Beethoven composed one of his greatest symphonies after he was completely deaf

Music was a major part of Ludwig van Beethoven’s life almost from the beginning.

Ludwig was born on this date, December 16, in Bonn, Germany, in 1770. His father Johann was determined to launch his son in a musical career at an early age, the way Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart was started by his father. Johann was Ludwig’s first music teacher.

Johann was disappointed that Ludwig accomplished little, musically, until he was 11. At that tender age, Ludwig dropped out of school to serve as assistant organist in the emperor’s court at Bonn.

By age 13, Ludwig was playing a keyboard instrument, a precursor of the piano, for the Bonn opera company and accompanying opera rehearsals. At 17, he went to Vienna to study with Mozart, who was 14 years older. Mozart predicted great things for Beethoven.

Because of his father’s problem with alcoholism, Beethoven had to support the family by the time he was 18. He was composing and teaching by age 19 and playing viola in the opera orchestra. In his early 20s, he met Joseph Haydn, who encouraged him to move to Vienna. Beethoven did, and he lived there the rest of his life.

In Vienna, Prince Karl Lichnowsky was the first patron who provided support for Beethoven. The composer dedicated his Piano Sonata in C Minor, the “Pathétique,” to the prince. 

Before he was 30, Beethoven began to lose his hearing. This made him more difficult to get along with, but it did not prevent him from composing.

Beethoven was prolific, composing nine symphonies, one opera, five piano concertos, a violin concerto, as well as extensive piano pieces and chamber music for string quartets and trios.

Viewing Napoleon as hero-liberator, Beethoven dedicated his third symphony to the general. But, disillusioned when Napoleon declared himself emperor, Beethoven marked through that dedication and renamed the symphony ‘Eroica.”

Musicologists divide Beethoven’s music career into three periods. The first, from the late 1780s to 1800 (his late teens to age 30), was a formative, exploratory time. The second, 1800-1815, included the writing six of his nine symphonies. The last period, 1815 to his death in 1827, included what many consider his most compelling, the Ninth Symphony, written after he was completely deaf. This work includes a choral section, which became the basis for the hymn, “Joyful, Joyful, We Adore Thee,” with words by American poet Henry van Dyke.

Beethoven’s masterpieces---many composed in circumstances which would have deterred lesser musicians---inspire us musically. They also inspire us to re-commit the best that we have and the best that we are in the season when we celebrate Christ’s coming into the world to endure the ultimate hardship of death on the cross on our behalf.

A Verse for Today

“. . . David took the lyre and played it with his hand, and Saul would be relieved and feel better, and the evil spirit would depart from him” (1 Samuel 16:23).

Each day through New Year’s Day, January 1, 2013, inspirational thoughts will appear, in keeping with Advent, Christmas, and New Year’s Day.  These are from my book, Reflections for the Festive Seasons.  © 2002.  All rights reserved.