Composer Profile - Activefolio

74 Chapter 7
Beethoven’s Life
would have to be greatly expanded. Beethoven entered the world of music at a time
when musical structures were very well developed and concertos and symphonies were
mature forms that offered great opportunities for powerful personal expression. Beethoven
embraced these forms, but through the sheer force of his imagination, infused them
with expressive potential that had not previously been attempted or heard.
Ludwig van Beethoven was born in Bonn, Germany on December 16, 1770. His father,
Johann, was a choir singer and an alcoholic, and upon seeing young Ludwig’s talents
for music sought to turn him into another Mozart prodigy for his own gain. Needless to
say, Beethoven’s childhood was not particularly happy. Although he loved music, he was
forced to practice endless hours each day. He was beaten when he made mistakes, and
sometimes was forced to practice all night. His mother was tender, caring, and encouraging,
but she too was dominated by Johann.
Still, Beethoven did develop considerable expertise on the keyboard and attracted
the attention of many leading musicians in Bonn. Even Haydn, who was on his way
home from London, stopped to hear young Beethoven play. He was impressed enough
to invite Ludwig to Vienna to study with him. Beethoven’s first visit to Vienna in 1790
was cut short by the death of his mother. This was obviously a devastating blow to the
young, sensitive musician, and left him in charge of the family household. Beethoven
worked hard to care for his younger siblings and to keep his father, now a complete
drunkard, out of trouble. In 1792, he left home for Vienna, this time for good.
His studies in Vienna were only moderately successful. Haydn respected Beethoven’s
gifts, but was impatient with the young composer’s unwillingness to stick to the traditional
theoretical practices of the day. Soon, Beethoven went on to study with other
great composers in Vienna, including Albrechtsberger and Salieri. They also had little
success in containing Beethoven’s musical impulsiveness. This mattered little to Beethoven
however. He was beginning to gain a reputation around town as a bright young star, as
both pianist and composer, and before long, commissions started pouring in. Though
his first concerts received poor reviews from critics who did not understand Beethoven’s
idiosyncrasies, he forged ahead until he became perhaps the busiest composer in Vienna.
Shortly before 1800, Beethoven realized that he was losing his hearing. This affliction
was the worst possible nightmare for him, as it might well be for any musician. The
deafness was very slow in developing; still, after about 1810, Beethoven stopped his
piano performances for the public. He did everything he could to hide the severity of
his hearing loss from other people. He became a good lip reader, and used an ear trumpet
long after he had any hope of hearing anything. As he wrote in his letters, he could
not imagine a more terrifying fate. In one of his letters to his brother, known as the
Heiligenstadt Testament, Beethoven wrote,
“O ye men, who think or say that I am malevolent, stubborn, or misanthropic,
how greatly do you wrong me? I must live like an exile; if I approach near to
people a hot terror seizes me, a fear that I might be subjected to the danger of
letting my condition be observed. . . . what a humiliation when one stood
beside me and heard a flute in the distance and I heard nothing or someone
heard the shepherd’s song and again I heard nothing—such incidents have
brought me to the verge of despair; but little more and I would have put an
end to my life. Only art it was that withheld me, it seemed impossible to leave
the world until I had produced all that I felt called upon to produce . . . O
Providence, grant me at last but one day of pure joy—it has been so long since
real joy echoed in my heart . . . .”