Ludwig Van Beethoven
Ludwig van Beethoven , baptized December 17, 1770 – March 26, 1827) was a German composer and virtuoso pianist. He was an important figure in the transitional period between the Classical and Romantic eras in Western classical music, and remains one of the most famous and influential musicians of all time.
Beethoven suffered from gradual hearing loss beginning in his twenties. He nonetheless continued to compose his masterpieces, and to conduct and perform, even after he was completely deaf.
Early Life :
Beethoven was born in Bonn, Germany in 1770, to Johann van Beethoven (1740 in Bonn –1792) and Maria Magdalena Keverich (1744 in Ehrenbreitstein–1787), whose father Johann Heinrich Keverich had been Chef at the court of the Archbishopric of Trier at Festung Ehrenbreitstein fortress opposite to Koblenz. Beethoven had, like their first child, been named after his father's father Lodewijk van Beethoven (1712–1773), a musician of Roman Catholic Flemish ancestry who had become Kapellmeister at the court of Clemens August of Bavaria, the Prince-Archbishop-Elector of Cologne, and had married Maria Josepha Ball (1714–1775) in 1733. Of the seven children born to Johann, himself the only survivor of three, only second-born Beethoven and two younger brothers would survive infancy. Beethoven was baptized on December 17, 1770. Although his birth date is not known for certain, his family celebrated his birthday on December 16.
Early Talent :
Beethoven's first music teacher was his father Johann, a tenor in the service of the Electoral court at Bonn, who was reportedly a harsh instructor. Johann later engaged a friend, Tobias Pfeiffer, to preside over his son's training, and it is said Johann and his friend would at times come home late from a night of drinking to pull young Ludwig out of bed to practice until morning. Beethoven's talent was recognized at a very early age, and by 1778 he was studying the organ and viola in addition to the piano. His most important teacher in Bonn was Christian Gottlob Neefe, who was the Court's Organist. Neefe helped Beethoven publish his first work: a set of keyboard variations. In 1787, the young Beethoven traveled to Vienna for the first time, in hopes of studying with Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. It is not clear whether he succeeded in meeting Mozart, or if he did whether Mozart was willing to accept him as a pupil; see Mozart and Beethoven. In any event, the declining health of Beethoven's mother (she was dying of tuberculosis) forced him to return home after only about two weeks in Vienna. Beethoven's mother died on July 17, 1787, when Beethoven was 16. Due to his father's worsening alcohol addiction, Beethoven was responsible for raising his two younger brothers.
In 1792, Beethoven moved to Vienna , where he studied for a time with Joseph Haydn. He had wanted to study with Mozart, but Mozart had died the previous year. Beethoven received additional instruction from Johann Georg Albrechtsberger (Vienna's pre-eminent counterpoint instructor) and Antonio Salieri. By 1793, Beethoven established a reputation in Vienna as a piano virtuoso. His first works with opus numbers, a set of three piano trios, appeared in 1795. He settled into the career pattern he would follow for the remainder of his life: rather than working for the church or a noble court (as most composers before him had done), he supported himself through a combination of annual stipends or single gifts from members of the aristocracy; income from subscription concerts, concerts, and lessons; and proceeds from sales of his works.
Beethoven’s patrons loved his music but were not quick to support him. He eventually came to rely more on patrons such as Count Franz Joseph Kinsky, (d. 1811), Prince Joseph Franz Maximilian Lobkowicz (1772-1816) and Karl Alois Johann-Nepomuk Vinzenz, Fürst Lichnowsky, and as these patrons passed away or reneged on their pledges, Beethoven fell into debt. In 1807, Prince Lobkowitz advised Beethoven to apply for the position of composer of the Imperial Theatres, and the nobility who had newly been placed in charge of the post did not respond. At that time Beethoven considered leaving Vienna. In the fall of 1808, he was offered a position as chapel maestro at the court of Jerome Bonaparte, the king of Westphalia, which he accepted. In order to stop him from leaving Vienna, the Archduke Rudolf, Count Kinsky and Prince Lobkowitz, upon interventions from the composer’s friends, pledged to pay Beethoven a pension of 4000 florins a year. But the pension was not properly respected, and only Archduke Rudolf paid his share at the established date. Kinsky was immediately called to duty as an officer, did not contribute and soon died falling from his horse. Lobkowitz stopped paying in September 1811. Successors of the nobility did not continue the patronage, and Beethoven relied mostly on selling composition rights and a smaller pension after 1815.
Loss of hearing :
Around 1796, Beethoven began to lose his hearing. He suffered a severe form of tinnitus, a "ringing" in his ears that made it hard for him to perceive and appreciate music; he would also avoid conversation. He left Vienna for a time for the small Austrian town of Heiligenstadt, where he wrote his Heiligenstadt Testament. He resolved to continue living for and through his art. Over time, his hearing loss became profound: there is a well-attested story that, at the end of the premiere of his Ninth Symphony, he had to be turned around to see the tumultuous applause of the audience; hearing nothing, he began to weep. Beethoven's hearing loss did not affect his ability to compose music, but it made concerts — lucrative sources of income — increasingly difficult.
As an interesting side note, he used a special rod attached to the soundboard on a piano that he could bite, the vibrations would then transfer from the piano to his jaw to increase his perception of sound. A large collection of his hearing aids such as special ear horns can be viewed at the Beethoven House Museum in Bonn, Germany. By 1814 Beethoven was totally deaf, and when visitors saw him play a loud arpeggio or thundering bass notes at his piano remarking, "Ist es nicht schön?" (Isn't that beautiful?), they felt deep sympathy, and saw his courage and sense of humor.
As a result of Beethoven's hearing loss, a unique historical record has been preserved: he kept conversation books (his friends would write in the book so that he could know what they were saying, and he would respond either verbally or in the book) discussing music and other issues, and giving an insight into his thoughts. Even today, the conversation books form the basis for investigation into how he felt his music should be performed and his relationship to art. Some of the books, however, were altered or destroyed by Anton Schindler.
Illness and death :
After Beethoven lost custody of his nephew, he went into a decline that led to his death on March 26, 1827 during a thunderstorm.
A Viennese pathologist and forensic expert Christian Reiter (head of the Department of Forensic Medicine at Vienna Medical University) claimed that Beethoven's physician, Andreas Wawruch, inadvertently hastened Beethoven's death. According to Reiter, Warwuch worsened Beethoven's already lead poisoned condition with lead poultices applied after surgical drainings of his bloated abdomen. Various theories attempt to explain how Beethoven's lead poisoning first developed, and he was very sick years before his death in 1827 at the age of 56.
Sumber : en.wikipedia
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