Ludwig Van Beethoven was a great musician and composer. He was born in Germany on December 16, 1770. His life was often hard, but he let his feelings come out through his Music. His parents had seven children, but four children died when they were young. Only three boys survived. Ludwig Van Beethoven was the oldest.
Ludwig Van Beethoven’s father taught his son to play piano and violin. He was very strict and got mad when Ludwig made mistakes. Ludwig also went to school, but he didn’t do well.
Ludwig started studying music with Christian Neefe when he was about 10 years old. He practiced the piano and organ. Ludwig also learned to compose as soon as he got a job as an organist.
In 1787 Ludwig went to Vienna, Austria. He had some lessons with the famous composer Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. But he heard that his mother was dying and he hurried home.
Ludwig stayed home for five years. He went back to his organist job. He gave music lessons to earn extra money for his family. He also composed music when he could find the time.
Ludwig hoped to study music again. He got his chance when the composer Franz Joseph Hayden came to town and agreed to teach Ludwig. In 1792 Ludwig went to Vienna to work with Franz Joseph Hayden.
Ludwig played music at parties to earn money. He put a lot of feeling into his music. Sometimes he played so strongly that he broke the piano strings! People loved his exciting new style of music. Soon Ludwig became very popular. He gave concerts and composed new music. Prince Karl Lichnowsky liked Ludwig’s music very much. He invited Ludwig to live with him.
One of his so famous and beautiful musical pieces that he became most famous with was Für Elise, which was composed on April 27, 1810 by himself. Für Elise is one of the most difficult musical pieces in the world, but is really romantic music movement.
When Ludwig was about 30, Ludwig started having trouble hearing. Sometimes his ears buzzed. Sometimes he couldn’t hear nearby sounds. He could not even hear his own music. Ludwig felt afraid and angry.
By 1818 Ludwig was totally deaf. He still tried to write good music for people to enjoy. His newest pieces were hard, but they sounded beautiful. People grew interested in his music again. One of Ludwig’s last pieces was his Ninth Symphony. He stood on stage watching the orchestra play. But he couldn’t hear the music. He thought no one liked it because he couldn’t hear clapping.
Ludwig was glad that people liked his new music, but life was still difficult for him. His nephew Karl grew upset and ran away. The Ludwig became very ill. He could no longer compose.
On March 26, 1827 , Ludwig died. He was 56 years old. The schools in Vienna were closed on the day of his funeral. About 2000 people came out for his funeral procession.