Beethoven, Ludwig van

(1770–1827)

   The composer was the offspring of a musical family that had emigrated to Germany from the Netherlands. At 13 years of age, Beethoven played viola and harpsichord in the house orchestra of the prince-bishop of Bonn. He studied briefly at the local university, but never took a degree. Beethoven stayed briefly in Vienna in 1787, but he returned to Germany because of family obligations. After 1792, he made the Habsburg capital his permanent residence. There he studied counterpoint with Joseph Haydn, to whom he dedicated his first three piano sonatas. He also worked with other local teachers, including Anton Salieri, the music director of the imperial chapel and court orchestra. His musical output was not only sizeable, but strikingly original. His nine symphonies, five piano concertos, 32 piano sonatas, 16 string quartets, and many other works owe a great deal to the models of Mozart and Haydn, as well as to other 18th-century German composers, but move well beyond them in expressive force. This is particularly true of the Ninth Symphony and the introspective string quartets of his last years. His deafness, which had become total by 1820, clearly influenced the mood of the latter.

   Beethoven was well connected to the musical circles of Vienna. His patrons were among the most influential nobles of the city and even the imperial family itself. He gave music lessons in 1803–1804 to Archduke Rudolph (1788–1831), to whom the composer dedicated several works, including the Emperor (Fifth) Piano Concerto. Along with two noblemen, Rudolph set up an endowment to keep Beethoven from taking employment elsewhere, an arrangement that collapsed when the government declared bankruptcy in 1811. The composer’s funeral, from the Church of the Holy Trinity, was a major public spectacle.