Ludwig Van Beethoven: The Extraordinary Genius

Beethoven’s father, an alcoholic and a second-rate musician, often bullied young Ludwig into practicing the piano hoping that he would become another Mozart.  Ludwig learned fast and most definitely displayed enormous talent; however, all that his father ever accomplished was to make his own child’s life completely miserable.  Ludwig studied the piano, violin and French horn and became the deputy court organist in Bonn for his father’s employer, the elector of Cologne, before he was 12.

In 1787, Ludwig traveled to Vienna where he had hoped he could take lessons from Mozart; but news of his mother’s death and of his father’s job loss due to drunkenness compelled him to return home a few weeks later to look after his two younger brothers.  Beethoven later realized that he has no future in Bonn.  So, in 1792, with the financial aid from the elector, he moved to Vienna, where he stayed for the rest of his life.

Beethoven had composed a little as a teenager and even getting some music published; but his shining moment came at age 25, when he gave his first public performance and published his first important pieces, three piano trios op. 1 and three piano sonatas op. 2.  Beethoven, the composer had at last arrived. 

Beethoven’s work falls into three different periods known as early, middle and late period.  Though his music of the early period is quite comparable to the classical style of Haydn and Mozart, Beethoven had already manifested a very obsessive temperament and apparent disregard for convention, particularly in his piano music—the first two piano concertos and piano sonatas such as Pathétique and the Sonata quasi una fantasia ( The “Moonlight”)—Beethoven felt most at ease and able to expand the forms and expressive content.

In 1796, Beethoven began to gradually lose his hearing. And when he realized that his hearing loss was permanent, Beethoven overcame his despair by drowning himself on a phase of furious and extraordinary activity.  His music experienced a profound transformation: not only did he cast aside the respectability of classicism, progressing toward his own exceptionally expressive and turbulent style, but also assumed a heroic character, with emphasis on triumph over adversity and the resilience of the human spirit, which undoubtedly mirrored his own experiences. 

His notable works during this “middle” period included the third symphony, the Eroica, an massive piece full of drama and seeming disregard for harmonic and formal rules, ushering in the Romanticism of the nineteenth century; and Fidelio, his only opera. His next five symphonies (Nos. 4 to 8), last three piano concertos (No. 3, 4 and 5 “Emperor”), several piano sonatas (including Waldstein and Appassionata sonatas) and the Kreutzer violin sonata were similarly groundbreaking.

In 1812, Beethoven’s usual productive ingenuity abruptly came to a halt.  Beethoven was completely deaf by this time that he could no longer perform in public. In 1814, he conducted a charity concert, but he couldn’t even hear the rapturous applause.  He was also disappointed in love, had undergone a fierce legal battle for custody of his nephew, and not surprisingly fell into deep depression.  But somehow he pulled himself together and began composing again.

Now isolated from external influences by total deafness, Beethoven had to dig deep within himself for inspiration.  His late period masterpieces, such as String Quartet, Op. 131, piano sonata op. 106 and the glorious Ninth Symphony are characterized by their intense personal expression, intellectual profundity and radical innovativeness, a testament to his extraordinary musical genius. 

More classical music treats:

• Johann Sebastian Bach: The Well-tempered Musician
• Ludwig Van Beethoven: The Extraordinary Genius
• Hector Berlioz: Truly Fantastique
• Johannes Brahms: The Classical Romantic
• Frederic Chopin: The Poet of the Piano
• George Frideric Handel: The Harmonious Tunesmith
• Franz Joseph Haydn: Father of The Symphony
• Felix Mendelssohn: The Midsummer Night’s Dreamer
• Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart: The Wunderkind
• Franz Schubert: The Great Lieder
• Antonio Vivaldi: The Red Priest