In a family with Flemish roots. The composer's paternal grandfather was born in 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. His only son Johann, like his father, served in the choir as a vocalist (tenor) and earned money by giving violin and clavier lessons.
In 1767 he married Maria Magdalene Keverich, daughter of the court chef in Koblenz (seat of the Archbishop of Trier). Ludwig, the future composer, was the eldest of their three sons.
His musical talent manifested itself early. Beethoven's first music teacher was his father, and the choir musicians also studied with him.
On March 26, 1778, the father organized his son's first public performance.
Since 1781, the composer and organist Christian Gottlob Nefe supervised the lessons of the young talent. Beethoven soon became accompanist of the court theater and assistant organist of the chapel.
In 1782, Beethoven wrote his first work, Variations for Clavier on a March Theme by composer Ernst Dresler.
In 1787, Beethoven visited Vienna and took several lessons from the composer Wolfgang Mozart. But he soon learned that his mother was seriously ill and returned to Bonn. After the death of his mother, Ludwig remained the sole breadwinner of the family.
The young man's talent attracted the attention of some enlightened Bonn families, and his brilliant piano improvisations secured him free entrance to any musical gatherings. The von Breuning family did especially a lot for him, and took custody of the musician.
In 1789, Beethoven was a volunteer student at the Faculty of Philosophy at the University of Bonn.
In 1792, the composer moved to Vienna, where he lived almost without leaving for the rest of his life. His initial goal when moving was to improve his composition under the guidance of composer Joseph Haydn, but these studies did not last long. Beethoven quickly gained fame and recognition - first as the best pianist and improviser in Vienna, and later as a composer.
In the prime of his creative powers, Beethoven showed tremendous efficiency. In 1801-1812 he wrote such outstanding works as the Sonata in C sharp minor ("Moonlight", 1801), the Second Symphony (1802), the "Kreutzer Sonata" (1803), the "Eroic" (Third) Symphony, and the "Aurora" sonatas. and "Appassionata" (1804), the opera "Fidelio" (1805), the Fourth Symphony (1806).
In 1808, Beethoven completed one of the most popular symphonic works - the Fifth Symphony and at the same time the "Pastoral" (Sixth) Symphony, in 1810 - the music for Johann Goethe's tragedy "Egmont", in 1812 - the Seventh and Eighth Symphonies.
From the age of 27, Beethoven suffered from progressive deafness. A serious illness for the musician limited his communication with people and made it difficult for him to perform as a pianist, which Beethoven eventually had to stop. Since 1819, he had to completely switch to communicating with his interlocutors using a slate board or paper and pencil.
In his later works, Beethoven often turned to the fugue form. The last five piano sonatas (Nos. 28-32) and the last five quartets (Nos. 12-16) are particularly complex and refined. musical language, requiring the greatest skill from performers.
Beethoven's later work has long been controversial. Of his contemporaries, only a few were able to understand and appreciate his latest works. One of these people was his Russian admirer, Prince Nikolai Golitsyn, on whose order Quartets No. 12, 13 and 15 were written and dedicated to him. The overture “Consecration of the House” (1822) is also dedicated to him.
In 1823, Beethoven completed the “Solemn Mass,” which he considered his greatest work. This mass, designed more for a concert than for a cult performance, became one of the landmark phenomena in the German oratorio tradition.
With the assistance of Golitsyn, the “Solemn Mass” was first performed on April 7, 1824 in St. Petersburg.
In May 1824, 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 the poet Friedrich Schiller's "Ode to Joy." The idea of overcoming suffering and the triumph of light is consistently carried through the entire work.
The composer created nine symphonies, 11 overtures, five piano concertos, a violin concerto, two masses, and one opera. Beethoven's chamber music includes 32 piano sonatas (not counting six youth sonatas written in Bonn) and 10 sonatas for violin and piano, 16 string quartets, seven piano trios, as well as many other ensembles - string trios, septet for mixed composition. His vocal heritage consists of songs, over 70 choirs, and canons.
On March 26, 1827, Ludwig van Beethoven died in Vienna from pneumonia, complicated by jaundice and dropsy.
The composer is buried in the Vienna Central Cemetery.
Beethoven's traditions were adopted and continued by composers Hector Berlioz, Franz Liszt, Johannes Brahms, Anton Bruckner, Gustav Mahler, Sergei Prokofiev, Dmitri Shostakovich. The composers of the New Viennese school - Arnold Schoenberg, Alban Berg, Anton Webern - also revered Beethoven as their teacher.
Since 1889, a museum has been opened in Bonn in the house where the composer was born.
In Vienna, three house museums are dedicated to Ludwig van Beethoven, and two monuments have been erected.
The Beethoven Museum is also open at Brunswick Castle in Hungary. At one time, the composer was friendly with the Brunswick family, often came to Hungary and stayed in their house. He was alternately in love with two of his students from the Brunswick family - Juliet and Teresa, but neither of the hobbies ended in marriage.
The material was prepared based on information from open sources
“Music is higher than all the revelations of wisdom and philosophy,” said Ludwig van Beethoven. This belief helped the composer to overcome all the misfortunes that befell him, and at the same time make a tremendous contribution to the history of music.
Beethoven was born in Bonn into the family of a court musician. The future composer 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 the 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. The father was very strict with little Ludwig, who “was often in tears at the instrument.”
The court organist Christian Gottlob Nefe played a much larger role in the development of the future great composer. He became a second father to Ludwig and not only mentored him in music, but was also his friend.
It was Nefe who saw the potential of the young musician. It was he who helped Beethoven in 1787 (at the age of 17) go to Vienna to see Mozart.
It is unknown whether they actually met, but legend attributes to Mozart the words spoken to the young Beethoven: “Pay attention to him, he will make everyone talk about himself.” This was probably the first rise in Ludwig's biography. The maestro's praise opened up serious prospects, but Beethoven was never destined to become Mozart's student. Soon he was forced to return back to Bonn due to his mother's illness. Soon she died, and Beethoven was forced to take care of the family.
In 1792, after the death of his father, Beethoven again went to “storm” Vienna, the capital of classical music. He studied here with Haydn, Albrechtsberger and Salieri - Beethoven's last and most valued Viennese teacher.
Beethoven's first performance in Vienna took place on March 30, 1795. It was a charity event for the benefit of widows and orphans of musicians. Beethoven's recognition as a composer soon came. His creativity develops rapidly and rapidly. In seven years he created 15 piano sonatas, 10 cycles of variations, 2 piano concertos. In Vienna he gained fame and popularity as a brilliant performer and improviser. He became a music teacher in some of the houses of Viennese nobles, and this gave him the means to live.
However, the rapid rise ended in a sad fall. At the age of 26, Ludwig van Beethoven began to lose his hearing, which meant the end of his career for the musician. The treatment did not provide relief, and Beethoven began to think about suicide. But with the help of will and love for music, he still overcame despair.
In the so-called “Heiligenstadt Testament,” written at that time to his brothers, he says: “... a little more - and I would have committed suicide, only one thing held me back - art. Ah, it seemed impossible to me to leave the world before I had accomplished everything to which I felt called.” In another letter to his friend, he wrote: “... I want to grab fate by the throat.”
And he succeeded. During this period, he wrote the most significant works, in particular almost all the symphonies, starting with the third, “Eroica”, wrote the overtures “Egmont”, “Coriolanus”, the opera “Fidelio”, many sonatas, including the sonata “Appassionata”.
After the end of the Napoleonic wars, life throughout Europe changed. A period of political reaction begins. A severe Metternichian regime is established in Austria. These events, to which were added difficult personal experiences - the death of his brother and illness - led Beethoven to a difficult mental state. He actually stopped his creative activity.
In 1818, Beethoven felt, despite his increasing deafness, a new upsurge of strength and enthusiastically devoted himself to creativity, writing a number of major works, among which a special place is occupied by the Ninth Symphony with chorus, the “Solemn Mass” and the last quartets and piano sonatas.
The Ninth Symphony was unlike any other symphony created before. In it, he wanted to glorify the wealth of millions, the brotherhood of all the people of the world, united in a single impulse of joy and freedom. The first performance of the Ninth Symphony in Vienna on May 7, 1824 turned into the composer's greatest triumph. But the composer did not hear the applause and enthusiastic screams of the audience. When one of the singers turned him to face the audience, he, seeing the general admiration of the listeners, lost consciousness from excitement. By that time, Ludwig van Beethoven had completely lost his hearing.
In recent years, Beethoven struggled with a serious liver disease, effectively stopping his creative activity. On March 26, 1827, at five o'clock in the afternoon, the great composer died. The funeral took place on March 29. Huge crowds of people gathered to bid farewell to the great man; no emperor was buried with such respect.
Origin
The house where the composer was bornLudwig van Beethoven was born in 1770 in Bonn on December 16, baptized on December 17, 1770 in Bonn, in the Catholic Church of St. Remigius.
His father, Johann Beethoven (1740-1792), was a singer and tenor in the court chapel. Mother, Mary Magdalene, before her marriage Keverich (1748-1787), was the daughter of the court chef in Koblenz. They married in 1767.
Grandfather, Ludwig (1712-1773), served in the same chapel as Johann, first as a singer, bass, then as bandmaster. He was originally from Mechelen in the Southern Netherlands, hence the "van" prefix to his surname.
early years
The composer's father wanted to make his son a second Mozart and began teaching him to play the harpsichord and violin. In 1778, the boy's first performance took place in Cologne. However, Beethoven did not become a miracle child; his father entrusted the boy to his colleagues and friends. One taught Ludwig to play the organ, the other taught him to play the violin.In 1780, organist and composer Christian Gottlob Nefe arrived in Bonn. He became Beethoven's real teacher. Nefe immediately realized that the boy had talent. He introduced Ludwig to Bach's Well-Tempered Clavier and the works of Handel, as well as the music of his older contemporaries: F. E. Bach, Haydn and Mozart. Thanks to Nefa, Beethoven's first work was published - variations on the theme of Dressler's march. Beethoven was twelve years old at that time, and he was already working as an assistant to the court organist.
After the death of his grandfather, the family's financial situation worsened. Ludwig had to leave school early, but he learned Latin, studied Italian and French, and read a lot. Having already become an adult, the composer admitted in one of his letters:
“There is no work that would be too learned for me; Without pretending in the slightest degree to be learned in the proper sense of the word, I have nevertheless, since childhood, striven to understand the essence of the best and wisest people of each era.”Among Beethoven's favorite writers are the ancient Greek authors Homer and Plutarch, the English playwright Shakespeare, and the German poets Goethe and Schiller.
At this time, Beethoven began to compose music, but was in no hurry to publish his works. Much of what he wrote in Bonn was subsequently revised by him. Three children's sonatas and several songs are known from the composer's youthful works, including “The Groundhog.”
In 1787 Beethoven visited Vienna. After listening to Beethoven's improvisation, Mozart exclaimed:
“He will make everyone talk about himself!”But the classes never took place: Beethoven learned about his mother’s illness and returned to Bonn. She died on July 17, 1787. 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. Italian, French and German operas are staged here. The operas of Gluck and Mozart made a particularly strong impression on the young man.
In 1789, Beethoven, wanting to continue his education, began attending lectures at the university. Just at this time, news of the revolution in France arrives in Bonn. One of the university professors publishes a collection of poems glorifying the revolution. Beethoven subscribes to it. Then he composes the “Song of a Free Man”, which contains the words: “He is free for whom the advantages of birth and title mean nothing.”
Haydn stopped in Bonn on his way from England. He spoke approvingly of Beethoven's compositional experiments. The young man decides to go to Vienna to take lessons from the famous composer, since, having returned from England, Haydn becomes even more famous. In the autumn of 1792, Beethoven left Bonn.
First ten years in Vienna (1792-1802)
Arriving in Vienna, Beethoven began studying with Haydn, and subsequently claimed that Haydn had taught him nothing; The classes quickly disappointed both student and teacher. Beethoven believed that Haydn was not attentive enough to his efforts; Haydn was frightened not only by Ludwig’s bold views at that time, but also by the rather gloomy melodies, which were rare in those years. Haydn once wrote to Beethoven:“Your things are beautiful, they are even wonderful things, but here and there there is something strange, gloomy in them, since you yourself are a little gloomy and strange; and a musician’s style is always himself.”Soon Haydn left for England and handed over his student to the famous teacher and theorist Albrechtsberger. In the end, Beethoven himself chose his mentor - Antonio Salieri.
Already in the first years of his life in Vienna, Beethoven gained fame as a virtuoso pianist. His performance amazed the audience.
Beethoven boldly contrasted the extreme registers (and at that time they played mostly in the middle), made extensive use of the pedal (it was also rarely used then), and used massive chord harmonies. In fact, it was he who created a piano style that was far from the exquisitely lacy manner of harpsichordists.
This style can be found in his piano sonatas No. 8 "Pathetique" (the title was given by the composer himself), No. 13 and No. 14. Both have the author's subtitle Sonata quasi una Fantasia ("in the spirit of fantasy"). The poet L. Relshtab subsequently called Sonata No. 14 “Moonlight,” and, although this name fits only the first movement and not the finale, it stuck with the entire work.
Beethoven also stood out for his appearance among the ladies and gentlemen of that time. Almost always he was found carelessly dressed and unkempt.
Another time, Beethoven was visiting Prince Likhnovsky. Likhnovsky had great respect for the composer and was a fan of his music. He wanted Beethoven to play in front of the crowd. The composer refused. Likhnovsky began to insist and even ordered to break down the door of the room where Beethoven had locked himself. The outraged composer left the estate and returned to Vienna. The next morning Beethoven sent a letter to Likhnovsky: “Prince! I owe what I am to myself. There are and will be thousands of princes, but there is only one Beethoven!”
However, despite such a stern character, Beethoven's friends considered him a rather kind person. For example, the composer never refused help from close friends. One of his quotes:
“None of my friends should be in need as long as I have a piece of bread, if my wallet is empty and I am not able to help right away, well, I just have to sit down at the table and get to work, and pretty soon I will I’ll help him get out of trouble.”Beethoven's works began to be widely published and enjoyed success. During the first ten years spent in Vienna, twenty piano sonatas and three piano concertos, eight violin sonatas, quartets and other chamber works, the oratorio “Christ on the Mount of Olives”, the ballet “The Works of Prometheus”, the First and Second Symphonies were written.
In 1796, Beethoven began to lose his hearing. He develops tinitis, an inflammation of the inner ear that leads to ringing in the ears. On the advice of doctors, he retires for a long time to the small town of Heiligenstadt. However, peace and quiet do not improve his well-being. Beethoven begins to understand that deafness is incurable. During these tragic days, he writes a letter that will later be called the Heiligenstadt will. The composer talks about his experiences and admits that he was close to suicide:
“It seemed unthinkable to me to leave the world before I had fulfilled everything to which I felt called.”
In Heiligenstadt, the composer begins work on a new Third Symphony, which he will call the Heroic.
As a result of Beethoven's deafness, unique historical documents have been preserved: “conversation notebooks”, where Beethoven’s friends wrote down their remarks for him, to which he responded either orally or in a response note.
However, the musician Schindler, who had two notebooks with recordings of Beethoven's conversations, apparently burned them, since “they contained the most rude, bitter attacks against the emperor, as well as the crown prince and other high-ranking officials. This, unfortunately, was Beethoven's favorite theme; in conversation, Beethoven was constantly indignant at the powers that be, their laws and regulations.”
Later years (1802-1815)
Beethoven composes the Sixth SymphonyWhen Beethoven was 34 years old, Napoleon abandoned the ideals of the Great french revolution and declared himself emperor. Therefore, Beethoven abandoned his intentions to dedicate his Third Symphony to him: “This Napoleon is also an ordinary person. Now he will trample underfoot all human rights and become a tyrant.”
IN piano creativity own style The composer was already noticeable in his early sonatas, but in symphonic music maturity came to him later. According to Tchaikovsky, only in the third symphony “all the immense, amazing power of Beethoven’s creative genius was revealed for the first time.”
Due to deafness, Beethoven rarely leaves the house and is deprived of sound perception. He becomes gloomy and withdrawn. It was during these years that the composer created his most famous works one after another. During these same years, Beethoven worked on his only opera, Fidelio. This opera belongs to the genre of “horror and salvation” operas. Success for Fidelio came only in 1814, when the opera was staged first in Vienna, then in Prague, where it was conducted by the famous German composer Weber and finally in Berlin.
Giulietta Guicciardi, to whom the composer dedicated the Moonlight Sonata
Shortly before his death, the composer handed over the manuscript of Fidelio to his friend and secretary Schindler with the words: “This child of my spirit was born in more severe torment than others, and caused me the greatest grief. That’s why it’s dearer to me than anyone else..."
Last years (1815-1827)
After 1812, the composer's creative activity declined for a while. However, after three years he begins to work with the same energy. At this time, piano sonatas from the 28th to the last, 32nd, two cello sonatas, quartets, and the vocal cycle “To a Distant Beloved” were created. A lot of time is spent on processing folk songs. Along with Scottish, Irish, Welsh, there are also Russians. But the main creations of recent years have been Beethoven's two most monumental works - “Solemn Mass” and Symphony No. 9 with choir.The Ninth Symphony was performed in 1824. The audience gave the composer a standing ovation. It is known that Beethoven stood with his back to the audience and did not hear anything, then one of the singers took his hand and turned him to face the audience. People waved scarves, hats, and hands, greeting the composer. The ovation lasted so long that the police officials present demanded that it stop. Such greetings were allowed only in relation to the person of the emperor.
In Austria, after the defeat of Napoleon, a police regime was established. The government, frightened by the revolution, suppressed any “free thoughts.” Numerous secret agents penetrated all levels of society. In Beethoven's conversation books there are warnings every now and then: “Quiet! Be careful, there's a spy here! And probably after some special bold statement composer: “You will end up on the scaffold!”
However, Beethoven's popularity was so great that the government did not dare to touch him. Despite his deafness, the composer continues to keep abreast of not only political but also musical news. He reads (that is, listens with his inner ear) the scores of Rossini’s operas, looks through a collection of Schubert’s songs, and gets acquainted with the operas of the German composer Weber “The Magic Shooter” and “Euryanthe”. Arriving in Vienna, Weber visited Beethoven. They had breakfast together, and Beethoven, usually not given to ceremony, looked after his guest.
After the death of his younger brother, the composer took care of his son. Beethoven places his nephew in the best boarding schools and entrusts his student Karl Czerny to study music with him. The composer wanted the boy to become a scientist or artist, but he was attracted not by art, but by cards and billiards. Enmeshed in debt, he attempted suicide. This attempt did not cause much harm: the bullet only slightly scratched the skin on the head. Beethoven was very worried about this. His health deteriorated sharply. The composer develops a serious liver disease.
Beethoven died on March 26, 1827. Over twenty thousand people followed his coffin. During the funeral, Beethoven's favorite funeral mass, Requiem in C minor, by Luigi Cherubini, was performed. A speech was made at the grave, written by the poet Franz Grillparzer:
“He was an artist, but also a man, a man in the highest sense of the word... One can say about him as about no one else: he did great things, there was nothing bad in him.”
Causes of death
Beethoven on his deathbed (drawing by Josef Eduard Telcher)On August 29, 2007, Viennese pathologist and forensic medicine expert Christian Reiter (Assistant Professor of the Department of Forensic Medicine at the Medical University of Vienna) suggested that Beethoven’s death was unintentionally accelerated by his doctor Andreas Wavruch, who repeatedly pierced the patient’s peritoneum (to remove the fluid), and then applied wounds with lotions containing lead. Reuter's hair tests showed that Beethoven's lead levels increased sharply every time he visited the doctor.
Beethoven the teacher
Beethoven began giving music lessons while still in Bonn. His Bonn student Stefan Breuning remained the composer's most devoted friend until the end of his days. Breuning helped Beethoven rework the libretto of Fidelio. In Vienna, the young Countess Giulietta Guicciardi became Beethoven's student. Juliet was a relative of the Brunswicks, whose family the composer visited especially often. Beethoven became interested in his student and even thought about marriage. He spent the summer of 1801 in Hungary, on the Brunswick estate. According to one hypothesis, it was there that the “Moonlight Sonata” was composed. The composer dedicated it to Juliet. However, Juliet preferred Count Gallenberg to him, considering him a talented composer. Critics wrote about the Count’s compositions that they could accurately indicate from which work of Mozart or Cherubini this or that melody was borrowed. Teresa Brunswik was also Beethoven's student. She had musical talent - she played the piano beautifully, sang and even conducted.Having met the famous Swiss teacher Pestalozzi, she decided to devote herself to raising children. In Hungary, Teresa opened charitable kindergartens for poor children. Until her death (Teresa died in 1861 at an old age), she remained faithful to her chosen cause. Beethoven had a long friendship with Teresa. After the composer's death, a large letter was found, which was called "Letter to the Immortal Beloved." The addressee of the letter is unknown, but some researchers consider Teresa Brunswik to be the “immortal beloved.”
Beethoven's student was also Dorothea Ertmann, one of the best pianists in Germany. One of her contemporaries spoke of her like this:
“The tall, stately figure and the beautiful face, full of animation, aroused in me... tense anticipation, and yet I was shocked as never before by her performance of the Beethoven sonata. I have never seen a combination of such strength with soulful tenderness - even among the greatest virtuosos.”Ertman was famous for her performances of Beethoven's works. The composer dedicated Sonata No. 28 to her. Having learned that Dorothea’s child had died, Beethoven played for her for a long time.
At the end of 1801, Ferdinand Ries arrived in Vienna. Ferdinand was the son of the Bonn Kapellmeister, a friend of the Beethoven family. The composer accepted the young man. Like Beethoven's other students, Ries already mastered the instrument and also composed. One day Beethoven played him the adagio he had just completed. The young man liked the music so much that he memorized it by heart. Going to Prince Likhnovsky, Rhys played a play. The prince learned the beginning and, coming to the composer, said that he wanted to play him his composition. Beethoven, who showed little ceremony with princes, categorically refused to listen. But Likhnovsky still started playing. Beethoven immediately realized what Ries had done and became terribly angry. He forbade the student to listen to his new compositions and indeed never played anything for him again. One day Rees played his own march, passing it off as Beethoven's. The listeners were delighted. The composer who appeared right there did not expose the student. He just told him:
“You see, dear Rhys, what great experts they are. Give them just the name of their pet, and they don’t need anything else!”One day Rhys had a chance to hear Beethoven's new creation. One day they got lost while walking and returned home in the evening. Along the way, Beethoven roared a stormy melody. Arriving home, he immediately sat down at the instrument and, carried away, completely forgot about the presence of the student. Thus the finale “Appassionata” was born.
At the same time as Rees, Karl Czerny began studying with Beethoven. Karl was perhaps the only child among Beethoven's students. He was only nine years old, but he was already performing in concerts. His first teacher was his father, the famous Czech teacher Wenzel Czerny. When Karl first got into Beethoven’s apartment, where, as always, there was chaos, and saw a man with a dark, unshaven face, wearing a vest made of coarse woolen fabric, he mistook him for Robinson Crusoe.
Czerny studied with Beethoven for five years, after which the composer gave him a document in which he noted “the exceptional success of the student and his amazing musical memory.” Cherny's memory was truly amazing: he knew by heart all of his teacher's piano works.
Czerny started early pedagogical activity and soon became one of the best teachers in Vienna. Among his students was Theodor Leschetizky, who can be called one of the founders of the Russian piano school. From 1858, Leshetitsky lived in St. Petersburg, and from 1862 to 1878 he taught at the newly opened conservatory. Here he studied with A. N. Esipova, later a professor of the same conservatory, V. I. Safonov, professor and director of the Moscow Conservatory, S. M. Maykapar.
In 1822, a father and a boy came to Czerny, who had come from the Hungarian town of Doboryan. The boy had no idea about the correct position or fingering, but the experienced teacher immediately realized that this was an extraordinary, gifted, perhaps a genius child. The boy's name was Franz Liszt. Liszt studied with Czerny for a year and a half. His success was so great that his teacher allowed him to speak in public. Beethoven was present at the concert. He guessed the boy's talent and kissed him. Liszt kept the memory of this kiss all his life.
It was not Rhys, not Czerny, but Liszt who inherited Beethoven's style of playing. Like Beethoven, Liszt interprets the piano as an orchestra. While touring Europe, he promoted Beethoven's work, performing not only his piano works, but also symphonies that he adapted for the piano. At that time, Beethoven's music, especially symphonic music, was still unknown to a wide audience. In 1839 Liszt arrived in Bonn. They had been planning to erect a monument to the composer here for several years, but progress was slow.
“What a shame for everyone! - the indignant Liszt wrote to Berlioz. - What pain for us! ... It is unacceptable that a monument to our Beethoven was built with this barely cobbled together stingy alms. This shouldn't happen! It will not happen!"Liszt made up the shortfall with proceeds from his concerts. It was only thanks to these efforts that the monument to the composer was erected.
Students
Franz LisztKarl Czerny
Ferdinand Rees
Rudolf Johann Joseph Rainer von Habsburg-Lorraine
Family
Johann van Beethoven (1740-1792) - fatherMaria Magdalene Keverich (1746-1787) - mother
Ludovicus Van Beethoven (1712-1773) - paternal grandfather
Maria Josepha Poll (1714-1775) - paternal grandmother
Johann Heinrich Keverich (1702-1759) - maternal grandfather
Anna Clara Westorff (1707-1768) - maternal grandmother
Caspar Anton Carl van Beethoven (1774-1815) - brother
Franz Georg van Beethoven (1781-1783) - brother
Johann Nikolaus van Beethoven (1776-1848) - brother
Ludwig Maria van Beethoven (1769-1769) - sister
Anna Maria Franziska van Beethoven (1779-1779) - sister
Maria Margaret van Beethoven (1786-1787) - sister
Johann Peter Anton Leym (1764-1764) - maternal half-sister. Father Johann Leym (1733-1765).
The image of Beethoven in culture
In literatureBeethoven became the prototype of the main character - composer Jean Christophe - in novel of the same name, one of the most famous works of the French author Romain Rolland. The novel became one of the works for which Rolland was awarded the Nobel Prize on literature.
In cinema
Main character cult film « A Clockwork Orange“Alex really loves listening to Beethoven’s music, so the film is full of it.
In the film “Remember Me Like This,” filmed in 1987 at Mosfilm by Pavel Chukhrai, Beethoven’s music is heard.
The comedy film "Beethoven" has nothing in common with the composer, except that a dog was named after him.
Beethoven was played by Ian Hart in the film Eroica Symphony.
In the Soviet-German film “Beethoven. Days of the Life" Beethoven was played by Donatas Banionis.
In the film "The Sign" main character loved listening to Beethoven's music, and at the end of the film, when the end of the world began, everyone died to the second movement of Beethoven's Seventh Symphony.
The film "Rewriting Beethoven" tells about the last year of the composer's life (in leading role Ed Harris).
The 2-part feature film “The Life of Beethoven” (USSR, 1978, director B. Galanter) is based on the surviving memories of the composer from his close friends.
The film “Lecture 21” (Italy, 2008), the film debut of the Italian writer and musicologist Alessandro Baricco, is dedicated to the “Ninth Symphony”.
In the film “Equilibrium” (USA, 2002, directed by Kurt Wimmer), the main character Preston discovers a countless number of gramophone records. He decides to listen to one of them. The film features a fragment of Ludwig van Beethoven's ninth symphony.
In the film “The Soloist” (USA, France, UK directed by Joe Wright) The plot is based on real story the life of musician Nathaniel Ayers. Ayers' career as a young virtuoso cellist is interrupted when he develops schizophrenia. Many years later, a Los Angeles Times journalist learns about the homeless musician, and the result of their communication is a series of articles. Ayers is simply raving about Beethoven, he constantly performs his symphonies on the street.
In the film "Immortal Beloved" they find out who exactly Beethoven's inheritance belongs to. In his will, he transfers all his writings to a certain immortal beloved. The film features works by the composer.
In non-academic music
American musician Chuck Berry wrote the song Roll Over Beethoven in 1956, which was included in the list of the 500 greatest songs of all time according to the magazine. Rolling Stone. In addition to Beethoven himself, Tchaikovsky is also mentioned in the song. Later (In 1973) in the album ELO-2 this song was performed by the Electric Light Orchestra, and at the beginning of the composition a fragment of the 5th symphony is used.
The song “Beethoven” from the album “Split Personality” by the band Splin is dedicated to the composer.
The song “Silence” by the group Aella is dedicated to the composer.
The Dutch band Shocking Blue used an excerpt from "Fur Elise" in the song "Broken heart" from the 1972 album Attila.
In 1981, the Rainbow group, led by ex-Deep Purple guitarist Ritchie Blackmore, released the album Difficult to Cure (“Difficult to Cure”), the composition of the same name in which was based on Beethoven’s 9th symphony;
On the 1985 album Metal Heart by German heavy metal band Accept, the guitar solo of the title track is an interpretation of Beethoven's Für Elise.
In 2000, the neo-classical metal band Trans-Siberian Orchestra released the rock opera Beethoven’s Last Night, dedicated to the composer’s last night.
The composition Les Litanies De Satan from the album Bloody Lunatic Asylum (English) by the Italian gothic black metal band Theaters des Vampires uses Sonata No. 14 as an accompaniment to the poems of Charles Baudelaire.
In popular culture
According to a popular meme, one of Beethoven's parents had syphilis, and Beethoven's older brothers were blind, deaf, or mentally retarded. This legend is used as an argument against abortion:
“You know a pregnant woman who already has 8 children. Two of them are blind, three are deaf, one is mentally retarded, and she herself has syphilis. Would you advise her to have an abortion?
If you advised abortion, you just killed Ludwig van Beethoven."
Richard Dawkins refutes this legend and criticizes such argumentation in his book The God Delusion.
Beethoven's parents married in 1767. In 1769 their first son, Ludwig Maria, was born and died 6 days later, which was quite common for that time. There is no information on whether he was blind, deaf, mentally retarded, etc. In 1770, Ludwig van Beethoven was born. In 1774, a third son was born, Caspar Carl van Beethoven, who died in 1815 from pulmonary tuberculosis. He was neither blind, nor deaf, nor mentally retarded. In 1776, the fourth son, Nikolaus Johann, was born, had enviable health and died in 1848. In 1779, a daughter, Anna Maria Francisca, was born; she died four days later. There is also no information about her about whether she was blind, deaf, mentally retarded, etc. In 1781, Franz Georg was born, who died two years later. Maria Margarita was born in 1786; she died a year later. That same year, Ludwig's mother dies of tuberculosis, a common disease at that time. There is no reason to believe that she suffered from sexually transmitted diseases. Father, Johann van Beethoven, died in 1792.
Monuments
Memorial plaque in PragueMemorial plaque in Vienna
Monument in Bonn
Data
One day, Beethoven and Goethe, walking together in Teplitz, met Emperor Franz, who was there at that time, surrounded by his retinue and courtiers. Goethe, stepping aside, bowed deeply, Beethoven walked through the crowd of courtiers, barely touching his hat.In 2011, Manchester University professor Brian Cooper reported that he had recovered a 72-bar opus for string quartet written by Beethoven in 1799, discarded and subsequently lost: “Beethoven was a perfectionist. Any other composer would have been happy composing this passage." The newfound music was performed on September 29 by the University of Manchester String Quartet.
Featured on a 1995 Austrian postage stamp, a series of stamps were issued in Albania for Beethoven's 200th birthday
Performances of Beethoven's music
Among the conductors who have recorded all of Beethoven's symphonies are Claudio Abbado (twice), Ernest Ansermet, Nikolaus Harnoncourt, Daniel Barenboim, Leonard Bernstein (twice), Karl Böhm, Bruno Walter (twice), Günther Wand, Felix Weingartner, John Eliot Gardiner, Carlo Maria Giulini, Kurt Sanderling, Eugen Jochum (three times), Herbert von Karajan (four times), Otto Klemperer, Andre Cluythans, Willem Mengelberg, Pierre Monteux, George Szell, Arturo Toscanini (twice), Wilhelm Furtwängler, Bernard Haitink (three times), Hermann Scherchen, Georg Solti (twice).Among the pianists who have recorded all of Beethoven's piano sonatas are Claudio Arrau (twice, second cycle not completed), Vladimir Ashkenazy, Wilhelm Backhaus (twice, second cycle not completed), Daniel Barenboim (three times), Alfred Brendel (three times), Maria Greenberg , Friedrich Gulda (three times), Wilhelm Kempff (twice), Tatyana Nikolaeva, Annie Fischer, Arthur Schnabel. Walter Gieseking, Emil Gilels, and Rudolf Serkin began to record complete cycles of sonatas, but died before completing these projects.
Works
- 9 symphonies: No. 1 (1799-1800), No. 2 (1803), No. 3 “Eroic” (1803-1804), No. 4 (1806), No. 5 (1804-1808), No. 6 “Pastoral” (1808) , No. 7 (1812), No. 8 (1812), No. 9 (1824).
- 8 symphonic overtures, including Leonora No. 3.
- 5 concertos for piano and orchestra.
- music for dramatic performances: “Egmont”, “Coriolanus”, “King Stephen”
- 6 youth sonatas for piano.
- 32 piano sonatas, 32 variations in C minor and about 60 pieces for piano.
- 10 sonatas for violin and piano.
- concerto for violin and orchestra, concerto for violin, cello and piano and orchestra (“triple concerto”).
- 5 sonatas for cello and piano.
- 16 string quartets.
- 6 trios.
- Ballet "Creations of Prometheus".
- Opera "Fidelio".
- Solemn Mass.
- Vocal cycle "
Article on methodology musical development for children of preschool and primary school age. Acquaintance with the biography of the composer L. Beethoven.
This development is intended for preschool teachers educational institutions, teachers primary school, music directors. The material will also be of interest to students of Pedagogical Colleges and higher educational institutions who are interested in the methods of musical development of children.
Target: Give an idea of Beethoven as a great foreign composer.
1.Talk about the composer’s ordeals.
2.Form ideas about the composer’s work.
Teachers who are concerned about the problems of development and upbringing of children should be well aware of the important theoretical principles of modern child psychology, pedagogy, and operate with the basic methods of development and upbringing of children. Methods of musical development of children are given a place in programs kindergarten. By developing children's musical perception, forming children's ideas about the work of composers, about genres of music, already from kindergarten, preschoolers will begin to form a musical and aesthetic culture. The interaction between educators and music director. Conversations about the work of composers are very interesting.
I. Composer L.V. Beethoven.
Ludwig Van Beethoven belongs to those few artists who remain our eternal companions throughout our lives. We return to his music again and again, each time finding in it something new, not noticed before. Even in childhood, we become acquainted with the simple and kind song “Groundhog”, and through it - with a little wandering musician and together with him we enter the time when Beethoven lived and when music was heard on the streets much more often than in concert halls. A brilliant German composer, the background for whose works was the era of the Napoleonic wars. These events initially inspired Beethoven. Then he became disillusioned with them, became deaf, became impoverished and died. But him brilliant music continues to live.
1.Life path.
Ludwig van Beethoven was born in December 1770 in Bonn. The exact date of birth has not been established; only the date of baptism is known - December 17. His father Johann was a singer in the court chapel, his mother Mary Magdalene, before her marriage, was the daughter of the court chef in Koblenz, they married in 1767. Grandfather Ludwig served in the same chapel as Johann, first as a singer, then as a bandmaster. He was originally from Mechelen in Flanders, hence the prefix “Van” before his surname. The composer's father wanted to make his son a second Mozart and began teaching him to play the harpsichord and violin. In 1778, the boy's first performance took place in Cologne. However, Beethoven did not become a miracle child; his father entrusted the boy to his colleagues and friends. One taught Ludwig to play the organ, the other taught him to play the violin.
In 1780, organist and composer Christian Gottlieb Nefe arrived in Bonn. He became Beethoven's real teacher. Nefe immediately realized that the boy had talent. He introduced Ludwig to Bach's Well-Tempered Clavier and the works of Handel, as well as the music of his older contemporaries: F. E. Bach, Haydn and Mozart. Thanks to Nefa, Beethoven's first work was published - variations on the theme of Dressler's march. Beethoven was twelve years old at that time, and he was already working as an assistant to the court organist. After the death of his grandfather, the family's financial situation worsened. Ludwig had to leave school early, but he learned Latin, studied Italian and French, and read a lot. Among Beethoven's favorite writers are the ancient Greek authors Homer and Plutarch, the English playwright Shakespeare, and the German poets Goethe and Schiller. Due to the poverty of the family, Beethoven was forced to enter the service very early: at the age of 12 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 in G and F major, known to all beginning pianists, do not belong to Beethoven, but are only attributed to them, but the other, truly Beethoven Sonatina in F major, discovered and published in 1909, remains, as it were, in the shadows and by no one not played. A large part of Bonn's creativity also consists of variations and songs intended for amateur music-making. Among them is the familiar song "Groundhog", the touching "Elegy for the Death of a Poodle", a rebellious poster " Free man", the dreamy "Sigh of the unloved and happy love", containing the prototype future topic joy from the Ninth Symphony, "Sacrifice Song", which Beethoven loved so much that he returned to it 5 times (last ed. - 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.
2.Beethoven moves to Vienna.
He dreamed of Vienna, the second musical center of Europe after Paris. At the age of seventeen he came to this city for the first time and for a short time, and they say that Mozart, having heard the game young musician, predicted a brilliant future for him. From then on, Vienna became the subject of Beethoven's constant dreams. The desire to live there became even stronger after meeting Haydn, who was passing through Bonn. Vienna was not only a city where music was constantly heard in theaters, at concerts, and just on the streets, it was a city where great Russian musicians lived and worked - Mozart and Haydn. At the age of twenty-two, Beethoven moved to Vienna.
Here he studied counterpoint and composition with I. Haydn, I. Schenk, I. Albrechtsberger and A. Salieri. Although the student was obstinate, he studied zealously and subsequently spoke with gratitude about 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. The young virtuoso was patronized by many distinguished music lovers - 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. 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.
3.Beethoven Sonatas.
In the first Viennese decade, Beethoven wrote mainly piano and chamber music. A clear awareness of each creative task and the desire to solve it in his own way were characteristic of Beethoven from the very beginning. He writes piano sonatas in his own way, and none of the thirty-two repeats the other. His imagination could not always fit into the strict form of a sonata cycle with a certain ratio of the required three parts. For example, he began the 14th sonata with a slow movement, and it was so unusual that the composer gave the sonata a subtitle: “Quasi una fantasia” (“Almost a fantasy” or “As if a fantasy”). The lyrical, dreamy character of the first movement prompted the publishers of the sonata (after Beethoven’s death) to give it the name “Moonlight”. And sometimes Beethoven himself gave similar names: he called the three movements of sonata No. 26 “Farewell”, “Separation” and “Return”. Beethoven expanded the scope of the piano sonata very widely and expanded the range of images. Sometimes sonatas seem like piano transcriptions of symphonies - such is, first of all, the famous “Appassionata,” courageous, heroic music. The coloring of the later sonatas is harsh and gloomy, but sometimes, like flowers in a rocky gorge, such tender and touching melodies as “Arietta” from the last sonata bloom in them.
4.The world of Beethoven's symphonies.
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. Work on the Third Symphony (1802-1804) coincided with Beethoven's fascination with the personality of Napoleon, in whom he, like many of his contemporaries, saw the “general of the revolution.” Initially, the symphony was dedicated to Napoleon, but when the composer learned that the former republican had crowned himself emperor, instead of a dedication he wrote only one word on the title page: “Heroic.” This is how it has remained for centuries: a musical monument not to any one person, but to an idea that triumphs despite obstacles, suffering and death. At the same time, his only oratorio, “Christ on the Mount of Olives,” was written. The first signs appeared in 1797 incurable disease- progressive deafness and awareness of the hopelessness of all attempts to treat the disease led Beethoven to a mental crisis in 1802. 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.
5. Ninth Symphony. Beethoven becomes deaf.
Beethoven's moral and artistic ideals were most clearly reflected in his Ninth Symphony. It was a synthesis of all the deepest and most significant things that were created in music by Beethoven himself and his predecessors. Images of everyday storms and bitter losses, peaceful pictures of nature and the lives of people close to nature - all this is perceived as a prologue to the one-of-a-kind finale, which for the first time in the history of the symphony genre united the sound of an orchestra and choir. This is a majestic hymn of joy, a call to the brotherhood of all mankind. Looking forward to the future, the composer puts into the mouth of the choir great and prophetic words addressed to the coming joy:
Your power binds sacredly.
Everything that lives apart in the world
Everyone sees a brother in everyone
Where your flight blows.
F. Schiller
But this magnificent hymn of joy was written in very difficult years for the composer! Fate was not stingy with difficult trials for him. After short years of fame, worldly prosperity, the joys of friendly communication, loneliness, disappointment in loved ones and, worst of all, deafness awaited him, tearing him away from communication with people and with music. Except for the one that sounded in his mind...
The composer's deafness became complete; from 1818 he was forced to use “conversational 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 troubles 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 delivered. Beethoven has 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 European culture New time.
The Ninth Symphony was performed in 1824. The audience gave the composer a standing ovation. It is known that Beethoven stood with his back to the audience and did not hear anything, then one of the singers took his hand and turned him to face the audience. People waved scarves, hats, and hands, greeting the composer. The ovation lasted so long that the police officials present demanded that it stop. Such greetings were allowed only in relation to the person of the emperor.
6.Great artist and great person Beethoven.
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. One of the few and unexpected joys of the last years of my life was the news from distant Russia about the performance in St. Petersburg of Beethoven’s “Solemn Mass,” written in the same years as the Ninth Symphony, and also imbued with the idea of universal peace and unity. This was the first and only complete, without cuts, performance of this remarkable work during Beethoven's lifetime. One cannot help but be surprised that a lonely, sick, almost forced out musical world more successful contemporaries, Beethoven even in the most difficult years of his life created works full of courage and spiritual purity.
Shortly before his death, Beethoven goes to one of his brothers Johann. Ludwig undertook this burdensome journey in order to persuade Johann to draw up a will in favor of his nephew Karl. Having failed to achieve the desired result, an enraged Beethoven returns home. This trip became fatal for him. On the way back, Ludwig caught a bad cold, he never managed to get back on his feet, too much effort was spent, after several months serious illness Ludwig van Beethoven died on March 27, 1827. Vienna was rather indifferent to his illness, but when the news of his death spread across the capital, a shocked crowd of thousands escorted the great composer to the cemetery. All educational establishments were closed that day.
Beethoven's work is one of the peaks in the history of world art. His entire life and work speak of the titanic personality of the composer, who combined brilliant musical talent with an ebullient, rebellious temperament, endowed with an unbending will and the ability for enormous internal concentration. High ideology, based on the consciousness of public duty, constituted distinctive feature Beethoven - musician-citizen. A contemporary of the Great French Revolution, Beethoven reflected in his work the great popular movements of this era, its most progressive ideas. The revolutionary era determined the content and innovative direction of Beethoven's music. Revolutionary heroism was reflected in one of the main artistic images of Beethoven - a struggling, suffering and ultimately victorious heroic personality.
Portrait of 1820
Joseph Karl Stieler
Ludwig van Beethoven. The exact date of birth of Ludwig van Beethoven is unknown, but the estimated date of birth is December 16, 1770. This assumption was made based on exact date his baptism is December 17th. The city of Bonn became Ludwig's permanent homeland.
Beethoven's family was highly educated and musical people. It was there, from an early age, that Ludwig was taught to play the organ, flute, violin and harpsichord.
Ludwig van Beethoven received his first serious experience in musical education from the composer Christian Gottlob Nefe.
First job in musical art dates back to 1782, when young Beethoven was only 12 years old. Then he began his career as an assistant organist at court. However, Beethoven’s activities cannot be limited to one job; in addition to this, he studied several languages and tried to write musical works.
Beethoven loves to spend time reading a book. His favorite authors were Greek representatives such as Plutarch and Homer, as well as the more modern Shakespeare, Goethe and Schiller.
The year 1787 becomes tragic for Ludwig and his entire family. His mother dies, and Beethoven undertakes to take on all material responsibilities. In the same year, he begins to work, playing in an orchestra, while simultaneously combining his studies and university lectures.
At home, Beethoven accidentally meets the great composer Joseph Haydn, where he asks him to take art lessons. But in order to study music with Haydn, Beethoven was forced to move to Vienna. Even while still unknown, the great Mozart, listening to the musical improvisations of Ludwig Beethoven, said that he would still have time to make the whole world talk to himself. After several lessons, Haydn sent Beethoven to study with Johann Albrechtsberger. The next person to pass on his mastery to Beethoven was Antonio Salieri.
Everyone who knew Beethoven's work noted that his musical improvisations were filled with gloom, melancholy and strangeness. However, it was they and his unsurpassed piano playing that brought Beethoven his former glory. While in Vienna and inspired by its nature, Beethoven wrote the Moonlight Sonata and the Pathetic Sonata. All musical works differ significantly from classical harpsichord playing techniques.
Ludwig van Beethoven was always an open book to his friends, while at the same time remaining rude and proud in public.
The subsequent years of Beethoven's life were filled with illness. Having become very ill, Ludwig gets a complication in his ear - tinitis.
In great pain, Beethoven decides to retire to Heiligenstadt, where he begins to work on the Eroic Symphony. Working often and fruitfully and constantly getting tired, Beethoven completely loses his hearing, moves away from people and society, and remains lonely. But even after losing his hearing, Ludwig did not force himself to give up his favorite art.
The last decade of his life, until 1812, became a real discovery for Beethoven. It was during this period of time that he began to create with special strong desire, creating well-known works - the Ninth Symphony, as well as the Solemn Mass.
Biographical information from this time period was filled with special popularity, glory and calling for Ludwig. Despite the fact that the government’s policy took a fairly strict position in relation to all creators of great art, no one dared to offend Ludwig Beethoven.
But, unfortunately, the excessive worries of Beethoven, who took custody of his nephew, aged the musician too quickly.
So, on March 26, 1827, Ludwig Beethoven passed away due to severe liver disease.