Ludwig Van

Beethoven

History’s greatest composer

By: Shranda Call

Ludwig Van Beethoven Estimated to be born on

December 17, 1770 in Bonn, Germany.

Ludwig was born into a family full of musicians so, naturally, he followed in the footsteps and developed a love of music.

Life’s challenges were quickly thrown his way when his grandfather passed away, and his father developed a dangerous relationship with alcohol. Because of this, Ludwig had to drop out of school and become the breadwinner for his family.

On his way Beethoven developed a relationship with

the court organist, Christian Neefe, who became his teacher. With Neefe’s help, Beethoven was able to compose his first piece, Nine Variations on March by Dressler which was published in 1783.

From this point on, Beethoven became a well known musician and was appointed as continuo player to the Bonn Opera.

In 1790, the emperor died and Beethoven was asked to compose a funeral piece but when the piece was given to the orchestra, they cancelled the performance due to extreme difficulty of the piece

Joseph Haydn

Later in the year 1790, a man named Joseph Haydn was introduced to Beethoven and his immense talent.

He decided to take Beethoven on as a student but the relationship did not last long due to Beethoven’s decision that Haydn was not the one to help him on his way to success.

In 1975, Beethoven made his first public appearance in Vienna.

He played a composition of his own: No. 2, Opus 19, along with a piece by Mozart.

Beethoven continued to tour through Berlin and Prague and performed another public concert in 1800 which increased his fame even more.

ROAD

TO

SUCCESS

Unexpected FatePossibly the worst fate that could befall a

composer is to become deaf. Beethoven was one of the unlucky people to endure this fate.

By 1802 he realized he would be permanently deaf. With this realization, he wrote “Heiligenstadt Testament” which were letters to his brothers, describing his anger and struggles with the loss of hearing.

In 1819, his deafness completely overtook him and he was proclaimed officially deaf.

He became much of a recluse and his creative life declined along with his number of compositions.

Part of the Family In 1815, Ludwig’s brother

Caspar Anton Carl passed away and left full guardianship of his nine year old son, Karl, to Ludwig.

The relationship between Ludwig and Karl was very strained and in 1826, Karl attempted to take his own life. At this point it was requested that he begin his army career to get his life in order.

After Karl left for his career, Beethoven completed five more pieces including his Ninth Symphony, which was his final large-scale piece.

Loved by many

The summer following his completion of the Ninth Symphony, Beethoven spent the summer on an estate which belonged to his surviving brother.

Upon returning to Vienna that fall, he contracted pneumonia and never fully recovered.

He remained bedridden where he later died from cirrhosis on March 26, 1827.

His funeral was held three days later where some 20,000 people attended.

Fifth Symphony The Fifth Symphony is Beethoven’s

most widely recognized composition due to the four note motif played at the beginning of the first movement.

The piece was written over the span of four years beginning in 1804 and was finished in 1808.

The completion of the symphony is such a major feat because it was written during the time of his life when he was permanently deaf.

Performance The Fifth Symphony was first

performed in Vienna’s Theater an der Wien on December 22, 1808. The performance was said to be very cold and unprepared.

The composition has been a worldwide staple ever since its completion. It has been played by hundreds of orchestras over centuries including the New York Philharmonic in 1842 and the National Symphony Orchestra in 1931.

Form It was written for a classical

symphony orchestra consisting of 18 musicians plus strings.

The piece is in Sonata form which is shown in three different sections: Exposition, Development and Recapitulation.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_4IRMYuE1hI

Exposition The piece begins in C minor. The minor key gives it

the drastic, ominous tone. 0:00: It begins with the one of the most famous

introductions in history; the four note motif played “short, short, short, long”.

0:09: A new motif is passed from one instrumental section to another and the Exposition begins.

0:42: The French horns call to the introduction again, changing the key from C minor to E flat major.

0:44: Verse two plays in the new key. 1:20: A short silence plays before the four note motif

is played again, bringing the piece back to the original key of C minor.

2:42: New verse begins

Development

2:55: Four note motif is played again by strings in a different key

3:59: Motif is played once again; grand with the entire orchestra

4:17: Violins stop playing and the oboe begins a solo

Recapitulation 4:30: Theme returns in the original key 5:07: Intensity builds; increasing excitement5:14: Key changes from minor back to major6:05: Coda begins; end is near6:15: A battle between violins and low

strings6:38: Motif is played for the final time,

followed by original theme6:58: Piece finishes with an extremely

powerful end

Ninth Symphony The Ninth Symphony was Beethoven’s final piece of work; completed in 1824. It is also known as “Ode to Joy”.

This was the first symphony written by a major composer which featured vocals; thus making it a choral symphony.

The lyrics for the song were taken from a poem called “An die Freude”, meaning “Ode to Joy”; written by Friderich Schiller in 1785.

Performance Beethoven felt the musical taste in Vienna

was too heavily dominated by Italian composers but was forced into showcasing his piece in Vienna on May 7, 1824.

This was Beethoven’s first appearance on stage in almost 12 years. He appeared on stage with the Kappellmeister, Michael Umlauf.

Umlauf instructed the orchestra to ignore Beethoven’s directing due to Beethoven’s poor attempt to conduct an operatic dress rehearsal earlier that year.

Form This piece is most well known for

the fourth movement where the theme “Ode to Joy” becomes prevalent.

The Ninth Symphony was also created in Sonata form but is a bit more complex due to a larger mixture of form along with choral singing and military marches.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_-mvutiDRvQ

Exposition 0:00: Intro begins with the

chorus, accompanied by strings and brass.

The piece continues to repeat several times at the same tempo, volume and key

0:45: Key change to a higher key; giving the piece a more joyful tone

1:28: The orchestra bursts into the chorus making a grand forte entrance

Development 2:31: New verse begins with a new tempo

and volume; emphasis on woodwinds and strings

2:47: Timpani draws the orchestra into a new verse where the tempo and volume increase. This develops an anxious feeling that something big is coming.

2:56: Vocal chorus joins in followed by call and response

3:01: A single tenor begins his solo, singing the chorus “An die Freude”, accompanied by a single woodwind

4:29: The music goes back to the symphony where there is a brief fugue

Recapitulation

4:46: Coda begins. The vocal chorus comes in very strong, fast and forte

5:05: Begin repeating two lines arching up and back down accompanied by the drums

5:55: Orchestra significantly increases tempo and repeats the same two notes; timpani gives the final note of the piece

CREDITS “Beethoven: biography”. Dominique Prevot. Web.

2001. http://www.lvbeethoven.com/Bio/BiographyLudwig.html

“Ludwig van Beethoven biography”. Web. 1997.http://home.swipnet.se/zabonk/cultur/ludwig/beetbio.htm

“Symphony No. 5 (Beethoven)”. Web. 2011.http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Symphony_No._5_(Beethoven)

“Ludwig van Beethoven: Fifth Symphony”. Peter Gutmann. Web. 2001. http://www.classicalnotes.net/classics/fifth.html>

“All about Beethoven”. Web. 2004http://www.all-about-beethoven.com/symphony5.html

Symphony No. 9 (Beethoven). Web. 2011. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Symphony_No._9_(Beethoven)