BEETHOVEN, LUDWIG VAN

(1770=- 1827), Ger. composer; born at Bonn; s. of a tenor singer at the Elector of Cologne’s court, a man of violent temper and drunken habits, with the natural result of the family suffering dire poverty during Ludwig’s early years. The father, discerning the precocity of his son was eager to turn his musical gifts to profit at the earliest po ible date, and commenced the child’s training at the age of five. By the time he was nine, however, the elder Beethoven could teach him no more, and he pa ed succe ively into the hands of another singer, Pfeiffer, Ries Van den Eeden (the court organist), and his succe or Neefe. As early as 1781 Beethoven had acted as deputy to the latter; in 1783 he was made cymbalist at the Bonn theatre and in the following year was given a court appointment under Neefe. In 1787 he visted Vienna where he played before Mozart and received a few le ons from him. But the illne of his mother to whom he was greatly attached and her subsequent death, put an end to these advantageous studies, and he returned to his work at Bonn and the charge of his father’s household, of which he was the chief support. In his native town he had won the friendship of Count Waldstein, through whose instrumentality the elector was induced to send Beethoven again to Vienna (1792) where he quickly made a reputation for himself by his playing and extemporization. Vienna was destined to be his home for the remainder of his life, and immediately after settling there he placed himself under the tuition of Haydn. Beethoven, however, did not get comfortably with his tutor, and was di atisfied with his progre . He therefore took le ons from Schenk and studied counterpoint later with Albrechtsberger and the violin with Schuppanzigh. It was in Vienna consequently that all his chief works were composed and in this great musical peuier he formed many lasting friendships. To Beethoven's first period belong: first two symphonies first 10 sonatas (including Pathetique 1799, and Moonlight) string trios first 6 string quartets, Mount of Olives (oratorio), and most of the sets of variations for pianoforte. Second period includes most of his greatest_works—e.g., Kreutzer Sonata (violin and piano) 1803; 3rd Hroica Symphony, 1804; Fidelio (opera) 1805; App as i on at a Sonata, 4th Symphony, and 32 Variations in C minor for Pianoforte, 1806; O minor for Pianoforte, 1806; C minor (5th), and_ Pastoral (6th) Symphony, 1807; and G minor Pianoforte Concerto, 1807; Violin Concerto and Lebewohl Sonata, 1809; music to Egmont and trio in B fiat, 1810; Symphonies 7 and 8, 1812. To.the last period belong 9th (Choral) Symphony (1823 onwards) last 4 pianoforte Sonata, last 4 string quartets, Mi a Solemn is, 2 overtures, and other minor works.