Introduction of My Life: Einführung von meinem Leben

Ludwig van Beethoven in 1820, by Joseph Karl Stieler

Portrait courtesy of Wikipedia

Spirit of Ludwig van Beethoven speaking:

My name is Ludwig van Beethoven, and I am one of the greatest Classical composers ever to have lived. Throughout my life, I have faced harships and I have grieved. I have also had some of the happiest moments ever experienced, for music itself gives me joy. Thus, I have never regretted anything in my life. Nothing, except for dying before I had the chance to complete some of the compositions still swimming in my head. However, who am I to say that I had died before my time? God was calling me to Heaven, and I could not resist His call.

During my lifetime, I've been called genius and prodigy. I have accomplished many of the things I have wanted to accomplish in life, such as making monarchs bow down to me, falling in love, writing the greatest masterpiece of all time, and listening to some of the most beautiful pieces of music (before I became deaf.) Yet, despite all this happiness, I was not a very happy man. I lost my second most prized posession, my hearing, in my twenties. So grateful was I to God that I had not lost my fingers instead! Although I could not hear the wonderful music I created, I could still write and commit to paper the waves of sound I heard in my head. This was the only consolation I had when facing myself in the mirror and wondering whether a soundless life was truly worth living.

I have loved many women, most of whom were my students, although there was one woman in particular that I truly loved. I call her my "Immortal Beloved" and only I shall know her true identity. The rest of my readers shall have to guess at wonder at her name.

Despite the number of women I loved in my life, I loved music more. Music was the entirety of my life. There was not a single moment in my life where music had not been involved. My every thought was consumed by my love that is music. I was a composer, a pianist, and a revelation in the music world of the 18th and 19th centuries, and I will continue to be that revelation in the future world to come and even in the New World (aka America).

Throughout this blog, I shall talk about important events in my life, and famous compositions that I have composed and performed. I hope my readers have a great time exploring and devouring the history that I have written, for it is the history of the greatest Classical music composer in the 19th century! Of course, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, my former mentor, has his place as one of the greatest Classical composers in the 18th century, and there will no doubt be other just-as-great composers in the future. But for now, we shall be focusing on me, the Great Beethoven!

Sincerely,

Beethoven composing in apartment in Vienna

Picture courtesy of Google Images

Early Sonatas

Here are some of my early sonatas, both of which I dedicated to my teacher, Joseph Haydn.

SONATE

Joseph Haydn gewidmet

Komponiert 1795

f-minor, Op. 2, No.1: Allegro

SONATE

Joseph Haydn gewidmet

Komponiert 1795

A Major, Op. 2, No. 2: Allegro vivace

Beginning Years: 1770-1790

13 year old Beethoven in 1783

Portrait courtesy of timelines.com

22 August, 1793

I have finally begun my art of posting. I shall begin by telling of my first few years of life. I myself do not know the exact day of my birth, although it is assumed that I was born on December 16^th because I was baptized on the 17^th of December in 1770. I was born in the city of Bonn in Germany, which was the capital of the Electorate of Cologne and a part of the Holy Roman Empire of the German Nation. I have been studying music and playing the organ and piano since I was very young and with my genius, I was definitely one of the most gifted musicians in Europe at the time. Of course, I was also one of the most humble pianists and although others say otherwise, I know I am not as arrogant as they say I am.

I gave my first public performance at the age of seven, but my father announced to the audience that I was only six years old. Ever since then, I’ve always been a bit confused about how old I really am. I wrote and published my first composition for piano at the age of 11, and naturally, my very impressed professor, Neefe, wrote (referring to me) that "if he continues like this he will be, without doubt, the new Mozart." What high praise! Not that I didn’t deserve it.

Beethoven's house of birth in Bonn, Germany

My father taught me everything I knew about music up to this point, but I knew I was destined for a greater future which included great and famous teachers and royalty who would beg to hear my performances. Some of my other teachers include Professor Neefe, and even the great Mozart himself! Of course, only I was worthy enough to be his student since I am without a doubt the best of the best in all of Europe.

My family included a mother, a father, and three sons of whom I was the eldest. My mother is the most kindest woman in the world and she’s my best friend. But my father is a lousy old drunk who was a musician at the Court of Bonn until he lost his position due to his inability to stay sober in order to keep his role at the court. I had six other brothers at a time, but unfortunately, only two of them survived the dreadful childhood. Me with my genius and God-given talent couldn’t have possibly died like my other brothers! I would never have died before showing the world the extent of my skills and abilities and have even kings bow down to me.

Just like I predicted in my earlier years, a monarch named Prince Maximilian Franz recognized my genius and sent me to Vienna, the most cultural and musical of all cities, in order to meet god-like Mozart! Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart himself became my teacher in 1787. Throughout my studies the great composer and musician, Mozart gave me an all-mighty praise! "Don’t forget his name — you will hear it spoken often!" is what he said! I will never forget those words for as long as I live.

However, this great time in my life was shadowed by the death of my dearest mother. The only person who I truly loved and cared about in my family passed away on July 17^th, 1787. In the end, the call of Vienna to me was too strong, and I returned to the city of wonders after five long years, in 1792, from a grant by Prince Elector who paid for my trip so I could once again pursue my musical education through the teachings of Haydn who was Mozart’s teacher! After traveling to Vienna, I no longer had any wish to return to my home town which held so many painful memories such as beatings from my dad and the death of my mother.

This is where I end my first log. I’ve covered my life up to my early twenties. Don’t worry, I am not planning to die any time soon for too few people in the world still don’t know about my genius.


Sincerely,



Pathetique Sonata and Symphony No. 1

SONATE

GRANDE SONATE PATHETIQUE

Dem Fursten Carl von Lichnowsky gewidmet

Komponiert 1798-1799

c minor, Op. 13, No. 8: Grave

The Pathetique Sonata marked the beginning of a very difficult and crucial time in my life. I had just begun to lost my hearing in the year of 1796, and as my hearing continued to deteriorate throughout the next few years, I began to feel depression, anger, and even thoughts of suicide entered my head.

As you will later hear, the first movement (Exposition) of my Pathetique begins with dissonant chords, which represent the turmoil I was experiencing in my life. The second movement (Development) is soft and serious, as I was testing my hearing abilities and trying to come to terms with my deafness. Like all of my other third movements (Recapitulation), it is fast and lively, to remind myself that no matter how bad a situation seems, things will always get worse. Therefore, I should live my life the way I want to live it and listen to as much music as I can before my ears fail me.

Exposition:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ms4wtCcslO0&feature=related

Development:

Recapitulation:



SINFONIE

baron Gottfried van Swieten gewidmet

Komponiert 1799-1800

C-Major, Op. 21, No. 1

I premiered my first symphony at the Imperial Theatre of Vienna on April 2, 1800. This symphony caused my name to be known to even more individuals in Europe, although it is definitely not one of my favorite symphonies.

1st Movement:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c2qr3iYFIi4

2nd Movement:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YlMX790X0wE&feature=related

3rd Movement:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=si_5Fb47uV8&feature=related

4th Movement:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=keAphDGM4do&feature=related

Early Period: 1790 - 1800

Ludwig van Beethoven in 1801 by Carl Traugott Riedel

Portrait courtesy of timelines.com

11 April, 1803

I have once again resumed my art of reporting my life's history. Some events in these past ten years have been my worst memories. Yet, I have still managed to keep living a relatively content life.

I begin my story in the year of 1792. It was during the fall season that I left my hometown of Bonn, just as the armies of the French Revolution was storming the provinces of Rhineland. (Like others from Bonn, I am partial to the French Revolution. I was attracted to the ideas of the Enlightenment, which had previously been thought of has impossible utopian ideals, although seeing the French Revolution in action made me think otherwise.) Bonn would later submit to the hands of the French, and I would never return to my hometown. However, before I left Bonn, I created a very famous profile for myself and came to be known to almost every citizen in north-western Germany! So famous was I that people had begun to say that my talent as an improviser was even greater than that of Mozart! Imagine that: greater than Mozart himself!

It is no wonder that my reputation preceded me and as soon as I moved to Vienna after leaving Bonn that many aristocrats of Vienna scrambled to get their jewel-encrusted claws on me. Some of my earlier patrons included Gottfried, Baron von Swieten and Karl, Furst von Lichnowsky, all of whom were supporters of my former teacher and most admired composer and pianist, Mozart. Thus, I added a van- to my last name, creating a new name for myself: Ludwig van Beethoven as well as giving myself a presumed aristocratic title as many aristocrats of my time had van- or von- in their last name.

It must have been willed by God that by the time I traveled to Vienna, the city itself was called the City of Music. Music was appreciated everywhere in this city, and there were hardly any nobles who did not play music themselves or hire musicians (such as myself) to play for them. Prince Lichnowsky himself offered me free board and lodgings to which I graciously accepted. I've said it before and I"ll say it again, but nobles have and will always bow down to me and not I to them! In the year of 1795, I gave my first public performance in Vienna where I played my Concerto Opus 19, No. 2 and a concerto composed by Mozart.

Later, I composed and published the Three Trios for Piano, Violin, and Cello, Opus 1. This composition was subscribed to by many nobles, which just shows how sought for I was in Vienna. Nothing less expected from my genius! Throughout the next three years, I traveled to Berlin and Prague to give concerts during my tours. On April 2, 1800, I performed my First Symphony and my Septet Opus 20 in a grand-scale public concert, thus causing my fame to spread even more.

Despite the music I composed and the fame I earned, this period was not an entirely happy one. In the year of 1796, I began to notice a slight buzzing or ringing in my ears. It was slightly unpleasant, but I was still able to play, compose, and hear music and therefore it did not bother me. Only years later would I understand the severity of my condition. Only years later would I not be able to hear the joys of music again.

I shall continue my story at a later date, for the constant ringing in my ears is annoying the hell out of me.

Sincerely,