Ludwig Van Beethoven

Ludwig Van Beethoven was born on December 17 (eight days before Christmas day), 1770 at what is now North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. His parents were Johann Van Beethoven and Maria Magdalena Keverich. He was a composer of music, and a pianist. He is considered to be the greatest composer of all time by many.

In 1803, Beethoven debuted his Symphony Number 3in E flat major (Opus 55) in honor of Napoleon Bonaparte. It was the start of his "middle-period." It took the musicians playing the piece weeks to get ready, because nothing like it had been heard before. It is also called Eroica (Italian for heroic). It is scored for two flutes, two oboes, two clarinets in B flat, two bassoons, three horns in E flat, two trumpets in E flat and C, timpani in E flat and B flat, and strings. Its length is about 50 minutes. There are four movements: 1. Allegro con brio, 2. Marcia funebre: Adagio assai in C minor 3. Scherzo: Allegro vivace 4. Finale: Allegro molto.

Beethoven composed his most famous Symphony Number 5 in C minor (Opus 67) between 1804 and 1808. It was an instant success when first played in Vienna's Theater an der wien in 1808. The piece has four movements:

1. Allegro con brio
2. Andante con moto
3. Scherzo. Allegro
4. Allegro.

He was suffering from increasing symptoms of deafness when he composed his Fifth Symphony. He would put off work on his Fifth Symphony, and work on other compositions from 1804 to 1808. Its length is about 33 minutes.

His Symphony Number 6 in F major (Opus 68) (Pastoral) was also performed at Vienna's Theater ander wien on the same day as his Fifth Symphony. It has five movements:

1. Allegro ma non troppo
2. Andante molto mosso
3. Allegro
4. Allegro
5. Allegretto.

Beethoven named one of his works Fur Elise, which means "for Elise" in German. He composed it when he was 40 years old. It was not performed during his life. It is known to have caused many people to get interested in playing the piano. There are two known theories that might have inspired Beethoven to name the piece "Fur Elise." One theory was that he named it for Therese Malfatti, a woman he was in love with at about the same time he composed it. The other is that he named it for an opera singer named Elisabeth Rockel whom he was very fond of. Fur Elise was not performed until almost forty years after his death in 1827. Some changes may have been made to its original format. It is just a little over three minutes, but is very beautiful.

Beethoven wrote Piano Sonata Number Fourteen Opus 27 (Moonlight Sonata) in 1801. He dedicated it to his pupil, countess Giulietta Guicciardi in 1802. It has three movements, and is one of his most popular piano sonatas. It was not called Moonlight Sonata until five years after Beethoven died. The German music critic, and poet Ludwig Rellstab compared the first movement to that of moonlight shining on Lake Lucerne. Later in the nineteenth century everyone called the sonata Moonlight Sonata. It is a little over fourteen minutes long.

Beethoven wroteSymphony Number Nine in D minor Opus 125 between 1822 and 1824. It was his final complete symphony, and has been very popular recently. It has four movements. A chorus is singing in some of the composition.

The "Viennese School" consisted of Ludwig Van Beethoven (1770-1827), Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756-1791), the Austrian Josef Haydn (1732-1809), and Franz Schubert (1797-1828). It was not a school as the name implies. They mostly knew each other, and admired each other's works.

Mozart was a German composer who was very influential to classical music. In opera, his Marriage of Figaro is one of the most popular operas of all time. Beethoven was only in his early twenties when Mozart died. Mozart's Symphony Number 25 in G minor influenced Beethoven's first Piano Sonata.

Haydn was an Austrian composer who is called "father of the symphony." He was a tutor of Beethoven. Schubert was an Austrian composer during the late classical era and early romantic era. He was very young when he knew Beethoven.

Videos of all mentioned works by Beethoven are below: