BEETHOVEN, LUDWIG VAN

He is one of the greatest German composers, was born in Bonn in 1770. His greatness lies in the huge scope of his musical expressiveness and in his great technical inventiveness.

Ludwig’s father was a singer. He hoped that his son might turn out to be a prodigy like Mozart, and earn him a fortune by performing on the piano. His father’s teaching was rough and ready, and was given in more or less sober periods between bouts of heavy drinking. Ludwig made a great name as a great musician, but never rivaled Mozart’s great reputation as a wonder child. By 1972 Ludwig had moved to Vienna, which became his home for life. Here his reputation as a pianist grew. Until his ever increasing deafness put an end to concert work.

About this time, he studied with Haydn for a brief period. The older man’s influence can be heard in the early Beethoven symphonies. But in the later ones, culminating in the ninth and last- the choral- he enlarges the scope of the symphony into something quite new. The middle and late period symphonies have a breadth of feeling of a richness of expression that is not found elsewhere in symphonic music. The orchestra for which he wrote these works as larger and had a greater variety of instrument than had been used before

It was not only in the symphony that Beethoven added a new dimension to music. His piano sonatas explored the form and the instrument in a fresh and marvelous way. Again he seems to draw his inspiration from the depths of human feeling; equally effective in his sorrow as in his joy. This can be heard in his wistful adieux sonata and his splendid appassionata sonata. His technical accomplishments were no less impressive. His use of harmony was both individual and daring.