Beethoven is the greatest creator of all time, an unsurpassed Master. Beethoven's works are difficult to describe using ordinary musical terms - any words here seem insufficiently bright, too banal. Beethoven is a brilliant personality, an extraordinary phenomenon in the world of music.
Among the many names of the world's great composers, the name Ludwig van Beethoven are always highlighted. Beethoven is the greatest creator of all time, an unsurpassed Master. People who consider themselves far from the world of classical music fall silent, enchanted, at the very first sounds of the “Moonlight Sonata”. Beethoven's works are difficult to describe using ordinary musical terms - any words here seem insufficiently bright, too banal. Beethoven is a brilliant personality, an extraordinary phenomenon in the world of music.
No one knows the exact date of birth of Ludwig van Beethoven. It is known that he was born in Bonnet, in December 1770. Contemporaries who personally knew the composer over the years noticed that he inherited his character from his grandfather, Louis Beethoven. Pride, independence, incredible hard work - these qualities were inherent in the grandfather - and they were inherited by the grandson.
Beethoven's grandfather was a musician and served as a bandmaster. Ludwig’s father also worked in the chapel - Johann van Beethoven. Father was talented musician, but he drank a lot. His wife served as a cook. The family lived poorly, but Johann still noticed his son’s early musical abilities. Little Ludwig was taught little music (there was no money for teachers), but was often forced to practice with shouts and beatings.
By the age of 12, young Beethoven could play the harpsichord, violin, and organ. The year 1782 was a turning point in Ludwig's life. He was appointed director of the Bonn Court Chapel Christian Gottloba Nefe. This man showed interest in the talented teenager, became his mentor, and taught him modern piano style. That year, Beethoven's first musical works were published, and an article about the “young genius” was published in the city newspaper.
Under Nefe’s guidance, the young musician continued to improve his skills and received a general education. At the same time, he worked a lot in the chapel to support his family.
Young Beethoven had a goal - to meet Mozart. To fulfill this goal, he went to Vienna. He achieved a meeting with the great maestro and asked to examine him. Mozart was amazed by his talent young musician. New horizons could have opened up for Ludwig, but misfortune happened - his mother became seriously ill in Bonn. Beethoven had to return. The mother died, and the father died soon after.
Ludwig remained in Bonn. He was seriously ill with typhoid and smallpox, and worked hard all the time. He had long been a virtuoso musician, but did not consider himself a composer. He still lacked skill in this profession.
In 1792, a happy change occurred in Ludwig's life. He was introduced to Haydn. Famous composer promised support to Beethoven and recommended that he go to Vienna. Once again Beethoven found himself in the “abode of music.” He had about fifty works to his credit - in some ways they were unusual, even revolutionary for that time. Beethoven was considered a freethinker, but he did not deviate from his principles. He studied with Haydn, Albrechtsberger, Salieri- and teachers did not always understand his works, finding them “dark and strange.”
Beethoven's work attracted the attention of patrons, and his business was going well. He developed his own style and emerged as an extraordinary and innovative composer. He was invited to the highest circles of the Viennese aristocracy, but Beethoven did not want to play and create for the needs of a wealthy public. He maintained his independence, believing that talent was an advantage over wealth and high birth.
When the maestro was 26 years old, a new disaster occurred in his life - he began to lose his hearing. This became a personal tragedy for the composer, terrible for his profession. He began to avoid society.
In 1801, the composer fell in love with a young aristocrat Juliet Guicciardi. Juliet was 16 years old. The meeting with her changed Beethoven - he began to be in the world again, to enjoy life. Unfortunately, the girl’s family considered a musician from the lower circles an unworthy match for their daughter. Juliet rejected the advances and soon married a man in her circle - Count Gallenberg.
Beethoven was destroyed. He didn't want to live. Soon he retired to the small town of Heiligenstadt, and there he even wrote a will. But Ludwig’s talent was not broken, and even at this time he continued to create. During this period he wrote brilliant works: "Moonlight Sonata"(dedication to Giulietta Guicciardi), Third Piano Concerto, "Kreutzer Sonata" and a number of other masterpieces included in the world musical treasury.
There was no time to die. The master continued to create and fight. "Eroica Symphony", Fifth Symphony, "Appassionata", "Fidelio"— Beethoven’s efficiency bordered on obsession.
The composer again moved to Vienna. He was famous, popular, but far from rich. New failed love for one of the sisters Brunswick and financial problems prompted him to leave Austria. In 1809, a group of patrons awarded the composer a pension in exchange for a promise not to leave the country. His pension tied him to Austria and limited his freedom.
Beethoven still created a lot, but his hearing was virtually lost. In society, he used special “conversation notebooks.” Periods of depression alternated with periods of fantastic performance.
The apotheosis of his work was Ninth Symphony, which Beethoven completed in 1824. It was performed on May 7, 1824. The work delighted the public and the performers themselves. Only the composer did not hear either his music or the thunder of applause. A young singer from the choir had to take the maestro by the hand and turn him to face the audience so that he could bow.
After this day, the composer was overcome by illness, but he was able to write four more large and complex quartets. One day he had to go to his brother Johann to persuade him to write a will in favor of the sole right to guardianship of Ludwig’s beloved nephew, Karl. The brother refused the request. Beethoven went home upset; he caught a cold on the way.
On March 26, 1827, the composer died. The Viennese, who had already begun to forget their idol, remembered him after his death. A crowd of thousands followed the coffin.
The brilliant composer and great man Ludwig van Beethoven was always independent and unyielding in his convictions. He proudly walked the path of life and left many immortal creations to humanity.
How do I save on hotels?
It’s very simple - look not only on booking. I prefer the search engine RoomGuru. He searches for discounts simultaneously on Booking and on 70 other booking sites.
German composer often considered the greatest composer of all time. His work is classified as both classicism and romanticism; in fact, it goes beyond such definitions: Beethoven's works are, first of all, an expression of his genius personality.
Origin. Childhood and youth.
Beethoven was born in Bonn, probably on December 16, 1770 (baptized on December 17). In addition to German blood, Flemish blood also flowed in his veins: the composer’s paternal grandfather, also Ludwig, was born in 1712 in Malines (Flanders), served as a choirmaster in Ghent and Louvain and in 1733 moved to Bonn, where he became a court musician in the chapel of the Elector-Archbishop of Cologne . He was an intelligent man, a good singer, a professionally trained instrumentalist, he rose to the position of court conductor and enjoyed the respect of those around him. His only son Johann (the other children died in infancy) sang in the same chapel from childhood, but his position was precarious, since he drank heavily and led a disorderly life. Johann married Maria Magdalena Lime, the daughter of a cook. To them were born seven children, of whom three sons survive; Ludwig, the future composer, was the eldest of them.
Beethoven grew up in poverty. The father drank away his meager salary; he taught his son to play the violin and piano in the hope that he would become a child prodigy, a new Mozart, and provide for his family. Over time, the father's salary was increased in anticipation of the future of his gifted and hardworking son. Despite all this, the boy was not confident in his use of the violin, and on the piano (as well as on the violin) he liked to improvise more than to improve his playing technique.
Beethoven's general education was as unsystematic as his musical education. In the latter, however, practice played a big role: he played the viola in the court orchestra and performed as a performer on keyboard instruments, including the organ, which he managed to quickly master. K. G. Nefe, Bonn court organist from 1782, became Beethoven's first real teacher (among other things, he went through with him the entire Well-Tempered Clavier of J. S. Bach). Beethoven's duties as a court musician expanded significantly when Archduke Maximilian Franz became Elector of Cologne and began to take care of musical life Bonn, where his residence was located. In 1787, Beethoven managed to visit Vienna for the first time - at that time the musical capital of Europe. According to stories, Mozart, having listened to the young man’s play, highly appreciated his improvisations and predicted a great future for him. But soon Beethoven had to return home - his mother was dying. He remained the sole breadwinner of a family consisting of a dissolute father and two younger brothers.
The young man's talent, his greed for musical impressions, his ardent and receptive nature attracted the attention of some enlightened Bonn families, and his brilliant piano improvisations provided him with free entry into any musical gatherings. The Breuning family did especially a lot for him, taking custody of the clumsy but original young musician. Dr. F. G. Wegeler became his lifelong friend, and Count F. E. G. Waldstein, his enthusiastic admirer, managed to convince the Archduke to send Beethoven to study in Vienna.
Vein. 1792–1802. In Vienna, where Beethoven came for the second time in 1792 and where he remained until the end of his days, he quickly found titled friends and patrons of the arts.
People who met the young Beethoven described the twenty-year-old composer as a stocky young man with a penchant for panache, sometimes brash, but good-natured and sweet in his relationships with his friends. Realizing the inadequacy of his education, he went to Joseph Haydn, a recognized Viennese authority in the field instrumental music(Mozart had died a year earlier) and for some time brought him counterpoint exercises to check. Haydn, however, soon lost interest in the obstinate student, and Beethoven, secretly from him, began to take lessons from I. Schenck and then from the more thorough I. G. Albrechtsberger. In addition, wanting to improve his vocal writing, he visited the famous opera composer Antonio Salieri for several years. Soon he joined a circle that united titled amateurs and professional musicians. Prince Karl Lichnowsky introduced the young provincial into the circle of his friends.
The question of how much the environment and the spirit of the time influence creativity is ambiguous. Beethoven read the works of F. G. Klopstock, one of the predecessors of the Sturm und Drang movement. He knew Goethe and deeply revered the thinker and poet. The political and social life of Europe at that time was alarming: when Beethoven arrived in Vienna in 1792, the city was excited by news of the revolution in France. Beethoven enthusiastically accepted revolutionary slogans and praised freedom in his music. The volcanic, explosive nature of his work is undoubtedly the embodiment of the spirit of the time, but only in the sense that the character of the creator was to some extent shaped by this time. The bold violation of generally accepted norms, the powerful self-affirmation, the thunderous atmosphere of Beethoven's music - all this would have been unthinkable in Mozart's era.
However, Beethoven's early works largely follow the canons of the 18th century: this applies to trios (strings and piano), violin, piano and cello sonatas. The piano was then Beethoven’s closest instrument; in his piano works he expressed his most intimate feelings with utmost sincerity, and the slow movements of some sonatas (for example, Largo e mesto from sonata op. 10, no. 3) were already imbued with romantic languor. Pathetic Sonata op. 13 is also an obvious anticipation of Beethoven's later experiments. In other cases, his innovation has the character of a sudden invasion, and the first listeners perceived it as obvious arbitrariness. Six string quartets op. published in 1801. 18 can be considered the greatest achievement of this period; Beethoven was clearly in no hurry to publish, realizing what high examples of quartet writing were left by Mozart and Haydn. Beethoven's first orchestral experience was associated with two concertos for piano and orchestra (No. 1, C major and No. 2, B-flat major), created in 1801: he, apparently, was not sure about them either, being well acquainted with the greats Mozart's achievements in this genre. Among the best-known (and least provocative) early works is the septet op. 20 (1802). The next opus, the First Symphony (published at the end of 1801) is Beethoven's first purely orchestral work.
Approaching deafness.
We can only guess to what extent Beethoven's deafness influenced his work. The disease developed gradually. Already in 1798, he complained of tinnitus; it was difficult for him to distinguish high tones and understand a conversation conducted in a whisper. Horrified at the prospect of becoming an object of pity - a deaf composer, he told his close friend Karl Amenda about his illness, as well as doctors, who advised him to protect his hearing as much as possible. He continued to move in the circle of his Viennese friends, took part in musical evenings, and composed a lot. He managed to hide his deafness so well that until 1812 even people who often met him did not suspect how serious his illness was. The fact that during a conversation he often answered inappropriately was attributed to a bad mood or absent-mindedness.
In the summer of 1802, Beethoven retired to the quiet suburb of Vienna - Heiligenstadt. A stunning document appeared there - the “Heiligenstadt Testament”, the painful confession of a musician tormented by illness. The will is addressed to Beethoven's brothers (with instructions to read and execute after his death); in it he talks about his mental suffering: it is painful when “a person standing next to me hears a flute playing from afar, inaudible to me; or when someone hears a shepherd singing, but I cannot distinguish a sound.” But then, in a letter to Dr. Wegeler, he exclaims: “I will take fate by the throat!”, and the music that he continues to write confirms this decision: in the same summer the bright Second Symphony, op. 36, magnificent piano sonatas op. 31 and three violin sonatas, op. thirty.
Second period. "New way".
According to the “three-period” classification proposed in 1852 by one of the first researchers of Beethoven’s work, W. von Lenz, the second period approximately covers 1802–1815.
The final break with the past was more a realization, a continuation of the trends of the earlier period, than a conscious “declaration of independence”: Beethoven was not a theoretical reformer, like Gluck before him and Wagner after him. The first decisive breakthrough towards what Beethoven himself called the “new path” occurred in the Third Symphony (Eroica), work on which dates back to 1803–1804. Its duration is three times longer than any other symphony written previously. The first movement is music of extraordinary power, the second is a stunning outpouring of sorrow, the third is a witty, whimsical scherzo, and the finale is variations on a jubilant, holiday theme- its power far surpasses the traditional finales in the form of a rondo, composed by Beethoven's predecessors. It is often argued (and not without reason) that Beethoven initially dedicated the Eroica to Napoleon, but upon learning that he had proclaimed himself emperor, he canceled the dedication. “Now he will trample on the rights of man and satisfy only his own ambition,” these are, according to stories, the words of Beethoven when he tore up the title page of the score with the dedication. In the end, the Heroic was dedicated to one of the patrons - Prince Lobkowitz.
Works of the second period.
During these years, brilliant creations came out of his pen one after another. The composer's major works, listed in the order in which they appeared, form an incredible stream brilliant music, this imaginary sound world replaces for its creator the world of real sounds leaving him. It was a victorious self-affirmation, a reflection of the hard work of thought, evidence of a rich inner life musician.
We can name only the most important works of the second period: violin sonata in A major, op. 47 (Kreutzerova, 1802–1803); Third Symphony, op. 55 (Heroic, 1802–1805); oratorio Christ on the Mount of Olives, op. 85 (1803); piano sonatas: Waldstein, op. 53; F major, op. 54, Appassionata, op. 57 (1803–1815); Piano Concerto No. 4 in G Major, Op. 58 (1805–1806); Beethoven's only opera is Fidelio, op. 72 (1805, second edition 1806); three “Russian” quartets, op. 59 (dedicated to Count Razumovsky; 1805–1806); Fourth Symphony in B flat major, op. 60 (1806); violin concerto, op. 61 (1806); Overture to Collin's tragedy Coriolanus, op. 62 (1807); Mass in C major, op. 86 (1807); Fifth Symphony in C minor, op. 67 (1804–1808); Sixth Symphony, op. 68 (Pastoral, 1807–1808); cello sonata in A major, op. 69 (1807); two piano trios, op. 70 (1808); Piano Concerto No. 5, op. 73 (Emperor, 1809); quartet, op. 74 (Harp, 1809); piano sonata, op. 81a (Farewell, 1809–1910); three songs on poems by Goethe, op. 83 (1810); music for Goethe's tragedy Egmont, op. 84 (1809); Quartet in F minor, op. 95 (1810); Eighth Symphony in F major, op. 93 (1811–1812); piano trio in B flat major, op. 97 (Archduke, 1818).
The second period includes Beethoven's highest achievements in the genres of violin and piano concertos, violin and cello sonatas, and operas; The genre of piano sonata is represented by such masterpieces as the Appassionata and Waldstein. But even musicians were not always able to perceive the novelty of these compositions. They say that one of his colleagues once asked Beethoven whether he really considered one of the quartets dedicated to the Russian envoy in Vienna, Count Razumovsky, to be music. “Yes,” the composer answered, “but not for you, but for the future.”
The source of inspiration for a number of compositions were the romantic feelings that Beethoven felt for some of his high-society students. This probably refers to the two sonatas “quasi una Fantasia”, Op. 27 (published in 1802). The second of them (later named “Lunar”) is dedicated to Countess Juliet Guicciardi. Beethoven even thought about proposing to her, but realized in time that a deaf musician was not a suitable match for a flirtatious social beauty. Other ladies he knew rejected him; one of them called him a “freak” and “half crazy.” The situation was different with the Brunswick family, in which Beethoven gave music lessons to two older sisters - Theresa (“Tesi”) and Josephine (“Pepi”). The assumption has long been discarded that the addressee of the message to the “Immortal Beloved”, found in Beethoven’s papers after his death, was Teresa, but modern researchers do not rule out that this addressee was Josephine. In any case, the idyllic Fourth Symphony owes its concept to Beethoven's stay at the Brunswick Hungarian estate in the summer of 1806.
The Fourth, Fifth and Sixth (Pastoral) symphonies were composed in 1804–1808. The fifth, probably the most famous symphony in the world, opens with a brief motif about which Beethoven said: “Thus fate knocks at the door.” The Seventh and Eighth Symphonies were completed in 1812.
In 1804, Beethoven willingly accepted the order to compose an opera, since success in Vienna opera stage meant fame and money. The plot in brief was as follows: a brave, enterprising woman, dressed in men's clothing, saves her beloved husband, imprisoned by a cruel tyrant, and exposes the latter before the people. To avoid confusion with a pre-existing opera based on this plot - Leonore Gaveau, Beethoven's work was called Fidelio, after the name taken by the heroine in disguise. Of course, Beethoven had no experience composing for the theater. Highlights the melodramas are marked by excellent music, but in other sections the lack of dramatic flair does not allow the composer to rise above the operatic routine (although he very much strived for this: in Fidelio there are fragments that were reworked up to eighteen times). Nevertheless, the opera gradually won over listeners (during the composer’s lifetime there were three productions of it in different editions - in 1805, 1806 and 1814). It can be argued that the composer did not put so much effort into any other composition.
Beethoven, as already mentioned, deeply revered the works of Goethe, composed several songs based on his texts, music for his tragedy Egmont, but met Goethe only in the summer of 1812, when they ended up together at a resort in Teplitz. The refined manners of the great poet and the harsh behavior of the composer did not contribute to their rapprochement. “His talent amazed me extremely, but, unfortunately, he has an indomitable temper, and the world seems to him a hateful creation,” says Goethe in one of his letters.
Friendship with Archduke Rudolf.
Beethoven's friendship with Rudolf, the Austrian Archduke and half-brother of the Emperor, is one of the most interesting historical stories. Around 1804, the Archduke, then 16 years old, began taking piano lessons from the composer. Despite the huge difference in social status, teacher and student felt sincere affection for each other. Appearing for lessons at the Archduke's palace, Beethoven had to pass by countless lackeys, call his student “Your Highness” and fight his amateurish attitude towards music. And he did all this with amazing patience, although he never hesitated to cancel lessons if he was busy composing. Commissioned by the Archduke, such works as the piano sonata Farewell, the Triple Concerto, the last and most grandiose Fifth Piano Concerto, and the Solemn Mass (Missa solemnis) were created. It was originally intended for the ceremony of the Archduke's elevation to the rank of Archbishop of Olmütz, but was not completed on time. The Archduke, Prince Kinsky and Prince Lobkowitz established a kind of scholarship for the composer who had brought glory to Vienna, but received no support from the city authorities, and the Archduke turned out to be the most reliable of the three patrons. During the Congress of Vienna in 1814, Beethoven derived considerable material benefit from communicating with the aristocracy and kindly listened to compliments - he managed to at least partially hide the contempt for the court “brilliance” that he always felt.
Last years. The composer's financial situation improved noticeably. Publishers hunted for his scores and ordered works such as large piano variations on a theme of Diabelli's waltz (1823). His caring friends, especially A. Schindler, who was deeply devoted to Beethoven, observing the musician’s chaotic and deprived lifestyle and hearing his complaints that he had been “robbed” (Beethoven became unreasonably suspicious and was ready to blame almost everyone around him for the worst ), could not understand where he was putting the money. They didn’t know that the composer was putting them off, but he wasn’t doing it for himself. When his brother Kaspar died in 1815, the composer became one of the guardians of his ten-year-old nephew Karl. Beethoven's love for the boy and his desire to ensure his future came into conflict with the distrust that the composer felt towards Karl's mother; as a result, he only constantly quarreled with both, and this situation colored the last period of his life with a tragic light. During the years when Beethoven sought full guardianship, he composed little.
Beethoven's deafness became almost complete. By 1819, he had to completely switch to communicating with his interlocutors using a slate board or paper and pencil (the so-called Beethoven conversation notebooks have been preserved). Fully immersed in such works as the majestic Solemn Mass in D major (1818) or the Ninth Symphony, he behaved strangely and alarmingly to strangers: he “sang, howled, stamped his feet, and in general it seemed as if he was engaged in a mortal struggle with an invisible enemy” (Schindler). The brilliant last quartets, the last five piano sonatas - grandiose in scale, unusual in form and style - seemed to many contemporaries to be the works of a madman. And yet, Viennese listeners recognized the nobility and greatness of Beethoven's music; they felt that they were dealing with a genius. In 1824, during the performance of the Ninth Symphony with its choral finale to the text of Schiller's Ode to Joy (An die Freude), Beethoven stood next to the conductor. The hall was captivated by the powerful climax at the end of the symphony, the audience went wild, but Beethoven did not turn around. One of the singers had to take him by the sleeve and turn him to face the audience so that the composer bowed.
The fate of others later works was more complex. Many years passed after Beethoven's death, and only then did the most receptive musicians begin to perform his last quartets (including the Grand Fugue, Op. 33) and the last piano sonatas, revealing to people these highest, most beautiful achievements of Beethoven. Sometimes Beethoven's late style is characterized as contemplative, abstract, in some cases neglecting the laws of euphony; in fact, this music is an endless source of powerful and intelligent spiritual energy.
Beethoven died in Vienna on March 26, 1827 from pneumonia, complicated by jaundice and dropsy.
Beethoven's contribution to world culture.
Beethoven continued the general line of development of the symphony, sonata, and quartet genres outlined by his predecessors. However, his interpretation known forms and genres were distinguished by great freedom; we can say that Beethoven expanded their boundaries in time and space. He did not expand the composition of the symphony orchestra that had developed by his time, but his scores require, firstly, a larger number of performers in each part, and secondly, the performing skill of each orchestra member, incredible in his era; in addition, Beethoven was very sensitive to the individual expressiveness of each instrumental timbre. The piano in his works is not a close relative of the elegant harpsichord: the entire extended range of the instrument, all its dynamic capabilities, are used.
In the areas of melody, harmony, and rhythm, Beethoven often resorts to the technique of sudden change and contrast. One form of contrast is the contrast between decisive themes with a clear rhythm and more lyrical, smoothly flowing sections. Sharp dissonances and unexpected modulations into distant keys are also an important feature of Beethoven's harmony. He expanded the range of tempos used in music and often resorted to dramatic, impulsive changes in dynamics. Sometimes the contrast appears as a manifestation of Beethoven's characteristically somewhat crude humor - this happens in his frantic scherzos, which in his symphonies and quartets often replace a more sedate minuet.
Unlike his predecessor Mozart, Beethoven had difficulty composing. Notebooks Beethoven is shown how gradually, step by step, a grandiose composition emerges from uncertain sketches, marked by a convincing logic of construction and rare beauty. Just one example: in the original sketch of the famous “fate motif” that opens the Fifth Symphony, it was assigned to the flute, which means that the theme had a completely different figurative meaning. Powerful artistic intelligence allows the composer to turn a disadvantage into an advantage: Beethoven contrasts Mozart’s spontaneity and instinctive sense of perfection with unsurpassed musical and dramatic logic. It is she who is the main source of Beethoven's greatness, his incomparable ability to organize contrasting elements into a monolithic whole. Beethoven erases traditional caesuras between sections of form, avoids symmetry, merges parts of the cycle, and develops extended constructions from thematic and rhythmic motifs, which at first glance do not contain anything interesting. In other words, Beethoven creates musical space with the power of his mind, his own will. He anticipated and created those artistic directions, which became decisive for the musical art of the 19th century. And today his works are among the greatest, most revered creations of human genius.
Greetings, dear readers of the site dedicated to the work of Beethoven. It would be logical to start the section with the childhood of the great composer, which is what we will do.
In fact, not much is known about Ludwig's childhood. However, we know that the musical future of little Beethoven was planned or, one might even say, “destined” from his very early childhood, for some representatives of his family were directly connected with musical activity.
Beethoven's musical prophecy
A little background. German city Bonn, located in the western part of Germany, is part of the state of North Rhine-Westphalia. The Rhine River, which flows close to the city, certainly gives it charm and charm.
Modern Bonn is the result of centuries of development and constant improvement. During its existence, it managed to “accumulate” a truly amazing number of attractions, among which are the famous Commende Castle, Cathedral Square, the center of which is marked by the Monastery of St. Martin, the Museum of Arithmetic...
But the city of Bonn is interesting to you and me for another reason - I was born in this wonderful city great composer to which our site is dedicated.
If you dig really deep, it all started with the fact that in 1733 a musician was invited to the Bonn court chapel - this was the grandfather of the future great composer.
Bonn was at that time the capital of the Electorate Cologne, in which the ruler (elector) was chosen not by citizens, but by the Church. As a rule, potential rulers were princes or archbishops who were relatives of the current rulers.
The ruler of Cologne and some neighboring electors at that time was Clemens August - a very educated and enlightened person. At that time, he had just completed the construction of a new palace and theater in Bonn and, given his love of culture, was not against enjoying wonderful music (what else was left for him when his subordinates did all the work for him - almost all the residents of Bonn worked in one way or another for the benefit of the Elector). It was with him that Ludwig van Beethoven the Elder was noticed, after which he was invited to Bonn.
Having settled in Bonn, Ludwig the Elder initially found a job as a courtier singer-bassist(1733), and then completely rose to bandmaster(1761, after the death of Clemens Augustus).
And, in general, Ludwig the Elder was a very respected man in Bonn— passers-by recognized him, greeted him, and bowed to him when they met him on the street. But, despite the respect from the inhabitants of Bonn, Ludwig the Elder, like any other choir musician, was not swimming in gold, for the greedy Elector Maximilian Friedrich , who replaced Clemens August after his death, was not particularly generous to musicians (just like his predecessor).*I remind you that Ludwig the Elder became bandmaster only after the death of Clemens August. Before that he was just a singer.
In this regard, in addition to his musical activities, Ludwig the Elder was engaged in business related to the wine trade. At first, this activity was not particularly difficult for the musician, since he owned 2 small wine cellars, and the wine was sold mainly by his wife.
However, it is worth noting that the trade in alcoholic beverages gradually contributed to the development of Ludwig the Elder’s wife’s passion for alcohol, and therefore he was forced to send his wife to a monastery for the rest of her days, because her addictions negatively affected the authority of the accomplished musician.
The bright name of Ludwig the Elder was spoiled not only by his drunken wife, but also, probably, by his most important disappointment - his own son, who later became the father of Ludwig the Younger, the future great composer to whom our site is dedicated.
The daughter of a chef from Koblenz, she married Johann van Beethoven when she was 19 years old. It is worth noting that for Mary Magdalene this was the second marriage - her first husband died about a year after his marriage.
Ludwig was the second of seven children of Johann and Mary Magdalene, given that their firstborn had passed away. As for Beethoven's younger brothers - only two of them will also survive - , born 4 years later, and also, born 6 years after Ludwig.
Although the Keverich family (Ludwig’s mother) was not fabulously rich, in terms of social status it formally stood above the Beethoven family - among Mary Magdalene’s closest relatives there were merchants, advisers and even senators. As for the personal qualities of Beethoven’s mother, contemporaries note her unusually kind character and how she strove to make her son’s childhood as carefree as possible.
The birth of a genius. Beethoven's childhood
Like his grandparents, the parents of the future great composer Ludwig got married in Church of Saint Remigius, which was not far from the house.
It was in the same church that Ludwig, who was born the day before, was then baptized. However, this church has not survived - already during Ludwig’s life, a smaller church was built in its place, where a little later Beethoven played the organ.
Speaking about the composer’s date of birth, it is probably worth mentioning two dates at once:
- 16.12.1770 - the day Beethoven was born (most likely. December 15 is also possible, but less likely);
- 17.12.1770 - the day when Beethoven was baptized (according to the customs of those times, infants had to be baptized within 24 hours after birth).
It is worth noting that the composer himself believed that his true date of birth was 1772 and stubbornly insisted on this date. However, all the materials of that time prove that Beethoven was wrong, and he was still born in 1770.
Beethoven's primary general and musical education
Ludwig spent the first years of his childhood with his family in the harmonious and fruitful atmosphere of Bonn. Johann Beethoven (father) had, in principle, a good financial position, but he could not afford to live in luxury. Ludwig the Elder, the future composer's grandfather, provided significant financial support to his son's family.
However, such a harmonious atmosphere gradually fades away after the death of Ludwig the Elder on December 24, 1773 (right on Christmas). Without his father's support, it becomes much more difficult for Johann to provide for his family. And Johann’s passion for alcohol required more money than a mediocre tenor could earn in the chapel.
Gradually, the insidious demon of alcohol, which possessed Ludwig’s father, forces the latter to sell various property assets of the family, including items of his own inheritance. That same family harmony deteriorates in direct proportion to Johann’s drinking habits.
In 1775, Johann Beethoven and his family moved to the Zoom Walfish house, owned by a local baker named Fisher. This house, in which Johann and his father periodically lived before this move, was located on Rhine Street (Rheingasse, 934), named after the Rhine River, which flowed nearby in the most beautiful landscape. Apparently, it was here that little Ludwig’s love for nature began to manifest itself. Now this house does not exist - it was destroyed in 1944 during an air raid, and according to new maps it should be on the same street, but already in the area of house number 24 (now the Beethoven Hotel is located next door to this address).
Later, one of the first friends of the future composer, the son of that same baker Fischer, will tell in his manuscripts about how little Beethoven, sitting by the window, watched these landscapes, almost plunging into a trance. But at the same time, according to the same Fischer, Ludwig was not some boring melancholic, but, on the contrary, he was still a “lively” and mischievous boy.
Until the age of 10, Ludwig attended school. Little Beethoven clearly did not have a mathematical mind, but, on the contrary, was interested in languages, philosophy, poetry, and, in general, read a lot. This, let’s call it “good” habit, haunted Beethoven for the rest of his life.
Although Beethoven did not graduate from school due to an even greater deterioration in the family’s financial situation, he would soon still be actively studying Latin, as well as French and Italian.
Unfortunately, Ludwig's father, Johann, was not the most exemplary parent. Being, although not an outstanding, but in principle a good musician (violinist and tenorist), Johann is imprinted in biographical sources primarily as an alcoholic who terrorized his talented son in order to raise a “second Mozart” in order to earn money on his name.
Teaching little Ludwig to play the violin and harpsichord, the gloomy and unpredictable Johann, being his first teacher, showed incredible severity and cruelty, systematically beating the future great composer for every mistake. Of course: after all, Ludwig, unlike his older colleague, Mozart, wasn't a child prodigy, and therefore could not absorb the flow of musical skills that his father imposed on him.
And yet it is worth noting that the music lessons that he taught little Ludwig (albeit with cruelty and lack of competent methodology) certainly played a significant role in the upbringing of the genius.
Little Beethoven's musical achievements progressed, although not at the same incredible speed as Mozart had at a similar age, but it was still enough for the boy to play at concerts in Cologne at the court of the then Elector at the age of 7. Maximilian Friedrich Koenigseg-Rotenfelsky, however, apparently, the boy did not produce a special “wow effect” on the public at that time.
It is worth noting that Johann not only gave lessons to his son himself, but also attracted other teachers. During his childhood, Ludwig was taughtat least 5 teachers. One of them wasGilles van der Eeden - an old organist of the chapel and a friend of Beethoven’s then deceased grandfather, Ludwig the Elder. At Johann's request, he began to teach Ludwig, and for free.
Another teacher of the little musician known to us after Eden was a very talented musician, but also a drinking companion of Ludwig’s father, a tenor vocalist Tobias Pfeiffer .
Although the latter was a fairly talented musician and played various instruments, his teaching methods were not the most effective. In particular, it was common for him to get drunk with Ludwig's father, and at night suddenly remember that “today he forgot to teach his son a lesson”.
As a result, Pfeiffer could simply wake up the sleeping Ludwig, whom he dragged to the harpsichord with tears. In turn, Johann only approved of this manner of “teaching.” However, it is worth noting that Beethoven, as it later turns out, did not have such a negative attitude towards this teacher and in the future, having moved to Vienna, he even thanked Pfeiffer by providing him with financial assistance.
Later, Pfeiffer was replaced by another teacher of Ludwig - an organist Willibald Koch . We do not know how good a teacher he was for the young prodigy, but we know that it was at this time that Ludwig was already playing the organ well.
Moreover, at moments when Koch was unable to play the organ due to lack of time (he was a monk and played during church service), little Beethoven easily replaced him, because he was already playing quite decently.
Another teacher of Ludwig was another monk with the surname Hanzman. It is only known that Ludwig simply hated this teacher, unlike the same Koch.
Well, it’s probably worth mentioning Franz Georg Rovantini , who taught Ludwig violin and viola for some time, but died suddenly in 1781. By the way, the Rovantini and Beethoven families were related. Rovantini's maternal grandmother, Maria Magdalena Daubach (1699–1762) and Ludwig's maternal grandmother, Anna Clara Keverich (1704–1768), were the daughters of Jacob Westorf and his wife, Maria Magdalene.
Nefe - one of Beethoven's best teachers
It just so happened that since 1779 a wonderful theater troupe settled in Bonn Grossman, of which he was the musical director (by the way, it was together with Grossman’s troupe that the above-mentioned Tobias Pfeiffer arrived in Bonn).
And after the death in 1782 of that same Eden, who some time ago taught little Ludwig to play the organ, Nefe becomes court organist(It is worth noting that Nefe received his last position with great difficulty, because he did not belong to the Catholic Church, but he still succeeded).
By a fortunate circumstance, the smartest man and brilliant teacher Nefe took up the task of teaching little Ludwig. The latter, in turn, thanks to his talent and quick learner, soon became an unofficial assistant to organist Nefe, sometimes replacing him at work.
Without a doubt, Nefe not only taught Beethoven musical disciplines, but also instilled in him a love of literature and philosophy, in which he himself was very strong. Nefe was a very good teacher for Ludwig, and largely thanks to him, the young musician’s talent developed very intensively.
It was Nefe who instilled in Ludwig a love for the works of Handel and Bach. It is worth noting that in those days few people knew about Bach’s famous “HTK” - these works were especially rare, but at the same time extremely valuable for any musician. In general, it was Nefe who turned out to be not only a good teacher for Ludwig, but also his first mentor, who opened his eyes to many aspects of life.
It was under Nef and not without his authoritative gaze from the outside that young Ludwig wrote his first essays. These were written for the piano (1782-83).As a theme for the variations, Ludwig took "March" Ernst Dressler - Kassel opera singer, about which almost nothing is known now:
In general, until the end of his life, Ludwig was very fond of this genre (variations). This is understandable - being simply a brilliant improviser, Beethoven could take any theme as a basis and, sitting at the piano, endlessly develop this theme in any key.
Literally after composing these Variations, Ludwig created them, dedicating them to the then Elector - the already old Maximilian Friedrich.
There is even an opinion among biographers that the young and cunning Beethoven, when composing these 3 sonatas, pursued the goal of material gain. After all, in theory, the elector, having received such a gift, could generously thank Ludwig.However, in any case, the stingy Maximilian Friedrich simply accepted this gift, and that’s all.
In parallel with his studies with Nefe, Ludwig is very interested in theatrical life Bonna. He was especially attracted to the famous aforementioned Grossman troupe, which was located in Bonn at that time. By the way, this troupe had its own orchestra, the composition of which was not inferior to the Bonn Chapel. Considering that the musical director of the theater was the teacher of Ludwig Nefe, the young and curious Beethoven had the opportunity to observe the rehearsals and performances of the troupe.
Several times Ludwig even worked part-time at this theater (again, thanks to Nefa). He loved to communicate with the members of the troupe, personally learned vocal parts with them and received great pleasure from it. Of course, the close connection with Grossman’s troupe also affected Beethoven’s upbringing. The little musician was especially influenced by the strong discipline that reigned in this troupe. Also, largely thanks to this troupe, Ludwig meets opera art different countries.
Personnel reforms within the chapel
In 1784, Maximilian Frederick dies and is succeeded by another Elector - Maximilian Franz . After some time, the new elector decided to make cost-effective personnel changes among the chapel staff, demanding from his advisers information about all the chapel workers (there were 36 in total).
Along with the personnel reform, the new elector suspends the activities of the “national theater.” Consequently, Grossman’s troupe also disbanded, the actors of which dispersed to different cities.
One of the Elector's advisers suggested that he dismiss Nefe and appoint Ludwig to his position. Considering that Ludwig was working for free at the time, from the councilor's point of view, the young organist could "gladly work for a salary that was 3 times less than his teacher." Moreover, by that time Ludwig played the organ very well and could have completely replaced his teacher, because Beethoven’s skills would have been quite sufficient to perform not the most complex “church” repertoire.
This adviser, to put it mildly, did not like Nefe, because he was not a Catholic, but a Calvinist. This, in principle, explained the fact that he did not ask to fire Johann Beethoven (Ludwig’s father), who was much less valuable to the choir, already famous for his love of alcohol, although he himself partially recognized his uselessness. And, in general, apparently, he had a very positive attitude towards the Beethovens.
However, Maximilian Franz, despite the obvious economic benefits, kept Nefe in his position, but at the same time cut his salary by half. Moreover, he now officially appointed Ludwig to the position "assistant organist", and now the young musician is already receiving money for it.
Perhaps, the very productive activities with Nefe can be called the end of the “childhood period” in the biography of Ludwig van Beethoven.
A few words about Beethoven's childhood friends
Of course, his close friends who lived near his home had a positive influence on young Beethoven. Medical student France Gerhard Wegeler became a close friend of Ludwig and remained so until the end of the great composer's life.
The list of Beethoven's close friends from 1784 until the very end of his life also included Eleanor Breuning , who later became Wegeler's wife, as well as her brothers: Christophe , Stephen And Lorenz(Lenz). By the way, later young Ludwig taught Elernor and Lenz to play the piano.
The Breunings, being representatives of an educated and cultured family, became simply family to Beethoven. And their mother, a very smart and intelligent widow, treated the friend of her own children as her own son. Young Ludwig often liked to stay at the Breunings' house, and also from time to time traveled around the country with them (in the future).
In the future, we will make separate issues about each character from Ludwig’s life.
Other periods of Beethoven's biography:
- Next period:
All information about Beethoven's Biography
My willingness to serve poor suffering humanity with my art has never, since childhood... needed any reward other than inner satisfaction...
L. Beethoven
Musical Europe was still full of rumors about the brilliant miracle child - W. A. Mozart, when Ludwig van Beethoven was born in Bonn, into the family of a tenorist of the court chapel. He was baptized on December 17, 1770, naming him in honor of his grandfather, a venerable bandmaster, a native of Flanders. Beethoven received his first musical knowledge from his father and his colleagues. His father wanted him to become a “second Mozart” and forced his son to practice even at night. Beethoven did not become a child prodigy, but he discovered his talent as a composer quite early. He was greatly influenced by K. Nefe, who taught him composition and playing the organ, a man of advanced aesthetic and political convictions. Due to the poverty of the family, Beethoven was forced to enter the service very early: at the age of 13 he was enrolled in the chapel as an assistant organist; later worked as an accompanist at the National Theater in Bonn. In 1787, he visited Vienna and met his idol, Mozart, who, after listening to the young man’s improvisation, said: “Pay attention to him; he will someday make the world talk about himself.” Beethoven failed to become Mozart's student: a serious illness and the death of his mother forced him to hastily return to Bonn. There Beethoven found moral support in the enlightened Breuning family and became close to the university environment, which shared the most progressive views. The ideas of the French Revolution were enthusiastically received by Beethoven's Bonn friends and had a strong influence on the formation of his democratic beliefs.
In Bonn, Beethoven wrote a number of large and small works: 2 cantatas for soloists, choir and orchestra, 3 piano quartets, several piano sonatas (now called sonatinas). It should be noted that the sonatinas known to all beginning pianists salt And F major, according to researchers, do not belong to Beethoven, but are only attributed, but another, truly Beethoven Sonatina in F major, discovered and published in 1909, remains, as it were, in the shadows and is not played by anyone. A large part of Bonn's creativity also consists of variations and songs intended for amateur music-making. Among them are the familiar song “Groundhog”, the touching “Elegy for the Death of a Poodle”, the rebellious poster-like “Free Man”, the dreamy “Sigh of the Unloved and Happy Love”, containing a prototype of the future theme of joy from the Ninth Symphony, “Sacrifice Song”, which Beethoven loved her so much that he returned to her 5 times ( latest edition- 1824). Despite the freshness and brightness of his youthful compositions, Beethoven understood that he needed to study seriously.
In November 1792, he finally left Bonn and moved to Vienna, the largest musical center in Europe. Here he studied counterpoint and composition with J. Haydn, J. Schenk, J. Albrechtsberger and A. Salieri. Although the student was obstinate, he studied zealously and subsequently spoke with gratitude of all his teachers. At the same time, Beethoven began performing as a pianist and soon gained fame as an unsurpassed improviser and a brilliant virtuoso. On his first and last long tour (1796), he captivated the audiences of Prague, Berlin, Dresden, and Bratislava. Patronage to the young virtuoso Many notable music lovers provided assistance - K. Likhnovsky, F. Lobkowitz, F. Kinsky, Russian Ambassador A. Razumovsky and others; Beethoven's sonatas, trios, quartets, and later even symphonies were first heard in their salons. Their names can be found in the dedications of many of the composer's works. However, Beethoven's manner of dealing with his patrons was almost unheard of at the time. Proud and independent, he did not forgive anyone for trying to humiliate his dignity. The legendary words uttered by the composer to the patron of the arts who insulted him are known: “There have been and will be thousands of princes, but there is only one Beethoven.” Of the many aristocratic women who were Beethoven's students, Ertman, the sisters T. and J. Bruns, and M. Erdedi became his constant friends and promoters of his music. Although he did not like to teach, Beethoven was nevertheless the teacher of K. Czerny and F. Ries in piano (both of them later won European fame) and the Archduke Rudolf of Austria in composition.
In the first Viennese decade, Beethoven wrote mainly piano and chamber music. In 1792-1802 3 piano concertos and 2 dozen sonatas were created. Of these, only Sonata No. 8 (“ Pathetic") has the author's title. Sonata No. 14, which bears the subtitle of a fantasy sonata, was called “Moonlight” by the romantic poet L. Relshtab. Stable names were also established for sonatas No. 12 (“With Funeral March”), No. 17 (“With Recitatives”) and later ones: No. 21 (“Aurora”) and No. 23 (“Appassionata”). The first Viennese period includes, in addition to the piano ones, 9 (out of 10) violin sonatas (including No. 5 - “Spring”, No. 9 - “Kreutzer”; both titles are also not the author’s); 2 cello sonatas, 6 string quartets, a number of ensembles for various instruments (including the cheerfully gallant Septet).
Since the beginning of the 19th century. Beethoven also began as a symphonist: in 1800 he completed his First Symphony, and in 1802 his Second. At the same time, his only oratorio, “Christ on the Mount of Olives,” was written. The first signs of an incurable disease - progressive deafness - that appeared in 1797 and the realization of the hopelessness of all attempts to treat the disease led Beethoven to a mental crisis in 1802, which was reflected in the famous document - the “Heiligenstadt Testament”. The way out of the crisis was creativity: “... A little was missing for me to commit suicide,” the composer wrote. - “It was only art that held me back.”
1802-12 - the time of the brilliant flowering of Beethoven's genius. His deeply developed ideas of overcoming suffering through the power of spirit and the victory of light over darkness after a fierce struggle turned out to be consonant with the basic ideas of the French Revolution and the liberation movements of the early 19th century. These ideas were embodied in the Third (“Eroic”) and Fifth Symphonies, in the tyrannical opera “Fidelio”, in the music for the tragedy of J. V. Goethe “Egmont”, in Sonata No. 23 (“Appassionata”). The composer was also inspired by the philosophical and ethical ideas of the Enlightenment, which he perceived in his youth. The natural world appears full of dynamic harmony in the Sixth (“Pastoral”) Symphony, in the Violin Concerto, in the piano (No. 21) and violin (No. 10) sonatas. Folk or close to folk melodies are heard in the Seventh Symphony and in quartets Nos. 7-9 (the so-called “Russian” ones - they are dedicated to A. Razumovsky; Quartet No. 8 contains 2 melodies of Russian folk songs: used much later also by N. Rimsky-Korsakov “Glory” and “Oh, is my talent, talent”). The Fourth Symphony is full of powerful optimism, the Eighth Symphony is permeated with humor and slightly ironic nostalgia for the times of Haydn and Mozart. The virtuoso genre is treated epically and monumentally in the Fourth and Fifth Piano Concertos, as well as in the Triple Concerto for violin, cello and piano with orchestra. In all these works, the style of Viennese classicism with its life-affirming belief in reason, goodness and justice, expressed at the conceptual level as a movement “through suffering to joy” (from Beethoven’s letter to M. Erdedi), and at the compositional level, found the most complete and final embodiment of the style of Viennese classicism - as a balance between unity and diversity and adherence to strict proportions at the largest scale of the composition.
1812-15 - turning points in the political and spiritual life of Europe. The period of the Napoleonic wars and the rise of the liberation movement was followed by the Congress of Vienna (1814-15), after which in domestic and foreign policy European countries Reactionary-monarchist tendencies intensified. The style of heroic classicism, expressing the spirit of revolutionary renewal at the end of the 18th century. and patriotic sentiments of the beginning of the 19th century, should inevitably either turn into pompous and official art, or give way to romanticism, which became the leading trend in literature and managed to make itself known in music (F. Schubert). Beethoven also had to solve these complex spiritual problems. He paid tribute to the victorious jubilation by creating a spectacular symphonic fantasy“The Battle of Vittoria” and the cantata “Happy Moment”, the premieres of which were timed to coincide with the Vienna Congress and brought Beethoven unprecedented success. However, in other works of 1813-17. reflected a persistent and sometimes painful search for new paths. At this time, cello (Nos. 4, 5) and piano (Nos. 27, 28) sonatas, several dozen arrangements of songs of different nations for voice and ensemble, and the first vocal cycle in the history of the genre “To a Distant Beloved” (1815) were written. The style of these works is, as it were, experimental, with many ingenious discoveries, but not always as integral as in the period of “revolutionary classicism.”
The last decade of Beethoven's life was marred both by the general oppressive political and spiritual atmosphere in Metternich's Austria and by personal adversity and upheaval. The composer's deafness became complete; from 1818 he was forced to use “conversation notebooks” in which his interlocutors wrote questions addressed to him. Having lost hope of personal happiness (the name of the “immortal beloved” to whom Farewell letter Beethoven from July 6-7, 1812, remains unknown; some researchers consider her to be J. Brunswik-Dame, others - A. Brentano), Beethoven took upon himself the responsibility of raising his nephew Karl, the son of his younger brother who died in 1815. This led to a long-term (1815-20) legal battle with the boy's mother over sole custody rights. The capable but frivolous nephew caused Beethoven a lot of grief. The contrast between sad and sometimes tragic life circumstances and the ideal beauty of the works created is a manifestation of the spiritual feat that made Beethoven one of the heroes of European culture of the New Age.
Creativity 1817-26 marked a new rise in Beethoven's genius and at the same time became an epilogue to the era of musical classicism. Before last days Remaining faithful to classical ideals, the composer found new forms and means of their implementation, bordering on romantic ones, but not turning into them. Late style Beethoven is a unique aesthetic phenomenon. The central idea for Beethoven of the dialectical relationship of contrasts, the struggle between light and darkness, acquires an emphatically philosophical sound in his late work. Victory over suffering is no longer achieved through heroic action, but through the movement of spirit and thought. A great master of the sonata form, in which dramatic conflicts previously developed, Beethoven in his later works often turns to the fugue form, which is most suitable for embodying the gradual formation of a generalized philosophical idea. The last 5 piano sonatas (Nos. 28-32) and the last 5 quartets (Nos. 12-16) are distinguished by a particularly complex and sophisticated musical language, requiring the greatest skill from the performers, and soulful perception from the listeners. 33 variations on the Waltz of Diabelli and Bagateli op. 126 are also true masterpieces, despite the difference in scale. Later creativity Beethoven has long been a source of controversy. Of his contemporaries, only a few were able to understand and appreciate his latest works. One of these people was N. Golitsyn, on whose order the quartets No. , and were written and dedicated to him. The overture “Consecration of the House” (1822) is dedicated to him.
In 1823, Beethoven completed the “Solemn Mass,” which he considered his greatest work. This mass, designed more for concert than for religious performance, became one of the landmark phenomena in the German oratorio tradition (G. Schütz, J. S. Bach, G. F. Handel, W. A. Mozart, I. Haydn). The first mass (1807) was not inferior to the masses of Haydn and Mozart, but did not become a new word in the history of the genre, like the “Solemn”, which embodied all the skill of Beethoven as a symphonist and playwright. Turning to the canonical Latin text, Beethoven highlighted in it the idea of self-sacrifice in the name of the happiness of people and introduced into the final plea for peace the passionate pathos of the denial of war as the greatest evil. With the assistance of Golitsyn, the “Solemn Mass” was first performed on April 7, 1824 in St. Petersburg. A month later, Beethoven’s last benefit concert took place in Vienna, in which, in addition to parts from the mass, his final Ninth Symphony was performed with a final chorus based on the words of “Ode to Joy” by F. Schiller. The idea of overcoming suffering and the triumph of light is consistently carried through the entire symphony and is expressed with utmost clarity at the end thanks to the introduction poetic text, which Beethoven dreamed of setting to music back in Bonn. The Ninth Symphony with its final call - “Embrace, millions!” - became Beethoven’s ideological testament to humanity and had a profound impact on symphony in the 19th and 20th centuries.
Beethoven's traditions were adopted and one way or another continued by G. Berlioz, F. Liszt, J. Brahms, A. Bruckner, G. Mahler, S. Prokofiev, D. Shostakovich. Beethoven was also revered as a teacher by the composers of the New Viennese school - the “father of dodecaphony” A. Schoenberg, the passionate humanist A. Berg, the innovator and lyricist A. Webern. In December 1911, Webern wrote to Berg: “Few things are as wonderful as the holiday of Christmas. ... Isn’t this how we should celebrate Beethoven’s birthday?” Many musicians and music lovers would agree with this proposal, because for thousands (and perhaps millions) of people, Beethoven remains not only one of the greatest geniuses of all times and peoples, but also the personification of an unfading ethical ideal, an inspirer of the oppressed, a consoler of the suffering, a faithful friend in sorrow and joy.
L. Kirillina
Beethoven is one of the greatest phenomena of world culture. His work ranks alongside the art of such titans of artistic thought as Tolstoy, Rembrandt, and Shakespeare. In terms of philosophical depth, democratic orientation, and courage of innovation, Beethoven has no equal in musical art Europe of past centuries.
Beethoven's work captured the great awakening of peoples, the heroism and drama of the revolutionary era. Addressed to all progressive humanity, his music was a bold challenge to the aesthetics of the feudal aristocracy.
Beethoven's worldview was formed under the influence revolutionary movement, which spread in the leading circles of society at the turn of the 18th and XIX centuries. As its unique reflection on German soil, the bourgeois-democratic Enlightenment took shape in Germany. Protest against social oppression and despotism determined the leading directions of German philosophy, literature, poetry, theater and music.
Lessing raised the banner of the struggle for the ideals of humanism, reason and freedom. The works of Schiller and young Goethe were imbued with a civic feeling. The playwrights of the Sturm und Drang movement rebelled against the petty morality of feudal-bourgeois society. The challenge to the reactionary nobility is heard in Lessing’s “Nathan the Wise,” in Goethe’s “Götz von Berlichingen,” and in Schiller’s “The Robbers” and “Cunning and Love.” The ideas of the struggle for civil liberties permeate Schiller's Don Carlos and William Tell. Tension social contradictions reflected in the image of Goethe’s Werther, the “rebellious martyr,” as Pushkin put it. The spirit of challenge marked every outstanding work of art of that era created on German soil. Beethoven's work was the most general and artistically perfect expression in the art of popular movements in Germany at the turn of the 18th and 19th centuries.
The great social upheaval in France had a direct and powerful impact on Beethoven. This brilliant musician, a contemporary of the revolution, was born in an era that perfectly suited his talent and his titanic nature. With rare creative power and emotional acuity, Beethoven sang the majesty and tension of his time, its stormy drama, the joys and sorrows of the gigantic masses. To this day, Beethoven's art remains unsurpassed as an artistic expression of feelings of civic heroism.
The revolutionary theme in no way exhausts Beethoven's legacy. Undoubtedly, the most outstanding Beethoven works belong to the art of heroic-dramatic nature. The main features of his aesthetics are most clearly embodied in works that reflect the theme of struggle and victory, glorifying the universal democratic principle of life and the desire for freedom. “Eroica”, Fifth and Ninth symphonies, overtures “Coriolanus”, “Egmont”, “Leonore”, “Sonata Pathétique” and “Appassionata” - it was this circle of works that almost immediately won Beethoven the widest world recognition. And in fact, Beethoven’s music differs from the structure of thought and manner of expression of its predecessors primarily in its effectiveness, tragic power, and grandiose scale. It is not surprising that his innovation in the heroic-tragic sphere, earlier than in others, attracted general attention; It was mainly on the basis of Beethoven's dramatic works that both his contemporaries and the generations immediately following them made judgments about his work as a whole.
However, the world of Beethoven's music is staggeringly diverse. There are other fundamentally important aspects to his art, outside of which his perception will inevitably be one-sided, narrow and therefore distorted. And above all, this depth and complexity of the intellectual principle inherent in it.
The psychology of the new man, freed from feudal shackles, is revealed in Beethoven not only in terms of conflict and tragedy, but also through the sphere of high inspired thought. His hero, possessing indomitable courage and passion, is also endowed with a rich, finely developed intellect. He is not only a fighter, but also a thinker; Along with action, he is characterized by a tendency to concentrated thinking. No secular composer before Beethoven achieved such philosophical depth and breadth of thought. Beethoven's glorification real life in its multifaceted aspects intertwined with the idea of the cosmic greatness of the universe. Moments of inspired contemplation coexist in his music with heroic and tragic images, illuminating them in a unique way. Through the prism of sublime and deep intellect, life in all its diversity is refracted in Beethoven’s music - violent passions and detached daydreaming, theatrical dramatic pathos and lyrical confession, pictures of nature and scenes of everyday life...
Finally, compared to the work of his predecessors, Beethoven's music stands out for its individualization of the image, which is associated with the psychological principle in art.
Not as a representative of the class, but as an individual possessing his own rich inner world, a man of a new, post-revolutionary society recognized himself. It was in this spirit that Beethoven interpreted his hero. He is always significant and unique, every page of his life is an independent spiritual value. Even motives that are related to each other in type acquire in Beethoven’s music such a richness of shades in conveying mood that each of them is perceived as unique. With the unconditional commonality of ideas that permeate all his work, with the deep imprint of the powerful creative individuality, lying on all Beethoven's works, each of his opuses is an artistic surprise.
Perhaps it is precisely this undying desire to reveal the unique essence of each image that makes the problem of Beethoven's style so complex.
Beethoven is usually spoken of as a composer who, on the one hand, completes the classicist (In domestic theater studies and foreign musicological literature, the term “classicist” has been established in relation to the art of classicism. Thus, the confusion that inevitably arises when the single word “classical” is used to characterize the peak, “eternal” phenomena of any art, and to define one stylistic category. We, by inertia, continue to use the term “classical” in relation to the musical style. XVIII century, and to classical examples in music of other styles (for example, romanticism, baroque, impressionism, etc.) era in music, on the other hand, opens the way to the “romantic age”. From a broad historical perspective, this formulation is not objectionable. However, it gives little insight into the essence of Beethoven's style itself. For, although in some respects it comes into contact at certain stages of evolution with the work of the classicists of the 18th century and the romantics of the next generation, Beethoven’s music does not actually coincide in some important, decisive ways with the requirements of either style. Moreover, it is generally difficult to characterize it using stylistic concepts developed on the basis of studying the work of other artists. Beethoven is inimitably individual. Moreover, he is so many-sided and multifaceted that no familiar stylistic categories cover all the diversity of his appearance.
With a greater or lesser degree of certainty, we can only talk about a certain sequence of stages in the composer’s quest. Throughout creative path Beethoven continually expanded the expressive boundaries of his art, constantly leaving behind not only his predecessors and contemporaries, but also own achievements of an earlier period. Nowadays, it is customary to be amazed at the versatility of Stravinsky or Picasso, seeing in this a sign of the special intensity of the evolution of artistic thought characteristic of the 20th century. But Beethoven in this sense is in no way inferior to the above-mentioned luminaries. It is enough to compare almost any randomly selected works of Beethoven to be convinced of the incredible versatility of his style. Is it easy to believe that the elegant septet in the style of the Viennese divertissement, the monumental dramatic “Eroic Symphony” and the deeply philosophical quartets op. 59 belong to the same pen? Moreover, they were all created within one, six-year period.
None of Beethoven's sonatas can be singled out as the most characteristic of the composer's style in the field piano music. Not a single work typifies his quest in the symphonic sphere. Sometimes in the same year Beethoven releases works that are so contrasting with each other that at first glance it is difficult to recognize the common features between them. Let us at least recall the well-known Fifth and Sixth Symphonies. Every detail of thematicity, every formative technique in them is as sharply opposed to each other as the general artistic concepts of these symphonies - the acutely tragic Fifth and the idyllically pastoral Sixth - are incompatible. If we compare works created at different, relatively distant stages of the creative path - for example, the First Symphony and the “Solemn Mass”, quartets op. 18 and the last quartets, the Sixth and Twenty-ninth piano sonatas, etc., etc., then we will see creations so strikingly different from each other that at first impression they are unconditionally perceived as the product of not only different intellects, but also from different artistic eras. Moreover, each of the mentioned opuses in highest degree characteristic of Beethoven, each is a miracle of stylistic completeness.
About one thing artistic principle, which characterizes Beethoven’s works, can only be spoken in the most general terms: throughout his entire career, the composer’s style evolved as a result of the search for a truthful embodiment of life. The powerful embrace of reality, the richness and dynamics in the transmission of thoughts and feelings, and finally, a new understanding of beauty compared to its predecessors led to such multifaceted original and artistically timeless forms of expression that can only be summarized by the concept of the unique “Beethoven style.”
According to Serov's definition, Beethoven understood beauty as an expression of high ideology. Hedonistic, gracefully diversified side musical expressiveness was deliberately overcome in mature creativity Beethoven.
Just as Lessing advocated precise and spare speech against the artificial, decorative style of salon poetry, saturated with elegant allegories and mythological attributes, so Beethoven rejected everything decorative and conventionally idyllic.
In his music, not only the exquisite ornamentation, inseparable from the style of expression of the 18th century, disappeared. Balance and symmetry of musical language, smooth rhythm, chamber transparency of sound - these stylistic features, characteristic of all of Beethoven's Viennese predecessors without exception, were also gradually crowded out of his musical speech. Beethoven's idea of beauty required emphasized nakedness of feelings. He was looking for different intonations - dynamic and restless, sharp and persistent. The sound of his music became rich, dense, and dramatically contrasting; his themes acquired hitherto unprecedented laconicism and stern simplicity. To people brought up on the musical classicism of the 18th century, Beethoven’s manner of expression seemed so unusual, “unsmoothed,” and sometimes even ugly, that the composer was repeatedly reproached for striving to be original, and they saw in his new expressive techniques a search for strange, deliberately dissonant sounds that grate the ear.
And, however, with all the originality, courage and novelty, Beethoven’s music is inextricably linked with the previous culture and with the classicist system of thought.
Advanced schools of the 18th century, spanning several artistic generations, prepared Beethoven's work. Some of them received a generalization and final form in it; the influences of others are revealed in a new original refraction.
Beethoven's work is most closely connected with the art of Germany and Austria.
First of all, there is a noticeable continuity with Viennese classicism of the 18th century. It is no coincidence that Beethoven entered the history of Culture as the last representative of this school. He began on the path paved by his immediate predecessors Haydn and Mozart. Beethoven also deeply perceived the structure of heroic-tragic images of Gluck's musical drama, partly through the works of Mozart, which in their own way refracted this figurative principle, and partly directly from Gluck's lyrical tragedies. Beethoven is equally clearly perceived as Handel's spiritual heir. The triumphant, lightly heroic images of Handel’s oratorios began a new life on an instrumental basis in Beethoven’s sonatas and symphonies. Finally, clear successive threads connect Beethoven with that philosophical and contemplative line in musical art, which has long been developed in the choral and organ schools of Germany, becoming its typical national principle and reaching its peak expression in the art of Bach. The influence of Bach's philosophical lyrics on the entire structure of Beethoven's music is deep and undeniable and can be traced from the First Piano Sonata to the Ninth Symphony and the last quartets, created shortly before his death.
Protestant chorale and traditional everyday German song, democratic Singspiel and Viennese street serenades - these and many other types of national art are also uniquely embodied in Beethoven's work. It recognizes both the historically established forms of peasant songwriting and the intonations of modern urban folklore. Essentially everything organically national in the culture of Germany and Austria was reflected in the sonata-symphonic work of Beethoven.
The art of other countries, especially France, also contributed to the formation of his multifaceted genius. In Beethoven's music one can hear echoes of Rousseauian motifs, which were embodied in the 18th century in French comic opera, starting with "The Village Sorcerer" by Rousseau himself and ending with classical works in this genre by Grétry. The poster, sternly solemn character of the mass revolutionary genres of France left an indelible mark on it, marking a break with the chamber art of the 18th century. Cherubini's operas introduced acute pathos, spontaneity and dynamics of passions, close to the emotional structure of Beethoven's style.
Just as Bach’s work absorbed and generalized at the highest artistic level all the schools of any significance from the previous era, so the horizons of the brilliant symphonist of the 19th century embraced all the viable musical movements of the previous century. But Beethoven's new understanding of musical beauty reworked these origins into such an original form that in the context of his works they are not always easily recognizable.
In exactly the same way, the classicist system of thought is refracted in Beethoven’s work in a new form, far from the style of expression of Gluck, Haydn, and Mozart. This is a special, purely Beethovenian type of classicism, which has no prototypes in any artist. Composers XVIII centuries and did not even think about the very possibility of such grandiose constructions that became typical of Beethoven, such freedom of development within the framework of sonata formation, about such diverse types of musical thematics, and the complexity and richness of the very texture of Beethoven’s music should have been perceived by them as an unconditional step back , to the rejected manner of the Bach generation. And yet, Beethoven’s belonging to the classicist system of thought clearly appears against the background of those new aesthetic principles that began to unconditionally dominate the music of the post-Beethoven era.
Beethoven was presumably born on December 16 (only the date of his baptism is known exactly - December 17) 1770 in the city of Bonn in musical family. From childhood he was taught to play the organ, harpsichord, violin, and flute.
For the first time, composer Christian Gottlob Nefe began to work seriously with Ludwig. Already at the age of 12, Beethoven’s biography included his first musical job – assistant organist at court. Beethoven studied several languages and tried to compose music.
The beginning of a creative journey
After his mother's death in 1787, he took over the family's financial responsibilities. Ludwig Beethoven began playing in an orchestra and listening to university lectures. Having accidentally encountered Haydn in Bonn, Beethoven decides to take lessons from him. For this he moves to Vienna. Already at this stage, after listening to one of Beethoven’s improvisations, the great Mozart said: “He will make everyone talk about himself!” After some attempts, Haydn sent Beethoven to study with Albrechtsberger. Then Antonio Salieri became Beethoven's teacher and mentor.
The rise of a musical career
Haydn briefly noted that Beethoven's music was dark and strange. However, in those years, Ludwig's virtuoso piano playing brought him his first fame. Beethoven's works differ from the classical playing of harpsichordists. There, in Vienna, the future famous works were written: Beethoven's Moonlight Sonata, Pathétique Sonata.
Rude and proud in public, the composer was very open and friendly towards his friends. Beethoven's work in the following years is filled with new works: the First and Second Symphonies, “The Creation of Prometheus”, “Christ on the Mount of Olives”. However, Beethoven's further life and work were complicated by the development of an ear disease - tinitis.
The composer retires to the city of Heiligenstadt. There he works on the Third – Heroic Symphony. Complete deafness separates Ludwig from outside world. However, even this event cannot make him stop composing. According to critics, Beethoven's Third Symphony fully reveals his greatest talent. The opera Fidelio is staged in Vienna, Prague, and Berlin.
Last years
In the years 1802-1812, Beethoven wrote sonatas with special desire and zeal. Then entire series of works for piano, cello, the famous Ninth Symphony, and the Solemn Mass were created.
Let us note that the biography of Ludwig Beethoven in those years was filled with fame, popularity and recognition. Even the authorities, despite his frank thoughts, did not dare to touch the musician. However, strong feelings about his nephew, whom Beethoven took into custody, quickly aged the composer. And on March 26, 1827, Beethoven died of liver disease.
Many of Ludwig van Beethoven's works have become classics not only for adult listeners, but also for children.
There are about a hundred monuments to the great composer around the world.
Chronological table
Other biography options
Biography test
After reading short biography Beethoven - test your knowledge.