Renowned composer, quite influential and talented, Ludwig van Beethoven was born in December of 1770 in Bonn. With dozens of symphonies, sonata and string quartets attached to his name, Ludwig Beethoven was amazing.
Although trained as a pianist most part of his youth, he slowly lost his hearing over the years making him completely turning to composing. Not deterred by his gradual hearing loss, he composed some of his most enduring works even as it deteriorated.
Here are 5 things no one has told you about this brilliant composer –
His only Opera was almost trashed
His first and only opera was almost trashed. The plot depended on a French Revolution: A courageous lady, dressed as a man, liberated her better half from the jail of the Jacobins.
Peter Freiherr von Braun charged Beethoven’s “Fidelio.” At its initial exhibition in 1805, the drama was panned by critics. Beethoven effectively modified it, creating a third and fourth form of the score.
He was the third son
Remember the quote associated with Beethoven? Where it says — “There are and will be a thousand princes; there is only one Beethoven… That may not be true.
The very first Ludwig van Beethoven was his grandfather, a musician, and the second was Beethoven’s older brother, who died a few days after his birth.
He studied with his idol’s teacher — Franz Joseph Haydn
In his early 20s after his move to Vienna, he began lessons with his idol’s teacher, Franz Haydn, often called the father of the symphony.
Haydn taught Mozart, one of Beethoven’s early idols. (Beethoven had earlier made a visit to Vienna to try to take lessons with Mozart)
Although Haydn and Beethoven would often clash and argue, Beethoven nevertheless dedicated his Piano Sonatas, Op. 2 to his teacher.
Love was not his thing
Beethoven first fell in love with a young countess named Julie (“Giulietta”) Guicciardi in 1801 but could not marry her because he was a commoner. His famous Piano Sonata №14, “Moonlight,” is dedicated to her.
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A few years later he met and fell in love with Josephine Brunswick, another countess, after he began giving her piano lessons in 1799. They would write a series of love letters, of which 15 by Beethoven survive, until her family pressured them to terminate the relationship.
He died at age 56
Beethoven died on March 26, 1827 after a long illness, his friend comparing the moment to the composer’s symphonies with “crashes that sound like hammering on the portals of Fate.”
His friends and biographers also recorded many different versions of his last words including “Pity, pity — too late,” or “Applaud, my friends, the comedy is over” and “I shall hear in heaven,” a reference to his deafness.
