Ludwig van Beethoven

One of the three Viennese classics, a representative of late classicism Ludwig van Beethoven had a huge influence on Romantic music. Born in 1770 in Bonn, he had a difficult childhood. His father forcibly wanted to turn his son into a musical genius, so he enrolled him in piano lessons from an early age. However, it was only in 1779 that young Ludwig felt a love for music when he began his acquaintance with the organist Christian Gotlob Neefe, who became his master. He was the first to introduce him to the works of Bach, which from then on became Beethoven's ideal.
From 1783 he became a member of the court orchestra in Bonn, and in 1787 he went to Vienna to study with Mozart. Unfortunately, the visit to Vienna was interrupted by the sudden illness of the artist's mother, who returned home to accompany her until her death. In 1792 Beetoheven was invited to Vienna by Joseph Haydn, who offered the musician studies in the capital. During this period, the works of this composer are influenced by Mozart and Haydn, they are classical pieces, without major innovations or personal traits. From this stage of his creativity come works such as I Symphony in C major op. 21, I Piano Concerto in C major op. 15, or II Piano Concerto in B-flat major op. 19. However, this restless rebel, which was this genius, sought new inspirations, wanted to broaden horizons, and for this reason looked for other composers who could support him.
Unfortunately, from 1801, he began to have problems with hearing, which however did not prevent him from creating more excellent works such as: II Symphony in D major op. 36, III Symphony in E-flat major op. 55 'Eroica', piano sonatas, including the famous Moonlight Sonata, Coriolan Overture or Triple Concerto in C major op. 56 and the famous Bagatelli in A minor. In 1817, when his hearing problems started to increase, Beethoven wrote the known Heiligenstadt Testament, in which he desperately talks about his struggles with the disease. By that time, this genius had created many works, including the Fourth, Fifth, Sixth, Seventh, and Eighth Symphonies, the opera Fidelio, music for Goethe's Egmont, Wellington's Victory. In the last years of his life, Beethoven composed innovative and personal works, which foreshadowed characteristic features of Romantic music or the 20th century. These were works such as the Ninth Symphony in D minor op. 125, Missa Solemnis in D major op. 123, the last string quartets and piano sonatas. The composer died in Vienna in 1827.