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Ludwig Minda Music 20 January Morgan History van As one 2011looks back for truly inspirational composers throughout

our histo Beethoven ry, Ludwig van Beethoven is indubitably one of the best-known and most acclaimed composers of his time. Coming from a very musical family, Beethoven began to s tudy music intensively at age eleven when his father noticed his gift. Composi ng nine symphonies, eleven overtures, five piano concertos, one violin concerto, sixteen string quartets, five cello sonatas, the opera Fidelio, and the Mass in C Major, Beethoven had no problem making a living off of his commissions and pu blic concerts. Although Beethoven was a very successful composer and musician, his life and career drastically changed when he started to lose his hearing arou nd 1796. Beethoven became extremely depressed and started to seclude himself fr om society. Although this was something that truly affected his life in a way h e never expected, Beethoven prevailed through this obstacle and continued to com pose some of his most magnificent works. Although Beethoven left his name in so many ways with the Classical and Romantic era, his inspirational story and unbe lievable compositions are what make him stand out to be a truly inspirational co mposer. Beethoven was naturally talented at composing and began at a very young age. Shrock states, ..at the age of twelve he wrote his first composition- nine variations for piano on a theme by Ernst Christoph Dressler- and for the next fo ur years he composed piano and other instrumental chamber works for local perfor mances (Shrock, 443). Although Beethoven is known for composing for all differe nt types of musical genres, his compositions are divided into three different ph ases: early, middle, and late. In his first period Beethoven was just starting to compose and looked to Mozart and Haydn for inspiration and style. The larges t compositions he made during this time were sonatas, variations, and shorter wo rks for piano. Beethoven was very experimental in what he wanted and would often use strong contrasts of style or topic to delineate the form and broaden the ex pressive range (Hanning, 378). Some of his greatest works that came from this pe riod were first and second symphonies, a set of six string quartets Opus 18, Son ate pathetique, His second Moonlight period sonata of compositions and symphony began No.1after in C he Major. found out about his h earing loss. In this period Beethoven was known for writing many heroic themes t hat had expression of struggle to relate to what he was going through at this po int in his life. This period was really hard on Beethoven and he began to suffe r from a psychological crisis. Hanning asserts, In part because of his growing d eafness, Beethoven carried a notebooks in which he scribbled bits of conversatio ns... he notated themes and plans for compositions, worked out the continuity of each piece, and gradually filled in details (Hanning, 381). Because Beethoven k ept these notebooks and wrote in such great detail, we can now look at these and follow his ideas and see how he reached their final form. Some of his middle p eriod works include six symphonies (Nos. 38), the last three piano concertos, and his piano Thesonatas last period including of Beethovens Moonlight,compositions Waldstien and are Appassionata. some of his best works and they were written when he was almost completely deaf. Although he did produce some of his best compositions during this time, this was Beethovens lowest point in his life dealing with family problems, ill health, and unfounded apprehension s of poverty (Hanning,390). Beethoven continued to use new composition technique s in his music and new sonorities in his piano sonatas. The compositions show s o much intellectual thought and expression and reflection on life. Some of the most famous works of this time include the String Quartet, Op. 131, Ninth Sympho ny and Missa When looking Solemnis. back at what many people thought about Beethoven as a perso n, many disliked him. It is said that he came off as rude and arrogant but when looking into deeper research of what was going on within his life personally, i t is clear that this was not the case. Hanning states, The impression Beethoven gave off as being moody and unsociable had much to do with his increasing deafn ess (381). In the autumn of 1802 Beethoven wrote a letter known as the Heiligens tadt Teastament to his brother that was to be read after his death. In this lett er Beethoven talks about the pain he felt as he was loosing his hearing and how depressed and embarrassed he had become by his illness, ...what a humiliation for me when someone standing next to me heard a flute in the distance and I heard n othing, or someone heard a Shepard singing and again I heard nothing. Such inci dents grew me almost to despair, a little more of that and I would have ended my life-it was only my art that held me back (381). Beethoven was at his lowest po

int in his life when he was almost completely deaf, but he held onto his music t o pull him through the one of the hardest things that a composer or musician cou ld ever have to face, His perseverance in the face of deafness combined with the sense of struggle and triumph depicted in much of his music, made him a heroic f igure (Hanning, Although Beethoven 378). may not have ever thought losing his hearing would be something that had a silver lining inside, he now is known not only for his mus ic, but for his perseverance through that time. His compositions are continuall y played and people look at his musical compositions in a different way knowing he could not always hear everything that was written. As Beethoven once said, Le t us all do what is right, strive with all our might toward the unattainable, de velop as fully as we can the gifts God has given us, and never stop learning. Be ethoven has changed the musical world for the better and is a great example of h ow we canBarbara Hanning, Sources prevailRussano, through and anything Donald life Jay. may Grout. throwConcise at us. History of Western Musi c. New York: Shrock, Dennis. W. Choral W. Norton, Repertoire. 2010. Print. Oxford: Oxford UP, 2009. Print.

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