The Music Of The World Of Music - 1292 Words

The world of music has seen many memorable composers such as Bach, Mozart, Chopin, and Vivaldi, but none of them have a story as amazing as the 18th century classical composer Ludwig Van Beethoven. â€Å"His life played out like one of his beautiful symphonies, with unimaginable highs, lows, victories, and defeats,† (Viegas 5). Although he lost his hearing when he was 26 years old, Beethoven was famous for his nine symphonies, and is also recognized as one of the cornerstones of Western civilization through the legacy of his music. Ludwig Van Beethoven was born in Bonn, Germany. He was the son of Johann, a tenor of the court of the Elector of Cologne, who also taught violin and piano lessons, and the grandson of the man he was named after,†¦show more content†¦His father, Johann, became an alcoholic as a result of never living up to his father’s musical achievements. â€Å"His greatest hope for success in life now rested on one individual - his young son Ludwig† (Viegas 12). He gave Ludwig, music lessons from when he was very young. Many accounts believe that Ludwig’s father was abusive in his lessons. So dedicated to improving Ludwig’s musicianship, he would beat him or lock him in the cellar. â€Å"Since these events took place when Beethoven was at such an impressionable age, it is hard to tell how much of his later obsession with music came from a love of the craft or from a drive instilled by his domineering father† (Viegas 13). Regardless of his father’s dominance, Beethoven s musical prodigy was very natural for him. This is proven by the fact that although his father encouraged him to play pre-existing compositions, Beethoven composed his own. In 1779, German composer Christian Gottlob Neefe took over Ludwig’s father’s role as a music teacher. Mild-mannered and well-educated, he inspired Beethoven to pursue his talent for composing music further, and in 1782, Neefe decided to publish Beethoven s compositions. As Neefe began to publicize 12-year-old Beethoven’s talents, they caught the attention of Maximilian Franz, the new elector of the region who had an appreciation for music. He had Beethoven play the viola for his court orchestra and was very