Beethoven Biography Essay

Ludwig Van Beethoven was born in December 16, 1770 in Germany. His father, Johann van Beethoven, was his first music teacher. It is reported that Beethoven’s father was a very strict and hard music teacher. Beethoven knew how to play the piano, viola, and the organ, and was on his way to showing the public his talent at the early age of 7. His most important music teacher in Germany was Christian Gottlob Neefe, who helped him publish his first composition at the age of 10, which was a set of nine keyboard variations in C minor. Beethoven’s biggest influence was Mozart, which he met in Vienna in 1787. He wanted to study under Mozart but was not able to due to his mother’s death, which forced him to go back to Germany. In 1792, at the age of 22, Beethoven made his second attempt to move to Vienna where he studied with Joseph Haydn.
In the first year in Vienna it was very hard for Beethoven since there were not many opportunities for him, but his talent grew stronger and he started to get noticed. By 1793, Beethoven established a reputation in Vienna as a “piano virtuoso”. In 1795 while he was still in Vienna he was asked to compose and perform a concerto for the annual charity concert for Widows and Orphans of the Society of Musicians.
He put this job off and did not start composing until two-days before his deadline. Beethoven knew his procrastination might cost him this performance and so he started to frantically write out the score as four copyists stood by in his apartment snatching pages from him as he completed them and rushed to make orchestral parts. The premiere of the Piano Concerto No.2 in B-flat major, Op.19 was on March 2, 1795 and it was a great success. It was written in only two days because of Beethoven’s procrastination but surprisingly it became a masterpiece. It even shocked Czech composer and pianist Vaclav Tomasek. It was noted by many that the piece was unlike anything they have heard before, they claimed that it had “daring deviations” that no other composer or performer has ever done before. Although the criticism was good, Beethoven was not happy with the piece and revised it many times. The final version of this piece, the one everyone hears today was first heard in
1798. The structure of this piece resembles Mozart’s piano concertos, but the style is strictly Beethoven, no one was as daring as Beethoven. “The movement of this piece is vibrant with contrasts – loud and soft, forceful and pliant, staccato and legato – but all in a spirit of elegance and sophistication.” This piece really made him stand out in Vienna and showed that Beethoven was here to stay and more of these “daring” pieces were yet to come. Today, Beethoven is known as one of the greatest composers. Beethoven composed in various genres, including: symphonies, concertos, piano sonatas, other sonatas (including for violin), string quartets and other chamber music, masses, an opera, and Lieder. Beethoven is viewed as one of the most important transitional figures between the Classical and Romantic eras of musical history. He has had much influence on musicians and music as a whole and will continue to do so; he is a music legend and icon and will always be remembered as one of the greatest.