Ludwig van Beethoven Biography

Born: December 16, 1770

Bonn, Germany
Died: March 26, 1827
Vienna, Austria
German composer
German composer Ludwig van Beethoven is considered one of the most important figures in the
history of music. He continued to compose even while losing his hearing and created some of his
greatest works after becoming totally deaf.

Early years in Bonn

Ludwig van Beethoven was born in Bonn, Germany, on December 16, 1770. He was the eldest of
three children of Johann and Maria Magdalena van Beethoven. His father, a musician who liked to
drink, taught him to play piano and violin. Young Ludwig was often pulled out of bed in the middle of
the night and ordered to perform for his father's drinking companions, suffering beatings if he
protested. As Beethoven developed, it became clear that to reach artistic maturity he would have to
leave Bonn for a major musical center.
At the age of twelve Beethoven was a promising keyboard player and a talented pupil in composition
of the court organist Christian Gottlob Neefe (1748–1798). He even filled in as church organist when
Neefe was out of town. In 1783 Beethoven's first published work, a set of keyboard pieces, appeared,
and in the 1780s he produced portions of a number of later works. In 1787 he traveled to Vienna,
Austria, apparently to seek out Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756–1791) as a teacher. He was forced
to return to Bonn to care for his ailing mother, who died several months later. His father died in 1792.

Years in Vienna
In 1792 Beethoven went back to Vienna to study with the famous composer Joseph Haydn (1732–
1809). Beethoven was not totally satisfied with Haydn's teaching, though, and he turned to musicians
of lesser talent for extra instruction. Beethoven rapidly proceeded to make his mark as a brilliant
keyboard performer and as a gifted young composer with a number of works to his credit. In 1795 his
first mature published works appeared, and his career was officially launched.
Beethoven lived in Vienna from 1792 to his death in 1827, unmarried, among a circle of friends,
independent of any kind of official position or private service. He rarely traveled, apart from summers
in the countryside. In 1796 he made a trip to northern Germany, where his schedule included a visit to
the court of King Frederick William of Prussia, an amateur cellist. Later Beethoven made several trips
to Budapest, Hungary. In 1808 Beethoven received an invitation to become music director at Kassel,
Germany. This alarmed several of his wealthy Viennese friends, who formed a group of backers and
agreed to guarantee Beethoven an annual salary of 1,400 florins to keep him in Vienna. He thus
became one of the first musicians in history to be able to live independently on his music salary.
Personal and professional problems
Although publishers sought out Beethoven and he was an able manager of his own business affairs,
he was at the mercy of the crooked publishing practices of his time. Publishers paid a fee
to composers for rights to their works, but there was no system of copyrights (the exclusive right to
sell and copy a published work) or royalties (profits based on public performances of the material) at
the time. As each new work appeared, Beethoven sold it to one or more of the best and most reliable
publishers. But this initial payment was all he would receive, and both he and his publisher had to
contend with rival publishers who brought out editions of their own. As a result Beethoven saw his
works published in many different versions that were unauthorized, unchecked, and often inaccurate.
Several times during his life in Vienna Beethoven started plans for a complete, authorized edition of
his works, but these plans were never realized.
Beethoven's two main personal problems, especially in later life, were his deafness and his
relationship with his nephew, Karl. Beethoven began to lose his hearing during his early years in
Vienna, and the condition

Ludwig van Beethoven.

Courtesy of the
Library of Congress
.

gradually grew worse. So severe was the problem that as early as 1802 he actually considered
suicide. In 1815 he gave up hope of performing publicly as a pianist. After 1818 he was no longer
able to carry on conversations with visitors, who were forced to communicate with him in writing. The
second problem arose when he became Karl's guardian upon the death of his brother in 1815. Karl
proved to be unstable and a continuing source of worry to an already troubled man.
Beethoven's deafness and his temper contributed to his reputation as an unpleasant personality. But
reliable accounts and a careful reading of Beethoven's letters reveal him to be a powerful and self-
conscious man, totally involved in his creative work but alert to its practical side as well, and one who
is sometimes willing to change to meet current demands. For example, he wrote some works on
commission, such as his cantata (a narrative poem set to music) for the Congress of Vienna, 1814.
Examining Beethoven
Beethoven's deafness affected his social life, and it must have changed his personality deeply. In any
event, his development as an artist would probably have caused a crisis in his relationship to the
musical and social life of the time sooner or later. In his early years he wrote as a pianist-composer
for an immediate and receptive public; in his last years he wrote for himself. Common in Beethoven
biographies is the focus on Beethoven's awareness of current events and ideas, especially his
attachment to the ideals of the French Revolution (1789–99; the revolt of the French middle class to
end absolute power by French kings) and his faith in the brotherhood of men, as expressed in his
lifelong goal of composing a version of "Ode to Joy," by Friedrich Schiller (1759–1805), realized at
last in the Ninth Symphony. Also frequently mentioned is his genuine love of nature and outdoor life.
No one had ever heard anything like Beethoven's last works; they were too advanced for audiences
and even professional musicians for some time after his death in 1827. Beethoven was aware of this.
It seems, however, he expected later audiences to have a greater understanding of and appreciation
for them. Beethoven reportedly told a visitor who was confused by some of his later pieces, "They are
not for you but for a later age."

Read more: http://www.notablebiographies.com/Ba-Be/Beethoven-Ludwig-van.html#ixzz5Pc2HCpkG

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Ludwig van Beethoven was a German composer and the predominant musical
figure in the transitional period between the Classical and Romantic eras.
Who Was Ludwig van Beethoven?

Ludwig van Beethoven (December 16, 1770 to March 26, 1827) was a German pianist and composer widely
considered the greatest of all time, whose innovative compositions combined vocals and instruments, widening
the scope of sonata, symphony, concerto and quartet. He is the crucial transitional figure connecting the
Classical and Romantic ages of Western music. Beethoven’s personal life was marked by a struggle against
deafness, and some of his most important works were composed during the last 10 years of his life, when he
was quite unable to hear. He died at the age of 56.

Beethoven in 1803, painted by Christian Horneman (Photo: WikiCommons)

Beethoven’s Music

Some of Beethoven’s best-known compositions include:

'Symphony No. 3'

In 1804, only weeks after Napoleon Bonaparte proclaimed himself Emperor of France, Beethoven debuted his
"Symphony No. 3" in Napoleon's honor. Beethoven, like all of Europe, watched with a mixture of awe and
terror; he admired, abhorred and, to an extent, identified with Napoleon, a man of seemingly superhuman
capabilities, only one year older than himself and also of obscure birth. Later renamed the "Eroica Symphony"
because Beethoven grew disillusioned with Napoleon, it was his grandest and most original work to date.
Because it was so unlike anything heard before it, the musicians could not figure out how to play it through
weeks of rehearsal. A prominent reviewer proclaimed "Eroica" as "one of the most original, most sublime, and
most profound products that the entire genre of music has ever exhibited."

'Symphony No. 5'

One of Beethoven’s best-known works among modern audiences, "Symphony No. 5" is known for its ominous
first four notes. Beethoven began composing the piece in 1804, but its completion was delayed a few times for
other projects. It premiered at the same time as Beethoven’s "Symphony No. 6," in 1808 in Vienna.

'Fur Elise'
In 1810, Beethoven completed “Fur Elise” (meaning “For Elise”), although it was not published until 40 years
after his death. In 1867, it was discovered by a German music scholar, however Beethoven’s original
manuscript has since been lost. Some scholars have suggested it was dedicated to his friend, student and fellow
musician, Therese Malfatti, to whom he allegedly proposed around the time of the song’s composition. Others
said it was for the German soprano Elisabeth Rockel, another friend of Beethoven’s.

READ MORE: Beethoven: 5 Facts About the Composer & Pop Culture Nods to His Influence

'Symphony No. 7'

Premiering in Vienna in 1813 to benefit soldiers wounded in the battle of Hanau, Beethoven began composing
this, one of his most energetic and optimistic works, in 1811. The composer called the piece “his most excellent
symphony." The second movement is often performed separately from the rest of the symphony and may have
been one of Beethoven’s most popular works.

'Missa Solemnis'
Debuting in 1824, this Catholic mass is considered among Beethoven’s finest achievements. Just under 90
minutes in length, the rarely-performed piece features a chorus, orchestra and four soloists.

'Symphony No. 9'

Beethoven’s ninth and final symphony, completed in 1824, remains the illustrious composer's most towering
achievement. The symphony's famous choral finale, with four vocal soloists and a chorus singing the words of
Friedrich Schiller's poem "Ode to Joy," is perhaps the most famous piece of music in history. While
connoisseurs delighted in the symphony's contrapuntal and formal complexity, the masses found inspiration in
the anthem-like vigor of the choral finale and the concluding invocation of "all humanity."

'String Quartet No. 14'

Beethoven’s "String Quartet No. 14" debuted in 1826. About 40 minutes in length, it contains seven linked
movements played without a break. The work was reportedly one of Beethoven’s favorite later quartets and has
been described as one of the composer’s most elusive compositions musically.

Was Beethoven Deaf?

At the same time as Beethoven was composing some of his most immortal works, he was struggling to come to
terms with a shocking and terrible fact, one that he tried desperately to conceal: He was going deaf. By the turn
of the 19th century, Beethoven struggled to make out the words spoken to him in conversation.
Beethoven revealed in a heart-wrenching 1801 letter to his friend Franz Wegeler, "I must confess that I lead a
miserable life. For almost two years I have ceased to attend any social functions, just because I find it
impossible to say to people: I am deaf. If I had any other profession, I might be able to cope with my infirmity;
but in my profession it is a terrible handicap." At times driven to extremes of melancholy by his affliction,
Beethoven described his despair in a long and poignant note that he concealed his entire life.

Dated October 6, 1802 and referred to as "The Heiligenstadt Testament," it reads in part, "O you men who think
or say that I am malevolent, stubborn or misanthropic, how greatly do you wrong me. You do not know the
secret cause which makes me seem that way to you and I would have ended my life — it was only my art that
held me back. Ah, it seemed impossible to leave the world until I had brought forth all that I felt was within
me."

Almost miraculously, despite his rapidly progressing deafness, Beethoven continued to compose at a furious
pace. From 1803 to 1812, what is known as his "middle" or "heroic" period, he composed an opera, six
symphonies, four solo concerti, five string quartets, six string sonatas, seven piano sonatas, five sets of piano
variations, four overtures, four trios, two sextets and 72 songs. The most famous among these were symphonies
No. 3-8, the "Moonlight Sonata," the "Kreutzer" violin sonata and Fidelio, his only opera. In terms of the
astonishing output of superlatively complex, original and beautiful music, this period in Beethoven's life is
unrivaled by any of any other composer in history.

When and How Did Beethoven Die?

Beethoven died on March 26, 1827, at the age of 56. An autopsy revealed that the immediate cause of death was
post-hepatitic cirrhosis of the liver. The autopsy also provided clues to the origins of his deafness. While his
quick temper, chronic diarrhea and deafness are consistent with arterial disease, a competing theory traces
Beethoven's deafness to contracting typhus in the summer of 1796.

Scientists analyzing a remaining fragment of Beethoven's skull noticed high levels of lead and hypothesized
lead poisoning as a potential cause of death, but that theory has been largely discredited.
Portrait of Beethoven by Joseph Karl Stieler, 1820 (Photo: WikiCommons)

When and Where Was Beethoven Born?

Ludwig Van Beethoven was born on or about December 16, 1770 in the city of Bonn in the Electorate of
Cologne, a principality of the Holy Roman Empire. Although his exact date of birth is uncertain, Beethoven was
baptized on December 17, 1770.

Since as a matter of law and custom, babies were baptized within 24 hours of birth, December 16 is his most
likely birthdate. However, Beethoven himself mistakenly believed that he was born two years later, in 1772, and
he stubbornly insisted on the incorrect date even when presented with official papers that proved beyond any
reasonable doubt that 1770 was his true birth year.

Family and Childhood

Beethoven had two younger brothers who survived into adulthood, Caspar, born in 1774, and Johann, born in
1776. Beethoven's mother, Maria Magdalena van Beethoven, was a slender, genteel, and deeply moralistic
woman. His father, Johann van Beethoven, was a mediocre court singer better known for his alcoholism than
any musical ability. However, Beethoven's grandfather, godfather and namesake, Kapellmeister Ludwig van
Beethoven, was Bonn's most prosperous and eminent musician, a source of endless pride for young Ludwig.

Sometime between the births of his two younger brothers, Beethoven's father began teaching him music with an
extraordinary rigor and brutality that affected him for the rest of his life. Neighbors provided accounts of the
small boy weeping while he played the clavier, standing atop a footstool to reach the keys, his father beating
him for each hesitation or mistake.
On a near daily basis, Beethoven was flogged, locked in the cellar and deprived of sleep for extra hours of
practice. He studied the violin and clavier with his father as well as taking additional lessons from organists
around town. Whether in spite of or because of his father's draconian methods, Beethoven was a prodigiously
talented musician from his earliest days and displayed flashes of the creative imagination that would eventually
reach farther than any composer's before or since.

Hoping that his young son would be recognized as a musical prodigy à la Mozart, Beethoven's father arranged
his first public recital for March 26, 1778. Billed as a "little son of 6 years," (Mozart's age when he debuted
for Empress Maria Theresia) although he was in fact 7, Beethoven played impressively, but his recital received
no press whatsoever.

Meanwhile, the musical prodigy attended a Latin grade school named Tirocinium, where a classmate said, "Not
a sign was to be discovered of that spark of genius which glowed so brilliantly in him afterwards." Beethoven,
who struggled with sums and spelling his entire life, was at best an average student, and some biographers have
hypothesized that he may have had mild dyslexia. As he put it himself, "Music comes to me more readily than
words."

In 1781, at the age of 10, Beethoven withdrew from school to study music full time with Christian Gottlob
Neefe, the newly appointed Court Organist. Neefe introduced Beethoven to Johann Sebastian Bach, and at the
age of 12 Beethoven published his first composition, a set of piano variations on a theme by an obscure classical
composer named Dressler.

By 1784, his alcoholism worsening and his voice decaying, Beethoven's father was no longer able to support his
family, and Ludwig van Beethoven formally requested an official appointment as Assistant Court Organist.
Despite his youth, his request was accepted, and Beethoven was put on the court payroll with a modest annual
salary of 150 florins.

Beethoven and Mozart

There is only speculation and inconclusive evidence that Beethoven ever met with Mozart, let alone studied
with him. In an effort to facilitate his musical development, in 1787 the court sent Beethoven to Vienna,
Europe’s capital of culture and music, where he hoped to study with Mozart. Tradition has it that, upon hearing
Beethoven, Mozart said, "Keep your eyes on him; some day he will give the world something to talk about.” In
any case, after only a few weeks in Vienna, Beethoven learned that his mother had fallen ill and he returned
home to Bonn. Remaining there, Beethoven continued to carve out his reputation as the city's most promising
young court musician.

Early Career as a Composer

When the Holy Roman Emperor Joseph II died in 1790, a 19-year-old Beethoven received the immense honor
of composing a musical memorial in his honor. For reasons that remain unclear, Beethoven's composition was
never performed, and most assumed the young musician had proven unequal to the task. However, more than a
century later, Johannes Brahms discovered that Beethoven had in fact composed a "beautiful and noble" piece
of music entitled Cantata on the Death of Emperor Joseph II. It is now considered his earliest masterpiece.
In 1792, with French revolutionary forces sweeping across the Rhineland into the Electorate of Cologne,
Beethoven decided to leave his hometown for Vienna once again. Mozart had passed away a year earlier,
leaving Joseph Haydn as the unquestioned greatest composer alive.

Haydn was living in Vienna at the time, and it was with Haydn that the young Beethoven now intended to
study. As his friend and patron Count Waldstein wrote in a farewell letter, "Mozart's genius mourns and weeps
over the death of his disciple. It found refuge, but no release with the inexhaustible Haydn; through him, now, it
seeks to unite with another. By means of assiduous labor you will receive the spirit of Mozart from the hands of
Haydn."

In Vienna, Beethoven dedicated himself wholeheartedly to musical study with the most eminent musicians of
the age. He studied piano with Haydn, vocal composition with Antonio Salieri and counterpoint with Johann
Albrechtsberger. Not yet known as a composer, Beethoven quickly established a reputation as a virtuoso pianist
who was especially adept at improvisation.

Beethoven won many patrons among the leading citizens of the Viennese aristocracy, who provided him with
lodging and funds, allowing Beethoven, in 1794, to sever ties with the Electorate of Cologne. Beethoven made
his long-awaited public debut in Vienna on March 29, 1795. Although there is considerable debate over which
of his early piano concerti he performed that night, most scholars believe he played what is known as his "first"
piano concerto in C Major. Shortly thereafter, Beethoven decided to publish a series of three piano trios as his
"Opus 1," which were an enormous critical and financial success.

In the first spring of the new century, on April 2, 1800, Beethoven debuted his "Symphony No. 1 in C major" at
the Royal Imperial Theater in Vienna. Although Beethoven would grow to detest the piece — "In those days I
did not know how to compose," he later remarked — the graceful and melodious symphony nevertheless
established him as one of Europe's most celebrated composers.

As the new century progressed, Beethoven composed piece after piece that marked him as a masterful composer
reaching his musical maturity. His "Six String Quartets," published in 1801, demonstrate complete mastery of
that most difficult and cherished of Viennese forms developed by Mozart and Haydn. Beethoven also
composed The Creatures of Prometheus in 1801, a wildly popular ballet that received 27 performances at the
Imperial Court Theater. It was around the same time that Beethoven discovered he was going deaf.

Personal Life

For a variety of reasons that included his crippling shyness and unfortunate physical appearance, Beethoven
never married or had children. He was, however, desperately in love with a married woman named Antonie
Brentano. Over the course of two days in July of 1812, Beethoven wrote her a long and beautiful love letter that
he never sent. Addressed "to you, my Immortal Beloved," the letter said in part, "My heart is full of so many
things to say to you — ah — there are moments when I feel that speech amounts to nothing at all — Cheer up
— remain my true, my only love, my all as I am yours."

The death of Beethoven's brother Caspar in 1815 sparked one of the great trials of his life, a painful legal battle
with his sister-in-law, Johanna, over the custody of Karl van Beethoven, his nephew and her son. The struggle
stretched on for seven years, during which both sides spewed ugly defamations at the other. In the end,
Beethoven won the boy's custody, though hardly his affection.
Despite his extraordinary output of beautiful music, Beethoven was lonely and frequently miserable throughout
his adult life. Short-tempered, absent-minded, greedy and suspicious to the point of paranoia, Beethoven feuded
with his brothers, his publishers, his housekeepers, his pupils and his patrons. In one illustrative incident,
Beethoven attempted to break a chair over the head of Prince Lichnowsky, one of his closest friends and most
loyal patrons. Another time he stood in the doorway of Prince Lobkowitz's palace shouting for all to hear,
"Lobkowitz is a donkey!"

And despite his tumultuous personal life, physical infirmity and complete deafness, he composed his greatest
music — perhaps the greatest music ever composed — near the end of his life, including "Symphony No. 9,"
"String Quartet No. 14" and Missa Solemnis.

Legacy

Ludwig van Beethoven is widely considered the greatest composer of all time. Beethoven's body of musical
compositions stands with Shakespeare's plays at the outer limits of human accomplishment. And the fact
Beethoven composed his most beautiful and extraordinary music while deaf is an almost superhuman feat of
creative genius, perhaps only paralleled in the history of artistic achievement by John Milton writing Paradise
Lost while blind. Summing up his life and imminent death during his last days, Beethoven, who was never as
eloquent with words as he was with music, borrowed a tagline that concluded many Latin plays at the time.
"Plaudite, amici, comoedia finita est," he said. "Applaud friends, the comedy is over."
Nan Layad Nan Likhatan (Filipino Igorot Folk Song)

Tabbed by Buenofine Calse

[Verse 1]
D G
Nan layad nan likhatan
A D
Tet-eway sik-a
G
Layad ay nansikhafan
A D
Nar-os cha am-in

[Refrain]
D
Seg-ang yangkhay
G
Nan wad-ay
A D
Sik-a et achi mampay
G
Ya ngag kasin ta angnen
A D
Nar-os cha am-in

[Verse 2]
D G
San enta nen fuwekhan
A D
Adim ngen semken
G
San entan nin fachangan
A D
Nar-os cha am-in

[Refrain]
D
Seg-ang yangkhay
G
Nan wad-ay
A D
Sik-a et achi mampay
G
Ya ngag kasin ta angnen
A D
Nar-os cha am-in

[Instrumental]

D G A D
D G A D

[Refrain]
D
Seg-ang yangkhay
G
Nan wad-ay
A D
Sik-a et achi mampay
G
Ya ngag kasin ta angnen
A D
Nar-os cha am-in

[Bridge]
D A D A
Layad ta, chachama
D G
Into pay kasin chachi
A D
Nar-os cha am-in.

[Verse 3]
D G
Tak-en mo mimowasan
A D
Sumeg-ang ka man
G
Ta kasin ta libnayen
A D
San layad tay chwa

[Verse 4]
D G
Layad ta ay chachama
A D
Wedwechas fangunenta
G
Ta et ampay en amongta
A D
Omafong tay chwa

[Outro]
D A D A
Layad ta, chachama
D G
Into pay kasin chachi
A D
Nar-os cha am-in.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
----
The one who wrote it is a Mr. Oakes from Bontoc Central but it was first sang and
popularized
by Pedro Chinalpan.
Mr. Oakes was so in love with a fair Bontoc maiden. However, the relationship did not
prosper
because the woman married a Mr. Claver. Heartbroken, Mr. Oakes wrote the song.
Nan Layad Nan Likhatan
Nan Layad nan Likhatan is an old and very popular song in Bontoc, speaking of a love that has gone awry yet still hinting at a
chance for reconciliation. My brother asked me to listen to a contemporary rendition by a band, composed mostly of Ifontoks,
named PE'tune and sent the file to me. I have heard this band play and I liked the voice quality of their lead vocals, but they
have since disbanded (my brother says their lead guitarist went to the US). However, they were able to record an album of
the same name as their band, where Nan Layad nan Likhatan is one of the tracks.

Although it is a contemporary rendition, they included gongs as part of their musical instruments, much like Joey Ayala's Ay,
Ay, Salidummay. Listen, and be the judge whether it is a better rendition (compared to Lourdes Fangki perhaps?) or not
hehehe.. However, since I cannot post an audio in this blog, I asked wgacusana to use the song with videos of the Lang-ay
Festival 2007. I am very thankful for his help.

When the song asks, 'Ento pay kasin chachi? Nar-os cha't am-in' (Where did they all go? All of them have faded away), this can
also be said of our songs and dances, showcased in this video only because of the Lang-ay Festival.

Nan Layad Nan Likhatan Free Translation:

Nan layad ensikhafan (Qualifier: This is not a bullet-proof translation. If you
Tet-ewa'y sikhab think that the English rendering is not good, you are
Layad ay nenlikhatan welcome to suggest and I can change the words.)
Nar-os cha am-in.
A love beset with difficulties
Seg-ang yangkhay nan wad-ay It is truly hard
Sik-a et achi mampay A love that has been given much effort
Ya ngag kasin ta angnen All of them have faded away.
Nar-os cha't am-in.
Pity is all that is left
San enta nenfowekhan It is really up to you
Ad-im ngen semken What else shall we do then?
San enta nenpachangan All of them have faded away.
Nar-os cha am-in
The times when we were together
Seg-ang... Don't you think (about them)?
The times when we held hands
Layad ta'y chachama All of them have faded away.
Ento pay kasin chachi
Nar-os cha't am-in. Pity...

Tak-en mo mimowasan Our love so great

Someg-ang ka man Where did all of them go?
Ta kasin ta lomanen All of them have faded away.
San layad ta'y chwa.
So that everything will be alright
San layad ta'y chachama Have pity on me
Wedwecha's fangonen ta So we can bring back
Ta't ampay en-among ta Our love once again.
Omafong ta'y chwa.
Our love so great
Layad... It is better that we revive (it)
So that we can be together
Let us then get married.

Our love...
Best for baby
Reduces incidence of allergies
Economical
Antibodies
Stool ineffective
Temperatue is alwayd ideal
Fresh
Emotionally bonding
Easy once established
Digested easily (2-3 hours)
Immediately available
Nutritionally optional
Gastroenteritis reduced