About Ludwig Van Beethoven: The Musical Prodigy

Lydia Fulson

By: Lydia Fulson / Writer, Photographer, Blogger, Artist, Thrill Seeker, and Adventurer

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Let's talk about Ludwig Van Beethoven: the most famous composer and pianist in German music history. He changed the way of classical music around the world and the history of Western music itself. By many, he is titled the best of the best in the classical music department.

Did you know that Beethoven is the owner and creator of one of the hardest songs to ever learn and play on the piano? We'll learn more about that later on.

His visionary, inventive, and creative personality led him to great places of success in his somewhat short life. But what was life like before success for Ludwig? Troublesome? Or did he grow up thriving around music? Did he care for the fame of it all?

Let's find out!

Beethoven's memorial statue in front of the Beethoven Haus in Bonn.Beethoven's memorial statue in front of the Beethoven Haus in Bonn.

On this page:

He's happier than he looks, I swear..

Where it all started for young Beethoven

It all started on a cool winter's night in December in 1770, when a mastermind was born in the Beethoven-Haus, now a museum dedicated to his family's legacy in Bonn, Germany.

The young lad came into a huge family, with seven siblings and a father determined to turn at least one into a prodigy.

It all started with a tiny boy and a violin!It all started with a tiny boy and a violin!

Beethoven's father, Johann van Beethoven, also dabbled in the music department. Not as well as his soon-to-be-praised son, but he had an impressive tenor voice and knew how to play a few instruments. A bit of a jack-of-all-trades, if you will.

He certainly had an impact and influence on young Beethoven's musical ability and focus. Johann was a strict father, and when he noticed Ludwig becoming a bright violin player, he fell down the 'my son will be rich and famous' rabbit hole.

But Ludwig wasn't into his father's perfect ways. He would sneak away, mess around, and start playing whatever popped into his head, creating his own spunky melodies. Of course, this would make his father livid. He treated Ludwig harshly and would be sure that he practiced his music as much as possible, even making his son skip meals to practice to perfection.

By the time Ludwig was seven years old, he was performing for the public. It wasn't enough, though, to get him recognized as a genius just yet.

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Moving onto bigger and better things

At ten years old, he decided to drop his academic education. Knowing he was struggling and would continue to struggle in literacy, he made the big decision to pursue the study of music. He was smart, but in a different way than most. The boy composed his first piano variations: all played in C minor! A very difficult way to learn and play.

Bonn to Vienna MapAlllll the way from Bonn to Vienna to start over

By seventeen, Ludwig chose to leave home and move to Vienna, which he admired his whole life for its abundance of fellow composers. He had high hopes of studying and learning from Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, more famously known as Mozart, and Joseph Haydn.

Chasing this dream cost a lot of turmoil between him and his father. There is speculation that Ludwig did meet and become pals with Mozart, but some things just become lost in history.

Fast-forward two more years to nineteen-year-old Ludwig Van Beethoven. With a few more years of practice under his belt, he started to be significantly recognized by the people of Vienna. But not just common folk, no, no … by the great electors too.

When Holy Roman Emperor Joseph II passed away, it was requested that Beethoven compose a memorial piece to play at his funeral. What an honor! At this point in life, he started to realize that he was being seen for what he set out to be, a German composer.

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The tragic twist and a tale of resilience

Growing more and more successful through young adulthood, Ludwig Van Beethoven started to notice something 'off' about himself. And it wasn't his inability to speak with the ladies.

He struggled to find a wife and found it relatively hard to connect deeply with anyone on a serious level. Beethoven lived a somewhat lonely life even when the fame started – more than likely caused by his troubled past with his father.

The only thing he could connect with on a deep level was music. But little did he know that a major life-altering twist would happen that would try to change that for good.

In his mid-twenties, he noticed he was having difficulty hearing people in public. He would struggle to hear the piano, his fellow musicians, and his mentor, Joseph Haydn. Beethoven was tragically going deaf quickly.

Being the man who kept quiet and to himself, he also chose to keep his sudden deafness a secret. He waited a couple of years before mentioning it to anyone, and the first he shared it with was one of his only friends, who he couldn't bare to tell in person. He wrote a note expressing how miserable he was about the sudden loss that made him feel like less of a person.

Ludwig Van Beethoven’s portraitWhat a chipper looking man, right?

Yet through losing the ability to hear the one thing he loved the most, he showed the power of ultimate resilience. Beethoven continued to compose masterpieces, in fact, he wrote his biggest hits while entirely deaf!

When he was asked by fans and newfound friends through fame how he coped and if it drove him mad not to hear his hands hit the keys, he responded by saying that the music never left his head. He couldn't hear the keys, but could hear the songs he wanted to put on paper, circling through his head repeatedly until he could get them out. He would compare it to a beautifully chaotic feeling.

He would go on to create some of the most beloved, admired, and chaotic piano sonatas in the world. His fame continued to rise during the middle period of his life when he composed over seventy songs, an opera, multiple string quartets, and more. And all while not being able to hear. 

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Ludwig Van Beethoven composed many important works during his time. Maybe a few strike your memory? What about that song mentioned earlier that's one of the hardest to play? Let's get into that.

Ludwig Van Beethoven's Famous Pieces

Beethoven's original writings for Symphony No. 3, Eroica,Beethoven's original writings for Symphony No. 3, Eroica, found in an old notebook

Ludwig Van Beethoven composed many important works during his time. Maybe a few strike your memory? 

  • Piano Sonata No.29:  Otherwise named 'Hammerklavier,' is the hardest of Beethoven's songs to learn and play. He even said himself after debuting the song that this was his most complex sonatas. 
  • Close in second for the hardest of his songs to play is the Opus 31: an equally tricky part to play due to being played in minor keys and having lengthy complex harmonies.
  • Für Elise: Famous because of its beauty as a solo piano song and due to its discovery. The song wasn't discovered until nearly 50 years after Beethoven's death. A few songs that were never released publicly were discovered in his journals.
  • Symphony No. 3, Eroica: Originally dedicated to Napoleon for his ideals of the French Revolution. The third symphony was praised for its originality and for bringing the idea of romanticism to music; it broke down the walls of what traditional classic music should sound like.
  • Symphony No. 9, Ode to Joy: Is one of the most well-known Beethoven songs. It was first performed in Vienna in 1824 and was used as a song of hope and reconciliation during the fall of the Berlin Wall, uniting the East and Western parts of Germany. It's now known as 'the protest song.'

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The late periods of Ludwig's life

Ludwig started noticing things were 'off' with his health shortly after releasing his famous String Quartet No. 13, Op. 130, in 1826. He was experiencing stomach pains that grew more and more painful. He wound up confined to his bed from the illness in his home in Vienna.

Beethoven's grave in ViennaHis grave is so well-kept, it might as well be the gardens of Versailles

Tragically, Ludwig van Beethoven's life was cut short in 1827 when the legacy to the musical world passed on at 56 years old. His funeral had over 20,000 attendees at the Währing Cemetery. Shops and theaters all closed on this day to honor the fallen prodigy. 

Währing cemetery eventually closed, and his remains and grave were moved to Zentralfriedhof, Vienna's central cemetery, one of the biggest in the entire world. His grave is so well-kept, it might as well be the gardens of Versailles.

Alongside him are fellow musical geniuses and musical prodigies, like the big-name composer Johannes Brahms who was buried here in 1897 and who, during his lifetime, admired Beethoven's work with great respect.

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Theories Upon Theories...

Ludwig's death has many theories. The most accurate is that he drank a particular brand of wine, which, back then, was made using an ingredient with lead, which is, well … poisonous. He was fond of drinking. So, it wouldn't be a surprise if it caused severe liver issues with time.

There are a few places one can go to visit Beethoven's memorials. If you go to the spot of his apartment where he passed away in the Schwarzspanierhaus, Vienna, you can visit the plaques marking his presence and death. The building itself no longer stands, but the plaques were placed to honor his legacy.

Statues can be found scattered around Vienna and in front of concert halls. Back in Bonn, Germany, statues were placed in front of the house he was born. The Beethoven-Haus, which was also converted into a memorial and museum, is a great place to tour to learn even more about Beethoven.

But if you REALLY want to get a feel for the impact Beethoven's music can leave, well, there's a festival for that!

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Bonn's Beethovenfest

That's right! Germany recognized Beethoven so much they dedicated a festival to him. Beethovenfest is held in his hometown of Bonn. The best way to sum it up is that it's just one long massive music festival. There are dozens of concerts where local and international bands come to play Beethoven's biggest hits.

The Hammerklavier is rarely played … Hmm, I wonder why that could be??

The festival lasts for four weeks, and sometimes more! The bands perform at different weekly venues in local churches, concert halls, and outdoor venues filled with the sweet symphonies of the great composer, the tasty aromas of traditional German snacks, and of course, beers and wine, Beethoven's favorites. (Don't worry, they're lead-free now.)

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For several years of his life, he struggled mentally, physically and told very few. Instead, he put all of that pain and anger into creating romantic, classical, and powerful music for those like him.

Ludwig van Beethoven's admiration for the wonderful world of music and contribution to it will never be forgotten. It lives on through the school music books, songs sold and downloaded, pianists, history buffs, and of course, the die-hard classical music fans.

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