant for the composer gifts in the form of jars of compote were sent by Baron Pascalati, in whose house Beethoven lived for some time. The publisher Schot also distinguished himself by sending the famous Rhine wines to the dying Beethoven. Only Beethoven himself noted with regret that this gift was a little late, although in his heart he was glad of this package.

And, of course, two weeks before his death, Ludwig was finally awarded the title of honorary member of the Vienna Society of Music Lovers of the Austrian Empire. Only this title remained only symbolic, since it was not supported by any material benefit.

It is also worth noting that until the death of Ludwig, despite incurable disease, thought more than adequately. Even suspecting that he could die at any moment, Beethoven still continued to read the most complex philosophical and other literature in different languages, thereby continuing to enrich himself intellectually.

Already on March 24, 1827, the composer signed a will, according to the contents of which, all his property was inherited by his nephew, Karl. On the same day, a priest visits Beethoven.

The death of the great Beethoven came after three days of hellish torment - March 26, 1827. It happened in Vienna, in the same house where Beethoven lived the last months of his life. This house had an interesting name "Schwarzpanierhaus", which translates as "House of the Black Spaniard".

At the time of death, the composer's friends, Breuning and Schindler, were not around. At that moment, foreseeing the imminent death of Ludwig, they went to negotiate the place of burial (possibly with Ludwig's brother, Johann), leaving a mutual friend, Anselm Hutenbrenner, next to the composer.

It was the latter, perhaps together with Teresa (the wife of Johann, brother of Ludwig), who witnessed the death of the great Beethoven. It is he who will later tell how the great Ludwig van Beethoven met his death, looking menacingly into her eyes and shaking his fist (in the literal sense) under a roll of thunder. It was Hutenbrenner who closed the eyes of the great composer, whose soul left this world from that moment on.

Ludwig van Beethoven was buried on March 29th. The scale of the ceremony is striking: about 20 thousand people participated in the procession - this is almost a tenth of the entire population of Vienna at that time.And this is surprising, given the fact that, compared with the funeral of Beethoven, the scale of the funeral of the older classicists, Mozart and Haydn, was much less significant.

One of the torchbearers of the funeral ceremony was another great composer, Franz Schubert, who, by the way, will die literally next year.

A variety of people, ranging from ordinary Viennese citizens, and ending with representatives of the imperial palace, came to send the great Beethoven on his last journey.




The play-bagatelle "Fur Elise" is one of the most famous works of Ludwig van Beethoven. All novice musicians must learn it when mastering playing the piano. Despite the popularity of the play, the history of its creation remains a real mystery, just as its addressee remains a mystery.

Ludwig van Beethoven showed a talent for music from childhood, his first teachers were his father Johann, who served as a tenor in the court chapel, and the composer Christian Gottlob Nefe. A key role in the development of Ludwig's talent was also played by his grandfather, who held the position of bandmaster. It was he who first noticed his grandson's craving for music and insisted on the need to educate the boy.




At the age of 21, Ludwig goes to Vienna to take lessons from the famous Austrian composer Joseph Haydn, who speaks with approval of his student. Beethoven quickly masters the skill of playing the piano and willingly improvises. Intuitively, he finds new ways, playing techniques, combinations that will determine the development of music in the 18th century.




By the age of 30, Ludwig's hearing began to deteriorate sharply. For a musician, such a diagnosis was worse than death, because the opportunity to make music was under threat. As best he could, he tried to hide the disease from others, but gradually closed in on himself and became unsociable. Despite the fact that over the years Beethoven became completely deaf, he still continued to write music, many of his most famous works were created at the end of his life.




Researchers who work with the archives of Ludwig Beethoven note that the composer had a completely illegible handwriting, eyewitnesses noted that he also had difficulties with pronunciation. All this gave reason to assume that, perhaps, the great composer suffered from dyslexia (poor mastery of writing and reading skills with a general ability to learn). It was because of the fuzzy handwriting that the work known today as the play Für Elise was published under that title.

It is worth noting that the bagatelle play was published 40 years after the death of the composer, it was discovered by the musician Ludwig Nohl. Interestingly, the manuscript was accidentally found in 1865, published in 1867, but soon lost without a trace. To date, only a copy of Zero has survived, where the original is located is unknown. Therefore, the information that we have today is how Zero was able to decipher Beethoven's recordings. It was almost certain that the original was quite difficult to read, so Zero focused on translating the notes correctly. It is unlikely that it was fundamentally important for him to preserve the correct name of the addressee.
Considering that the dedication of the play "To Elise", long years it was believed that its addressee was Elizaveta Alekseevna, wife of the Russian Emperor Alexander I.




However, researcher Max Unger disagreed with this statement. In his opinion, it is logical to assume that the addressee could be Teresa Malfatti, a student of Beethoven and his close friend. It is known that the great composer was in love with Teresa and even made her a marriage proposal in 1810 (the manuscript of the play was supposedly dated exactly this year). However, Teresa refused.




There is also a third version, according to which the play could have been written for the singer Elisabeth Röckel and given to her as a farewell gift before her departure from Vienna. However, it is known for certain that the manuscript was at the disposal of Teresa Malfatti, and if the addressee was Röckel, it is not possible to explain this circumstance.

Ludwig Beethoven lived a difficult life, never married, had no children. As a legacy to humanity, he left his musical masterpieces and went down in history as genius composer who did not hear a sound

Ludwig van Beethoven - a brilliant composer who did not hear a sound


Ludwig van Beethoven is a great German composer.


Many considered his music to be gloomy and gloomy, because it did not fit in with the trends that were fashionable at that time. But no one could dispute the genius of the composer. Moreover, Beethoven was so talented that he composed his works even when he was completely deaf.

Ludwig van Beethoven, circa 1783


When the future composer was three years old, because of pranks and disobedience, his father locked him in a room with a harpsichord. However, Beethoven did not beat the instrument in protest, but sat down at it and enthusiastically improvised with both hands. One day, the father noticed this and decided that little Ludwig could become the second Mozart. This was followed by diligent lessons in playing the violin and harpsichord.




Portrait of Ludwig van Beethoven. Christian Horneman, 1809.

Due to the difficult situation in the family (his father suffered from alcoholism), Ludwig van Beethoven had to leave school and go to work. This fact is associated with his inability to add and multiply numbers. Many contemporaries laughed at the composer for this. But Beethoven could not be called an ignoramus. He read all kinds of literature, loved Schiller and Goethe, knew several languages. Perhaps the genius was just a humanitarian mindset.



Beethoven at work. Carl Schloesser, circa 1890

Ludwig van Beethoven quickly achieves fame and recognition. Despite his disheveled and sullen appearance, unbearable character, contemporaries could not help but note his talent. But in 1796, the worst thing that can happen to a composer happens to Beethoven - he hears a ringing in his ears and begins to go deaf. He develops inflammation of the inner ear - tinitis. Doctors attribute this illness to Beethoven's habit of dipping his head in ice water every time he sat down to write. At the insistence of the doctors, the composer moves to the quiet town of Heiligenstadt, but this does not make him feel better.



It was then that the most brilliant works of the composer appeared. Beethoven himself would call this period "heroic" in his work. In 1824, his famous Ninth Symphony was performed. The delighted audience applauded the composer for a long time, but he stood, turning away, and did not hear anything. Then one of the artists turned Beethoven to the audience, and then he saw how they waved their hands, headscarves, hats to him. The crowd greeted the composer for such a long time that the police officers standing nearby began to appease the audience, since such a storm of applause could only be shown to the emperor.



Beethoven composed even when he was deaf.

Being in his deafness, Beethoven, however, was aware of all political and musical events. When friends came to him, communication took place with the help of "conversational notebooks". The interlocutors wrote questions, and the composer answered them orally or in writing. Everything musical works Beethoven evaluated by reading their scores (music notes).




On the day of the composer's death, March 26, an unprecedented storm broke out on the street with snow and lightning. The weakened composer suddenly got up from his bed, shook his fist at heaven and died.
Beethoven's genius was so great that his works are still considered the most performed among the classics.

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