Beethoven, Ludwig van 73 and Musicianspeople.wcsu.edu/reitzj/visuals/MUS100/mus100-2.pdfTHE NEW...
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THE NEW GROVE Dictionary of Music and Musicians SECOND EDITION Beethoven, Ludwig van ^po 76 MarchJT- Bonn, bap. 17 Dec 1770; d German composer. His early achievements, as composer and performer, show him to be extending the Viennese Classical tradition that he had inherited from Mozart and Haydn. As personal affliction - deafness, and the inability to enter into happy personal relationships - loomed larger, he began to compose in an increasingly individual musical style, and at the end of his life he wrote his most sublime and profound works. From his success at combining tradition and exploration and personal expression, he came to be regarded as the dominant musical figure of the 19th century, and scarcely any significant composer since his time has escaped his influence or failed to acknowledge it. For the respect his works have commanded of musicians, and the popularity they have enjoyed among wider audiences, he is probably the most admired composer in the history of Western music. 1. Family background and childhood. 2. Youth. 3. 1792-5. 4. 1796- 1800. 5. 1801-2: deafness. 6. 1803-8. 7. 1809-12. 8. 1813-21. 9. 1822-4. 10. 1824-7. 11. The 'three periods'. 12. Music of the Bonn period. 13. Music of the early Vienna period. 14. The symphonic ideal. 15. Middle-period works. 16. Late-period style. 17. Late-period works. 18. Personal characteristics. 19. Posthumous influence and reception: (i) History of the myth (ii) Beethoven's influence on music and musical thought (iii) Political reception. 1. FAMILY BACKGROUND AND CHILDHOOD. Three gen- erations of the Beethoven family tound employment as musicians at the court of the Electorate of Cologne, which had its seat at Bonn. The composer's grandfather, Ludwig (Louis) van Beethoven (1712-73), the son of an enterpris- ing burgher of Mechelen (Belgium), was a trained musician with a fine bass voice, and after positions at Mechelen, Leuven and Liege accepted in 1733 an appointment as bass in the electoral chapel at Bonn. In 1761 he was appointed Kapellmeister, a position which - although he seems not to have been a composer, unlike other occupants of such a post - carried with it the responsibility of supervising the musical establishment of the court. With his wife Maria Josepha Poll, whom he had married in 1733, and who later took to drink, he had only one child that survived. Johann van Beethoven (c!740-1792) was a lesser man than his father. He, too, entered the elector's service, first as a boy soprano in 1752, and continuing after adolescence as a tenor. He was also proficient enough on the piano and the violin to be able to supplement his income by giving lessons on those instruments as well as in singing. In November 1767 he married Maria Magdalena (1745-87), daughter of Hemrich Keverich, 'overseer of cooking' at the electoral summer palace of Ehrenbreitstein, and already the widow of Johann Leym, valet to the Elector of Trier; she was not vet 21. The couple took lodgings in Bonn at 515 Bonngasse. Their first child Ludwig Maria (bap. 2 April 1769) lived only six days; their second, also called Ludwig Beethoven, Ludwig van 73 and the subject of this narrative, was baptized on 17 December 1770. Of five children subsequently born to the couple only two survived infancy: Caspar Anton Carl (bap. 8 April 1774) and Nikolaus Johann (bap. 2 October 1776). Both brothers were to play important parts in Beethoven's life. Inevitably the early years of the son of an obscure musician in a small provincial town are themselves sunk in obscurity, and though speculation and myth-making have both been productive, facts are rather scarce. It is clear that at a very early age he received instruction from his father on the piano and the violin. Tradition adds that the child, made to stand at the keyboard, was often in tears. Beethoven's first appearance in public was at a concert given with another of his father's pupils (a contralto) on 26 March 1778, at which (according to the advertisement) he played 'various clavier concertos and trios'. A little later, when he was eight, his father is said to have sent him to the old court organist van den Eeden, from whom he may have received some grounding in music theory as well as keyboard instruction. He appears also to have had piano lessons from Tobias Friedrich Pfeiffer, who lodged for a while with the family, and informal tuition from several local organists. A relative, Franz Rovantini, gave the boy lessons on the violin and viola. His general education was not continued beyond ^the elementary school, but"this waTln accordance with the usual custom in Bonn at that time, only a few children going on to a Gymnasium (high school). The comparative | brevity of Beethoven's formal education, combined with I the fact that most of his out-of-school hours must have I been devoted to music, explains some of the gaps in his fi academic equipment, such as his blindness to orthography and punctuation and his inability to carry out the simplest multiplication sum. ^—s 2. Ludwig van Beethoven: miniature by Christian Horneman, 1803 (Beethoven-Haus, Bonn)
Transcript of Beethoven, Ludwig van 73 and Musicianspeople.wcsu.edu/reitzj/visuals/MUS100/mus100-2.pdfTHE NEW...
THE NEW GROVE
Dictionary of Music
and Musicians
SECOND EDITION
Beethoven, Ludwig van^po 76 MarchJT-
Bonn, bap. 17 Dec 1770; dGerman composer. His early
achievements, as composer and performer, show him tobe extending the Viennese Classical tradition that he hadinherited from Mozart and Haydn. As personal affliction- deafness, and the inability to enter into happy personalrelationships - loomed larger, he began to compose in anincreasingly individual musical style, and at the end of hislife he wrote his most sublime and profound works. Fromhis success at combining tradition and exploration andpersonal expression, he came to be regarded as thedominant musical figure of the 19th century, and scarcelyany significant composer since his time has escaped hisinfluence or failed to acknowledge it. For the respect hisworks have commanded of musicians, and the popularitythey have enjoyed among wider audiences, he is probablythe most admired composer in the history of Westernmusic.
1. Family background and childhood. 2. Youth. 3. 1792-5. 4. 1796-1800. 5. 1801-2: deafness. 6. 1803-8. 7. 1809-12. 8. 1813-21. 9.1822-4. 10. 1824-7. 11. The 'three periods'. 12. Music of the Bonnperiod. 13. Music of the early Vienna period. 14. The symphonicideal. 15. Middle-period works. 16. Late-period style. 17. Late-periodworks. 18. Personal characteristics. 19. Posthumous influence andreception: (i) History of the myth (ii) Beethoven's influence on musicand musical thought (iii) Political reception.
1. FAMILY BACKGROUND AND CHILDHOOD. Three gen-erations of the Beethoven family tound employment asmusicians at the court of the Electorate of Cologne, whichhad its seat at Bonn. The composer's grandfather, Ludwig(Louis) van Beethoven (1712-73), the son of an enterpris-ing burgher of Mechelen (Belgium), was a trained musicianwith a fine bass voice, and after positions at Mechelen,Leuven and Liege accepted in 1733 an appointment asbass in the electoral chapel at Bonn. In 1761 he wasappointed Kapellmeister, a position which - although heseems not to have been a composer, unlike other occupantsof such a post - carried with it the responsibility ofsupervising the musical establishment of the court.
With his wife Maria Josepha Poll, whom he hadmarried in 1733, and who later took to drink, he hadonly one child that survived. Johann van Beethoven(c!740-1792) was a lesser man than his father. He, too,entered the elector's service, first as a boy soprano in1752, and continuing after adolescence as a tenor. Hewas also proficient enough on the piano and the violin tobe able to supplement his income by giving lessons onthose instruments as well as in singing. In November1767 he married Maria Magdalena (1745-87), daughterof Hemrich Keverich, 'overseer of cooking' at the electoralsummer palace of Ehrenbreitstein, and already the widowof Johann Leym, valet to the Elector of Trier; she was notvet 21. The couple took lodgings in Bonn at 515Bonngasse. Their first child Ludwig Maria (bap. 2 April1769) lived only six days; their second, also called Ludwig
Beethoven, Ludwig van 73
and the subject of this narrative, was baptized on 17December 1770. Of five children subsequently born tothe couple only two survived infancy: Caspar Anton Carl(bap. 8 April 1774) and Nikolaus Johann (bap. 2 October1776). Both brothers were to play important parts inBeethoven's life.
Inevitably the early years of the son of an obscuremusician in a small provincial town are themselves sunkin obscurity, and though speculation and myth-makinghave both been productive, facts are rather scarce. It isclear that at a very early age he received instruction fromhis father on the piano and the violin. Tradition adds thatthe child, made to stand at the keyboard, was often intears. Beethoven's first appearance in public was at aconcert given with another of his father's pupils (acontralto) on 26 March 1778, at which (according to theadvertisement) he played 'various clavier concertos andtrios'. A little later, when he was eight, his father is saidto have sent him to the old court organist van den Eeden,from whom he may have received some grounding inmusic theory as well as keyboard instruction. He appearsalso to have had piano lessons from Tobias FriedrichPfeiffer, who lodged for a while with the family, andinformal tuition from several local organists. A relative,Franz Rovantini, gave the boy lessons on the violin andviola. His general education was not continued beyond^the elementary school, but"this waTln accordance withthe usual custom in Bonn at that time, only a few childrengoing on to a Gymnasium (high school). The comparative |brevity of Beethoven's formal education, combined with Ithe fact that most of his out-of-school hours must have Ibeen devoted to music, explains some of the gaps in his fiacademic equipment, such as his blindness to orthographyand punctuation and his inability to carry out the simplestmultiplication sum. ^—s
2. Ludwig van Beethoven: miniature by Christian Horneman, 1803(Beethoven-Haus, Bonn)
