Ludwig Van Beethoven was born in 'Bonn', a small town in Germany on 16 December 1770.His father Johann and grandfather Ludwig were musicians and they had decided to train him in music right from his childhood, so his father took on the job to teach him the basic lessons of music. Ludwig learned violin and some other instruments from his father. His father wanted Ludwig to be perfect in music, and so he beat little Ludwig whenever he made any mistakes during practice.According to one story, because of the punishments given by his father Ludwig suffered from hearing problems in future. Even though this happened to little Ludwig he never lost his love and interest in music.
Beethoven was sent to learn music from C. G. Neefe. He became his
assistant when he was 11 years of age. He learned piano, violin and organ from Neefe. Beethoven and Mozart share many situations in their lives which are perfectly similar in many aspects, both of them were born in a family where music was the most important part of life, both received training in music right from their childhood, they both had genuine interest in music and like Mozart, Beethoven also had started performing in public events, shows etc. when he was just six years of age. When Beethoven was twelve years old, his first music work 9 Variations in C Minor for piano was published. Ludwig dropped out of his school when he was thirteen years old in order to concentrate on his practice and to perform in musical tours. In June 1784 Ludwig Van Beethoven was appointed organist of the court of Maximillian Franz, the Elector of Cologne. Beethoven was 14 years old. This post enabled him to frequent new social circles, other than those of his father and family. Here he met people who were to remain his friends for the rest of his life |