Ludwig van Beethoven

(1770-1827)
This musical legend was a German composer as well as a pianist. His
baptism was performed in 1770, December 17th. Ludwig Van Beethoven was
named after his grandfather who was also a musician. When he attained the
age of 21 years, he relocated to Bonn. As a musician, his first job was as a
bass singer working in the Elector of Cologne Court and by 1761 he was
made the director of music. Soon after he became one of the ‘big fish’ in the
music industry and he thrived.

Ludwig’s grandfather only had one son, Johann who was born in 1740 and
lived up to 1792. He was also a talented musician. Contrary to his father, he was a
tenor and also worked at the Elector of Cologne court. As a way to increase his
income, he also taught piano and violin lessons. It is noted that he had alcohol
issues as he just could not resist it. When Johann was of age, he married Maria
Magdalene Keverich in the year 1767. Mary was known to be very gentle as well
as very warm at heart; qualities that made her a great mother judging from how
much she was loved. The product of this union was Ludwig Van Beethoven and his
siblings.
Personal Life and Character
Ludwig Van Beethoven was thought to be bipolar. He became irritable in his
twenties and this was thought to be because of the abdominal pains he had. More
often than not he was described to be irascible. At one particular time, he
contemplated suicide but did not attempt. He always displayed strength in his
personality. He had a deep dislike for authority and social rank. He always
demanded respect for himself and his work. At some occasions, he refused to
perform when called to because of a chatty audience. He always required the total
attention of people in the audience before he could go on.
Education and Musical Training
Ludwig Van Beethoven became the best pianist as well as a composer of his time
through hard work and a love for music. As a young child, he only attended school
for a short while. While at the age of 11 years, Ludwig had to drop out of
school (formal school) so that he can offer a helping hand to his father and
consequently increase the income of the family. His father was constantly under
the influence of alcohol and the family was left to suffer. This was such a noble
gesture even though no child should ever have to sacrifice school for the well-
being of their family.
 The school is very important and vital in the development of a child. It is a
funny thing to note that Ludwig actually never got to learn about multiplication or
division which is basic math. Some people say that if he had to do any
multiplication, the best way out for him was to put down all the numbers and add
them together so as to arrive at an answer. This is what lack of education can do to
a person. Even so, this was not a factor to keep him from developing his talent. If
anything, it was a door swung open for him by the heavens.

As a young kid, Ludwig Van Beethoven had a very noticeable musical talent
as he showed a lot of interest in music. His father noticed this and become his very
first teacher who would teach him all about music when he came from work on the
court. In an era which Mozart dominated the music industry, Johann, his father
sought to make Ludwig a prodigy. While his tuition began at the age of five, he
faced a lot of difficulties trying to be the best his father needed him. More often
than not, the tuition regime was always harsh and very intense. For a child his age,
this could have been seen as child abuse as most of the times he would end up in
tears because of what he went through. There were instances where he would be
dragged out of bed and taken to play the keyboard at a very ungodly hour of the
night. This was simply too much for a kid of his age. Well-being father wanted to
make a music prodigy and he would do it regardless of the cost.
While he was seven and a half years, on March 26th, 1778, Ludwig was
ready for his very first performance out in the open for a large number of people at
Cologne. In this time, his father introduced him to the public as a six-year-old boy
and this actually messed up Ludwig’s mind when it came to his age. He ended up
thinking he was younger than he was thanks to his father. Even to the time when
he saw his certificate of baptism copy, he still had a tough time believing it was his.
He thought it belonged to his older brother who dies shortly after his birth.
Other than his father, Ludwig Van Beethoven has several other teachers
that included Gilles Van Den Eeden who worked at the court as an organist, Tobias
Friedrich Pfeiffer who was a good friend to the family and taught Ludwig all about
the keyboard, and Franz Rovantini who was a relative that instructed Ludwig on
how to play the violin and the viola. All these teachers did well in giving his good
ground to start his musical journey as a young talented kid. Other than them, he
also had training by some of the best musicians in that time. These well-known
teachers opened him up to a whole new world that made him the virtuoso we still
talk about up to date…