Beethoven; an Extraordinary Musical Prodigy

Ludwig Van Beethoven was a famous composer during the Baroque music time period. He was born December 17, 1770, in Bonn Germany. He started taking piano lessons at a young age, and his dad, Johann Beethoven taught him. He dropped out of school at an early age, and at sixteen, he was sent to Vienna to study with Mozart, and Haydn. He gave many early concerts there, and also traveled around on tours to Prague, Berlin, and other nearby places. He was known for a nasty temper, but his abundance of talent made up for it. When Beethoven showed his first symphony to the people of Vienna, they found it extravagant and even risque. This is one of the traits that I most admire about Beethoven; even as a young and inexperienced composer, he was already pushing the boundaries of the baroque music style. In 1801 Beethoven confessed that he was most likely going deaf. He later wrote a letter about how unfair life could be, to curse a musician with deafness. However, Beethoven stated later that music was the only thing that made him still carry on. He then launched himself into one of his most intense sonatas for piano, (The Storm.)

 He wrote two more symphonies, and his one and only opera, Leonore. His work was becoming more and more popular, and it was one of the first music that was composed for general enjoyment. Beethoven wrote many more symphonies, including the famous Letter for Elise. An important part of Beethoven's life was that he taught and inspired many other young musicians, and in turn, fell in love with many of his attractive students. A few years later, Beethoven came to some financial trouble. He thought that by writing some more symphonies and editing his opera, he could make some more money. He wrote his seventh and eighth symphonies, and then was invited to preform in front of  many people. This raised his moods slightly, but he still had a foul temper, and was very anti-social. And even though he had been hard to be around when he was younger, many people believed that the main reason for this was because he was going deaf. When he was writing his seventh symphony, he had to press his ear against the piano, and strained to hear the vibrations and tones coming out of it. Even through this tragedy, he came up with one of the most complicated and exptrodinary peices of music of all time. 

7th:

• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tei3tUY09Pc
• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4uOxOgm5jQ4
• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vJJ3XjEx1gw
• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_7b1xO7K2RI

Beethoven's Ninth Symphony is the most played symphony throughout the current musical world. When it was first played on May 27, 1824, it was a great success. The story however, is heartbreaking. The symphony playing the piece had two conductors, Beethoven and a real conductor, who was not deaf. When they had finished playing, Beethoven continued to conduct, even through the wild applauding of the audience, until someone finally turned him around, to show him the audience. Here is the first through fourth movements of his symphony.
9th:

• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3SZ9QzGg95g
• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p5favl2Qtx0
• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kri2jWr08S4
• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ljGMhDSSGFU

As a violinist, I prefer listening to my music using this method, because it allows me to visualize how the different instruments will fit together, and how they contrast. 

Beethoven died the following year on March 26 from lead poisoning. He was surrounded by good friends and family. Even though his body then ceased to exist, his ingenious musical instincts are still used in modern music, and through his own existing classical pieces. 


I have been playing violin since kindergarten, and have always admired Beethoven for what he accomplished, even with such a great disability. Music is like a complex puzzle, the pieces have to fit together perfectly for it to succeed. Most people living today would not even know how to start composing a piece of music, half as astounding as Beethoven's. Beethoven was a musical prodigy, he wrote amazing songs while going deaf. I cannot even start to imagine what it would be like to grow up in a world filled with music, fall completely in love with it, only to have it's beauty taken away from you during the peak of your life. I believe that this is why Beethoven's music was so amazing; he taught us all what should be a life lesson: Learn to live with what god gives you. Beethoven is one of the most amazing and successful composers in human history, and is someone that I look up to, and often remind myself that he was, in my opinion, the world's greatest musical prodigy.

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

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ludwig_van_Beethoven

http://www.tumblr.com/tagged/ludwig%20van%20beethoven

http://rockawaymusic.blogspot.com/2010/11/bringing-your-old-piano-to-life.html

http://www.istockphoto.com/stock-photo-1595233-baroque-violin-and-bow.php