Ludwig van Beethoven

Ludwig van Beethoven by Karl Stieler (1820)

When Haydn returned to Vienna from his first concert tour in England in 1795, he took on a promising young student named Ludwig van Beethoven. Beethoven was 25 years old at the time and was already an accomplished pianist. Over the next thirty years, he would become one of the most famous composers in the world, and a hero to artists for the next hundred years.

Originally from Bonn, part of the Holy Roman Empire, Beethoven had moved to Vienna to pursue a career as a composer. His first published work (Opus 1) was a series of piano trios, which was well received. He continued to write solo and chamber works throughout his life, and is noted especially for his piano sonatas and string quartets, but his real renown came from his bold and innovative symphonies.

His first symphony was premiered in 1800 at a concert along with works by Haydn and Mozart, and established Beethoven as one of the leading composers in Vienna. In his early works, Beethoven wrote in traditional Classical forms, but had already begun to incorporate sudden changes in tonality and an expanded wind section. His Third Symphony, premiered in 1804, was dedicated to Napoléon Bonaparte, whom Beethoven considered a champion of liberalism and natural rights. When the composer learned that Napoléon had declared himself Emperor of the French, he scratched out the dedication so furiously it left a hole in the front page.

By the time his Fifth Symphony appeared in 1808, Beethoven had already noticed that his hearing was deteriorating. By 1811, he was completely deaf, and retired from public performance. Nevertheless, he continued to compose, and some of his best work was done in his final years, including his seventh, eighth, and ninth symphonies, and his mass Missa Solemnis.

Beethoven died in 1827. He became an icon of the artist struggling against fate, and not only his compositions but his life itself paved the way for the Romantic Period.