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Beethoven was baptized on December 17, 1770, so that gives us a little clue. However, there is no birth record. In fact, some people believe that he might have been born in 1772 and that his father changed the date to make the prodigy seem even younger.
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He kept a journal of his daily activities. This allowed historians to peek into his personality.
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Beethoven's father was an alcoholic and emotionally abusive to Beethoven when Beethoven was growing up;
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Ludwig Van Beethoven was born on 16th December 1770 in Bonn, Germany, to Johann Van Beethoven and Maria Magdalena Keverich. There are no genuine records regarding his date of birth. As per tradition of catholic Rhine countries, children are baptised a day after their birth. Records show that he was baptised on 17th December and hence, 16th December is widely considered as his date of birth.
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They are said to have met in Vienna in 1787, and Beethoven is said to have had a few lessons from Mozart. (Beethoven was 18 years of age)
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He almost took his own life, but his art saved him In the Heiligenstadt Testament, he wrote to his brothers: “But what a humiliation for me when someone standing next to me heard a flute in the distance and I heard nothing, or someone standing next to me heard a shepherd singing and again I heard nothing. Such incidents drove 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. Ah, it seemed to me impossible to leave the world..."
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When Mozart died in 1791, Vienna wanted an “heir” of sorts. Beethoven was told that he would need to step up to the plate and work hard to have “Mozart’s spirit through Hadyn’s hands.”
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November: Beethoven, one month short of his 22nd birthday, leaves Bonn for Vienna to study with Haydn. He has been given six months leave of absence by the elector. In fact he stays in Vienna for the rest of his life - never to return to his home town.
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Beethoven began to sketch a symphony in C major in 1795.On April 2, 1800, Beethoven held a concert in Vienna's Burgtheater.
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Beethoven often dipped his head in cold water before composing.
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It was inspired by Mozart's Symphony, with out Mozart, Beethoven would never have made the music that most people injoy.
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Beethoven moved to Vienna in 1792 and began studying with Haydn, quickly gaining a reputation as a virtuoso pianist. He lived in Vienna until his death. In about 1800 his hearing began to deteriorate, and by the last decade of his life he was almost totally deaf. No one knows the cause, though people speculate several things, such as typhus, an auto-immune disorder, and his practice of dunking his head in cold water to stay awake.
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His third symphony was dedicated to Napoleon Bonaparte — but then he took it back Beethoven was so furious that Napoleon declared himself emperor that he ripped the front page of the symphony and basically erased a hole where Napoleon’s name had been.
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It was to Giulietta that he dedicated the Piano Sonata in C-sharp Minor, Opus 27, No. 2, known as the Moonlight Sonata. But the countess married the Graf von Gallenberg in 1803, and in later years Beethoven seems to have remembered her only with mild contempt.
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Fidelio was the result of 10 years of blood, sweat, and tears on Beethoven’s part.
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Beethoven has created 138 peices over the years of his life.
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The three eras are the early period, the “heroic” middle period, and the late period.
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Beethoven knew it only by Piano Sonata No. 14, dedicated to Countess Giulietta Guicciardi. It was called “Moonlight” Sonata because a poet likened the piece to moonlight reflecting off a lake.
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Beethoven loved cooking, so much so that he named one of his pieces "Christ! On the Mount of Olives"
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Beethoven was very temperamental and would end performances if he became aware of anyone
in the audience talking. -
The death of Ludwig van Beethoven on 26 March 1827 followed a prolonged illness.
