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Birth
Ludwig van Beethoven was born on December 16, 1770 in Bonn, Germany. His parents were Johann van Beethoven and Maria Magdalena. Johann was a violin and clavier teacher. Ludwig eventually became a very famous composer.
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American Revolution
In 1775, the American Revolution began. This war was between Britain and its American colonies. The 13 colonies wanted to be independent from Britain, so they fought the Revolutionary War. This affected Britain because in the end, the country lost one of its colonies but the world gained a new free country with its own society.
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Expanding his Musical Talent
Young Beethoven's father attempted to inspire Beethoven with music while he grew up. Beethoven's first music teachers, however, didn't see any especially evident talent. In 1781, however, eleven year old Beethoven got a new teacher: Christian Gottlob Neefe. After learning from Neefe, Beethoven's musical talent expanded and he began composing music.
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First Compositions
By 1782, Beethoven's view on music had advanced. At 12 years old, Beethoven composed his first pieces of music; three piano sonatas.Each piece had three movements. From then on, Beethoven wrote many compositions for the rest of his life and his music, including those first three sonatas, are still well known today, over 200 years after they were written.
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Meeting Mozart
Beethoven went on to become a very famous composer himself, but before that he had his own inspirations. In 1787, Beethoven met Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. Mozart influenced Beethoven greatly and taught him classical music composition.
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French Revolution
1789 marked the beginning of the French Revolution. The French Revolution led to many changes in France. King Louis XVI was a heavy spender who put France in debt. Many people in France no longer wanted an absolute monarchy; instead they wanted a constitutional monarchy where the government also had a say in decisions.
Source: (Beck 573-583) -
Cantata for Joseph II
On February 20, 1790, Joseph II, the emperor of Austria, died. Once news arrived in Germany, people turned to 19 year old Beethoven. He was asked to compose a cantata for a memorial for the emperor. In the end, however, the cantata was not performed at the memorial but instead performed years after Beethoven's death.
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Haitian Revolution
In 1790, the Haitian Revolution began. At that time, Haiti was a very rich French colony with many enslaved Africans working on the plantations. Eventually, the slaves got fed up with being treated unfairly so they took action. Toussaint L'Overture led the slaves in rebelling and gaining independence for Haiti.
Source: (Darity 1) -
Moving to Austria
In 1792, Beethoven moved to Vienna, Austria. While there, he worked under the influence of Joseph Haydn, a famous European composer at the time. Many of Beethoven's compositions were written while he lived in Vienna, so that makes his move there important to his life. Beethoven spent the rest of his life living in Vienna.
Source: (Farr 1) -
Going Deaf
In 1802, Beethoven began to lose his hearing, which is tragic for a musician. Over the years, his hearing got worse and worse until finally, Beethoven was completely deaf. This was an important event because it affected Beethoven's work. A musician needs to be able to hear his music, but Beethoven could not. However, Beethoven's deafness did not stop him; Beethoven continued to compose many compositions while he was deaf.
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Napoleon's First Mistake
Napoleon Bonaparte was a French ruler who took over parts of Europe and had a large empire. Eventually, however, Napoleon began to make mistakes that caused him to lose his empire. The first mistake he made was the creation of the Continental System in 1806 that blocked trade between Great Britain and other European countries. After that, more mistakes were made and in the end, Napoleon no longer had the large empire he once had.
Source: (Beck 589-592) -
Klemens von Metternich begins his reign
In 1809, Austria got a new foreign minister. His name was Klemens von Metternich. Metternich ruled Austria for many years, and he led the Congress of Vienna. The Congress of Vienna was created to try and bring back peace in Europe after Napoleon's reign. Klemens von Metternich tried to restore Europe by creating a balance of power between each country, return Europe's kings and queens to their thrones, and surround France with countries that could protect it from aggression.
Source: (Beck 593) -
Brazilian Independence
In the 17-1800s, many colonies in the Americas fought for independence from the European countries that ruled them. In 1822, Brazil gained independence from Portugal. Brazil didn't just pick anyone to rule them, however. Prince Dom Pedro of Portugal fled to Brazil in 1822. Since Dom Pedro was never going to be king of Portugal, he decided to free Brazil from Portuguese rule and he became the ruler of Brazil, thus making it an independent country.
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Missa Solemnis
By 1823, Beethoven had been completely deaf for a number of years. That year, however, he completed one of the two masses he wrote in his lifetime. This one was called "Missa Solemnis". This mass was written for Archduke Rudolph and although it was started in 1819, Beethoven didn't finish the composition until 1823. The "Missa Solemnis" is a very lengthy piece with two parts but it is important because it is one of the pieces Beethoven composed without his ability to hear.
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Symphony No. 9
In 1824, Beethoven completed "Symphony No. 9". This composition became one of Beethoven's greatest pieces of all time, and he composed it while he was deaf. "Symphony No. 9" provides a transition for Beethoven's music between the classical and romantic eras of music. The beginning is classical, but the final movement has a celebratory tune, showing a transition to romantic music. The last movement, "Ode to Joy" has lyrics from a poem by Friedrich Schiller
Source: (Schwarm 1). -
Death
Beethoven lived to be one of the best composers in Europe. He was known for many compositions, and many musicians admired him. On March 26, 1827, Ludwig van Beethoven died at age 56 in Vienna, Austria
Source: (Rossi and Rafferty 184-199)
