 LUDWIG VAN BEETHOVENComposer
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LUDWIG VAN BEETHOVENComposer
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Ludwig van Beethoven (LOOD vig von BAY toh vun) was one of the world's greatest composers. He wrote many symphonies * , overtures * , and pieces for piano and other instruments.
He started studying the piano and violin when he was 4 years old. His father, a singer, was his first teacher. But he was not a good teacher. He beat his son and locked him in a basement to make him practice.
Sometimes when his father came home late after becoming drunk, he would awaken Ludwig and make him practice until morning.
When he was 22, he moved to Vienna and studied with Joseph Haydn (HI dn). Haydn insisted his student write "pupil of Haydn" at the top of each song he wrote. Beethoven became tired of giving Haydn credit for his songs and quit studying with him.
Most composers at this time were hired by people to write music, and they were told what kind of music to write. Beethoven, however, was treated as a friend, not an employee. He wrote the kind of music he wanted to write.
He knew he could play the piano very well and began to play at parties and to give concerts around Europe. When he needed an orchestra, he used a big orchestra. He would even use some of the instruments in the orchestra to sound like birds in the forest.
He liked taking long walks during the day. During these walks he planned his music. He would make notes in a notebook. Then in the evening after dinner, he would write music from about 7:30 to 10:00 p.m. He followed the same routine every day. If he was dining out and didn't have his notebook with him, he would write on the back of a menu. Once he even wrote on a window shade.
He would work on a composition until it was just right. Sometimes it took years, but it would be perfect when he finished it.
Beethoven began to lose his hearing when he was in his 20's. He became very suspicious * of people and hard to get along with. But he was still able to hear the songs in his mind and write them down.
He did not get along with his two brothers. When his brother Karl died, Beethoven took his 9 year-old son to raise. It was an unhappy time for the child and his uncle. The boy rebelled against him and caused him a lot of grief.
In 1826 he caught a cold. It developed into pneumonia * and he died. The world lost a great composer, but his music lives on today. You will enjoy listening to themes from some of his works.
This biography by Patsy Stevens, a retired teacher, was written in 2001.
Listen to music by Ludwig van Beethoven at Classical Connect
A frequent question:
"Who wrote this biography and when was it written?"
Look on this Reference Citations Chart.
RESEARCH LINKS
Ludwig van Beethoven
The Magnificent Master
Ludwig van Beethoven
Favorite Classical Composers
Beethoven Symphonies
listen to themes from some of the symphonies at Amazon
Beethoven Piano Sonatas
listen to themes from Beethoven sonatas
Beethoven
pictures and biography
Information about Beethoven
(Look in the box top left) at Humanities Web
Sculptures of Beethoven
from Sculpture Gallery.com
Ludwig van Beethoven
It's Fun to Read at Starfall.com
Beethoven
links by William Lane
Biographies of Composers
Essentials of Music
Beethoven
online book George Alexander Fischer, (View HTML 491KB)
At biography.com search for Beethoven.
Scroll the panel for the "Video & Audio Results".
The Tone Masters - Beethoven
online book Charles Barnard
Beethoven
great resource page available in four languages
BBC Listening Library
Look for Beethoven
Hyper Music
Music resources
From Word Central's Student Dictionary
by Merriam - Webster
(Pronunciation note: the schwa sound is shown by ə)
symphony
Pronunciation: 'sim(p)-fə-nE
Function: noun
.... a usually long musical composition for a full orchestra....
overture
Pronunciation: 'O-və(r)-"chu(ə)r, -chər
Function: noun
.... a musical composition played by the orchestra as the introduction to an opera or musical play ....
composition
Pronunciation: "kahm-pə-'zish-ən
Function: noun
.... a literary, musical, or artistic production....
suspicious
Pronunciation: sə-'spish-əs
Function: adjective
1 : likely to arouse suspicion : QUESTIONABLE2 : likely to suspect or distrust 3 : showing suspicion
pneumonia
Pronunciation: n(y)u-'mO-nyə
Function: noun
: a disease of the lungs marked by inflammation and congestion and caused by infection or irritants
Beethoven Lives Upstairs - Audiobook on CD
By Classical Kids / Children's Book Store Dist.
In this tale of genius and childhood, an eccentric new boarder turns a young boy's life upside-down. Ludwig Van Beethoven has moved in upstairs! Young Christoph exchanges letters about the chaotic arrival of Mr. Beethoven and learns to appreciate and understand the great composer and his music. The CD features over two dozen excerpts from Beethoven's music including the Moonlight Sonata, Symphonies #5-9, Fur Elise, Pathetique Sonata, Flute Serenade, and Minuet in G Major.
Stories of the Great Composers, Book 1 & CD
By June Montgomery & Maurice Hinson / Alfred Publishing Co., Inc.
Help your elementary students gain a deeper appreciation of music by introducing them to the men and women who created it! Bach to Beethoven, Schubert to Sousa---kids will enjoy reading mini-biographies and stories of 13 composers from the Baroque to Romantic periods. Each chapter highlights important works of a composer; includes question-and-answer activities; and describes the composition on the companion CD. 55 pages, softcover.
Ludwig van Beethoven
By Mike Venezia / Grolier Publishing Company
Author/Illustrator Mike Venezia has been getting to know the world's greatest composers as long as he can remember. A graduate of The School of the Art Institute of Chicago, Mike believes the best way to introduce children to music an composers is through fun. If children can learn about music in a fun way, and think of composers as real people, the exciting world of music will be open to them for the rest of their lives. In this book Venezia briefly recounts the life of Beethoven who wrote beautiful symphonies and sonatas despite tragic personal problems. He illustrates it with a mix of classic pictures and humorous cartoons.
Fandex Field Guide: Composers
By David Bouchier / Workman Publishing
This chronological history of composers and their music offers intriguing facts, anecdotes, and musical insights into composers from Bach, Mozart, and Beethoven to Gershwin and Bernstein. 50 color Fandex cards.A LIBRARY OF
ONLINE BOOKS and BOOK PREVIEWSThe life of Beethoven: including his correspondence with his Friends - Volume 1
by Anton Schindler (full view ) Free Google eBook
The Life of Beethoven
by David Wyn Jones (selected pages) Order here
Beethoven
by William Kinderman (full view) Order here
Beethoven: the emergence and evolution of Beethoven's heroic style
by Michael Broyles (selected pages) Order here
Beethoven
by Richard Wagner, Arthur Schopenhauer (full view) Free Google eBook
Beethoven
by Barry Cooper (selected pages) Google eBook $14.72
Beethoven
by John South Shedlock (Public domain 1903 full view) Free Google eBook
Beethoven, the man and the artist: as revealed in his own words
(Public domain 1905 full view) Order here
Beethoven
by Frederick James Crowest (Public domain 1903 full view ) Free Google eBook
Beethoven's symphonies: a guided tour
by John Bell Young (introduction only) Order here
by (selected pages)
Preview the Amazon books using the links below.
Simply Beethoven: The Music of Ludwig Van Beethoven - 27 of His Timeless Masterpieces
Easy piano (selected pages)
Beethoven, the Music and the Life
by Lewis Lockwood (selected pages)
Beethoven, the Universal Composer
by Edmund Morris (selected pages)
Beethoven: impressions by his contemporaries
by Oscar George Theodore Sonneck (selected pages)
Beethoven Sonatas (full view)
Beethoven's Hair: An Extraordinary Historical Odyssey and a Scientific Mystery Solved
by Russell Martin (selected pages)
Complete Piano Sonatas
(selected pages)
Complete piano concertos: in full score
(selected pages)
Page Comments
Most Recent Comments ( See more comments on this page ) 2013-01-09
it helped me to do my homework so it was supportive to me.
thanks alot
2013-01-09
good but the writing is small and the text is complicated, not very clear.....
2011-12-26
I am interested in the photograph you have of Beethoven at the head of the page. Can you tell me if it is a photograph and at what age Beethoven would be in it. I have this same photograph which is an original to my knowlege and was wandering how old it is.
Sue
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