Ludwig van Beethoven

1. Ludwig van Beethoven Why did he have a hard life? What was the hardest thing for him to overcome? Why is his music still so important and loved today, so many years after his death?

2. Birth and childhood • Born in Bonn, Germany in 1770. • His father was Ludwig’s first music teacher. • Ludwig had to practice many nights when his father came home drunk. • Ludwig showed an interest in composing when he was a child.

3. Young adulthood • Beethoven went to Vienna, Austria to learn more about composing when he was 17. • He had to return home when his mother died, and help raise his brothers.

4. Return to Vienna • When Beethoven was 22, he moved to Austria and never returned to Germany. • He learned from Haydn, another great composer, ...and played for Mozart before he died.

5. Beethoven began hearing buzzing in his ears. At first he tried to hide his loss of hearing from his friends. He continued to write music when he was deaf. Beethoven tried many hearing devices, but none of them worked. He could watch people’s lips to understand what they were saying, or have them write in a notebook. Losing his hearing

6. Medical methods back then... • Doctors poured warm milk and crushed nuts in Beethoven’s ears, telling him that this would help restore his hearing! • Doctors rubbed Beethoven’s arms with an ointment until they blistered, then punctured and drained the blisters…telling him that this would help restore his hearing!

7. His Later Years He still composed when he was deaf….. how could he do this?

8. He could hear the music inside his head….and he wasn’t bothered with other noises around him.He wrote some of his best music during this time.

9. Beethoven was not easy to be around. He had a temper, and he was very demanding. He would get lost in his own thoughts and would get impatient with others when they didn’t do what he thought they should do. He criticized other musicians when they didn’t perform his pieces the way he wanted them to sound. His whole life was very ‘stormy’ …there were many sad and discouraging times. His temperament

10. Some of his Works • 32 Piano Sonatas • Moonlight Sonata • Sonata Pathetique • Fur Elise • Fidelio (his only opera) • 9 Symphonies • Choral Symphony …#9 (Ode to Joy) • Beethoven’s Fifth …#5 • Symphony …#7 (the one we’ll hear at the concert) • Pastorale …..#6

11. Beethoven’s death • Beethoven died in Vienna, Austria in 1827. • It was storming when he died. (There was thundering during a snow storm!) • Beethoven raised his fist toward the storm and fell back on his bed, dying. • 50,000 lined the streets at his funeral to pay tribute to this great man.

12. Ludwig van Beethoven • Because his music was so fiery, powerful, and different from the music that came before him, his music marks the beginning of a new era of music in history, the ROMANTIC ERA.

13. Truly a great Composer !!!

14. Books and films about Beethoven video book films

15. Ludwig van Beethoven Why did he have a hard life?  What was the hardest thing for him to overcome? Why is his music still so important and loved today, 181 years after his death?

16. Beethoven PowerPoint based on the wonderful work of Sue White with editing by Meredith Inserra