Ludwig van Beethoven (1770-1829)

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German composer, born in Bonn in 1770. His father was a singer and instrumentalist in the service of the Elector of Cologne at Bonn and gave Beethoven his first lessons in music. Whilst he was not famous for being a child prodigy like Mozart, he did in fact have music published from the age of 12.

In 1792 he moved to Vienna, center of European cultural life at the time and managed to find a series of wealthy patrons among the music-loving Viennese aristocracy, thanks initially to his skills as a piano virtuoso.

Not surprisingly, some of his most important early works are for the piano - the Pathetique sonata was written in 1799, the Moonlight Sonata in 1801. Whilst assimiliating the classical style of Haydn and Mozart, these pieces already display a bold and dramatic style of writing that was to mark Beethoven out from his contemporaries.

In 1802 Beethoven suffered the biggest crisis of his life with his discovery that his mild deafness was in fact incurable and sure to worsen. Letters from the time show his deep despair at this and hint that he may even have contemplated suicide.

In the end he came through the crisis with his determination fortified. His strength of character and resolve shines through in the subsequent masterpieces of his middle period such as the 'Eroica' Symphony (1803).

The decade up to 1812 was one of the most productive periods of Beethoven's life. Apart from symphonies 3-8, he also wrote his finest piano concertos (no.s 4 and 5), a violin concerto (click here to hear the opening theme of the third movement), numerous chamber works and struggled continuously with his opera Fidelio.

Personal problems marred the next few years and Beethoven was made to feel increasingly isolated by his worsening deafness, his failure to find a wife (despite several unrequited love affairs) and by the changing tastes of popular society which craved light Italian opera of the likes of Rossini and other 'easy-going' fare.

His final period of music is remarkable not least because it was written in almost total deafness. Most renowned is the Choral Symphony (no.9) with its extended variation-finale, setting Schiller's Ode to Joy. This work represents the culmination of Beethoven's achievement and remains unique in the scale and depth of its vision.

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