Beethoven

As we look throughout history we will find many well known and remembered musicians. Ludwig Van Beethoven was one if the many that stood out and very well known till today. He stood out because of his talent and that he overcame the toughest obstacles and accomplished something that many people today believe isn’t true. Beethoven’s childhood and conflicts all led to a major contribution to his popularity and his attractiveness. Beethoven’s background and struggles in his childhood helped him to become famous and what he is known for today. He grew up in a middle family class at the time of the social changes. Germany was his home town where he was born in 1770 during a classical period. Beethoven’s father and grandfather were professional musicians and they were aware of the success Mozart had as a child. The father also wanted his son to be successful as a musician also. But Beethoven’s father cruelly made young Beethoven practice for hours which somewhat contributed to his fame. His dream was for his son to make the family rich and happy. But it turned out different Beethoven’s father started drinking for many days and many and nights, Beethoven’s father would sometimes drag him out of bed to practice of play for the guests. Ludwig Van Beethoven’s first public performance was when he was just 7 years old! He was becoming a great pianist and he would often improvise or make up the music as he played. As a teenager Beethoven traveled to Vienna, Austria and got to play for Mozart. Mozart was very impressed at with Beethoven’s talent he told people “keep an eye on this man”. His father taught him to play the violin and piano when he was very young. Making him practice for hours, and often Beethoven was exhausted and in tears. Beethoven had 3 major personal problems. The first major conflict was after Beethoven’s father started drinking the family’s poverty went up. When Beethoven was 14 he had to give up lessons to support his parents, however he still found time to take a few violin lessons, and continued composing and writing music. After Beethoven’s mother died his father became deeply in depth. When Beethoven was 18 he was the head of the family and asked the elector (where his father worked) to allow half of his father’s salary as well as his own to support his younger brother. Then the second major conflict was his relationship with his nephew Karl and his parents, on top of that he had financial problems to deal with. This contributed to his depressions. Every day life in Vienna was very for him, the war had caused the value of money to fall dramatically and Beethoven’s allowance was reduced greatly. To make matters worse; Beethoven was also having trouble with his brother Casper Carl whose wife he also hated and who was seriously ill. Then Casper signed a document making Beethoven the guardian of his only 6 year old son. He caused Beethoven many problems in the last year of his life. With so much troubles and despair he still found time four music. His third major personal conflict was when he was 28 he began to notice a hearing loss. At first it was slight. He could not hear the church bells ringing in the distance. When Beethoven was 50 he was completely deaf. The One thing that could have contributed to his hearing loss was his violent temper and moodiness. He was so angry and sad over it that he thought of killing himself (he didn’t). At his concert he couldn’t hear the piano so when he was suppose to play loud he played very loud and when he had to play quietly and softly no one heard him and really got mad and sad over it. He learned how to cope with his deafness and continued on writing music. To hear sounds Beethoven cut off the legs of his piano and placed the instrument on the floor. He did this to feel the vibration and feel the piano himself. Beethoven’s major contribution to his fame was he always had time to music and cope with his conflicts. He proved that the things that you do with great passion can be done even though the biggest obstacles. Because of Beethoven’s deafness people and audience thought he wasn’t that great, but Wendy Thompson says “Beethoven was determined to prove that his deafness was no handicap to him” (pg.25) and he obviously did prove it. He wrote many symphonies when he was deaf that he would memorize them before he wrote them down. He coped with his deafness by cutting off the legs of a piano and put it on the floor so that when he played he could hear the vibrations on the floor. This showed how much he loved music. Many people would have just given up but Beethoven didn’t and that’s what he is known for today. Until this day Beethoven’s music is being played by many orchestras even in the orchestra I am in. Also his music is being studied even today. Beethoven loved nature and social justice and his music reflected those he loved. He was born during the classical period. His awesome music talents created a new era of music called the romantic period. He forever changed the course of music history with his inspired competitions. Even though Beethoven had a very difficult childhood, had financial problems, going deaf that created a big challenge for him, but we see that he overcame his obstacles and little by little he climbed out of the hole to become a very well known composer for writing symphonies. Who knows how much more fame or recognition he would have had if he didn’t have to go through all those problems and his deafness in his life. If he would have lived in a better time of his life maybe we would even had more great music of his. Learning to cope with his troubles and overcoming his depression he composed songs that would have never been heard by us today if he hadn’t learned to cope with his problems. His story inspired many new artists that we hear and have today. Beethoven’s music brought happiness and a new understanding of music to other people after his death.