Beethoven - interesting facts from life. Ludwig Van Beethoven - biography, creativity

Date added: March 2006

Beethoven's childhood was shorter than that of his peers. Not only because everyday worries burdened him early. In his very character, an amazing thoughtfulness manifested itself early beyond his years. Ludwig loved to contemplate nature for a long time. At the age of ten, he was known in his hometown of Bonn as a skilled organist and harpsichordist. His amazing gift of improvisation is famous among music lovers. Along with adult musicians, Ludwig plays the violin in the Bonn Court Orchestra. He is distinguished by a strong will beyond his age, the ability to set a goal and achieve it. When his eccentric father forbade him to attend school, Ludwig firmly decided to complete his education through his own efforts. Therefore, young Beethoven was drawn to Vienna, the city of great musical traditions, the kingdom of music.

Mozart lives in Vienna. It was from him that Ludwig inherited in music the drama of sudden transitions from sorrow to happy, serene gaiety. Listening to Ludwig's improvisations, Mozart sensed the future of music in this brilliant young man. In Vienna, Beethoven was fully engaged in his musical education; Maestro Haydn gave him lessons in musical composition. He achieves perfection in his skill. Beethoven dedicated the first three piano sonatas to Haydn, despite the difference in their views. Beethoven called his Eighth Piano Sonata “Great Pathetic,” which reflects the struggle of various feelings. In the first part, the music boils like an angry stream. The second part is melodious, it is a calm reflection. Beethoven wrote thirty-two piano sonatas. In them you can hear melodies that grew out of German and Slavic folk songs and dances.

In April 1800, in his first open concert at the Vienna Theater, Ludwig van Beethoven performed the First Symphony. True musicians praise him for his skill, novelty and wealth of ideas. He dedicates the fantasy sonata, called “Moon,” to Juliet Guicciardi, his student. However, it was precisely at the height of his fame that Beethoven rapidly lost his hearing. Beethoven is going through a deep mental crisis; it seems to him that it is impossible for a deaf musician to live. However, having overcome deep despair with the strength of his spirit, the composer writes the Third Symphony “Eroic”. At the same time, the world famous “Kreutzer Sonata”, the opera “Fidelio”, and “Appassionata” were written. Due to his deafness, Beethoven no longer performs in concerts as a pianist and conductor. But deafness does not stop him from creating music. His inner hearing is intact, and in his imagination he clearly imagines music. The last, Ninth Symphony is Beethoven's musical testament. This is a song of freedom, a fiery call to posterity

Ludwig Beethoven was born in 1770 in the German town of Bonn. In a house with three rooms in the attic. In one of the rooms with a narrow dormer window that let in almost no light, his mother, his kind, gentle, meek mother, whom he adored, often fussed about. She died of consumption when Ludwig was barely 16, and her death was the first great shock in his life. But always, when he remembered his mother, his soul was filled with a gentle warm light, as if the hands of an angel had touched it. “You were so kind to me, so worthy of love, you were my best friend! ABOUT! Who was happier than me when I could still say the sweet name - mother, and it was heard! Who can I tell it to now?..”

Ludwig's father, a poor court musician, played the violin and harpsichord and had a very beautiful voice, but suffered from conceit and, intoxicated by easy success, disappeared into taverns and led a very scandalous life. Having discovered his son’s musical abilities, he set out to make him a virtuoso, a second Mozart, at all costs, in order to solve the family’s financial problems. He forced five-year-old Ludwig to repeat boring exercises for five to six hours a day and often, coming home drunk, woke him up even at night and, half asleep and crying, sat him down at the harpsichord. But despite everything, Ludwig loved his father, loved and pitied him.

When the boy was twelve years old, a very important event happened in his life - fate itself must have sent Christian Gottlieb Nefe, court organist, composer, and conductor, to Bonn. This extraordinary man, one of the most advanced and educated people of that time, immediately recognized a brilliant musician in the boy and began to teach him for free. Nefe introduced Ludwig to the works of the greats: Bach, Handel, Haydn, Mozart. He called himself “an enemy of ceremony and etiquette” and “a hater of flatterers,” these traits later clearly manifested themselves in Beethoven’s character. During frequent walks, the boy eagerly absorbed the words of the teacher, who recited the works of Goethe and Schiller, talked about Voltaire, Rousseau, Montesquieu, about the ideas of freedom, equality, fraternity that freedom-loving France lived at that time. Beethoven carried the ideas and thoughts of his teacher throughout his life: “Talent is not everything, it can perish if a person does not have devilish perseverance. If you fail, start again. If you fail a hundred times, start again a hundred times. A person can overcome any obstacle. Talent and a pinch are enough, but perseverance requires an ocean. And in addition to talent and perseverance, you also need self-confidence, but not pride. God bless you from her."

Many years later, Ludwig thanked Nefe in a letter for the wise advice that helped him in the study of music, this “divine art.” To which he will modestly answer: “Ludwig Beethoven’s teacher was Ludwig Beethoven himself.”

Ludwig dreamed of going to Vienna to meet Mozart, whose music he idolized. At the age of 16, his dream came true. However, Mozart treated the young man with distrust, deciding that he had performed a piece for him that he had learned well. Then Ludwig asked to give him a theme for free imagination. He had never improvised so inspiredly before! Mozart was amazed. He exclaimed, turning to his friends: “Pay attention to this young man, he will make the whole world talk about himself!” Unfortunately, they never met again. Ludwig was forced to return to Bonn, to his dearly beloved sick mother, and when he later returned to Vienna, Mozart was no longer alive.

Soon, Beethoven's father completely drank himself to death, and the 17-year-old boy fell on the shoulders of caring for his two younger brothers. Fortunately, fate extended a helping hand to him: he made friends from whom he found support and consolation - Elena von Breuning replaced Ludwig's mother, and his brother and sister Eleanor and Stefan became his first friends. Only in their house did he feel calm. It was here that Ludwig learned to value people and respect human dignity. Here he learned and fell in love with the epic heroes of the Odyssey and Iliad, the heroes of Shakespeare and Plutarch for the rest of his life. Here he met Wegeler, the future husband of Eleanor Breuning, who became his best friend, a friend for life.

In 1789, Beethoven's thirst for knowledge led him to the Faculty of Philosophy at the University of Bonn. That same year there was a revolution in France, and news of it quickly reached Bonn. Ludwig and his friends listened to lectures by literature professor Eulogius Schneider, who inspiredly read his poems dedicated to the revolution to the students: “To crush stupidity on the throne, to fight for the rights of mankind... Oh, not one of the lackeys of the monarchy is capable of this. This is only possible for free souls who prefer death to flattery, poverty to slavery.” Ludwig was among Schneider's ardent admirers. Full of bright hopes, feeling great strength within himself, the young man again went to Vienna. Oh, if his friends had met him at that time, they would not have recognized him: Beethoven resembled a salon lion! “The gaze is direct and distrustful, as if leeringly observing the impression he makes on others. Beethoven dances (oh, grace in the highest degree hidden), rides on horseback (unhappy horse!), Beethoven who is in good spirits (laughter at the top of his lungs).” (Oh, if his old friends had met him at that time, they would not have recognized him: Beethoven resembled a salon lion! He was cheerful, cheerful, danced, rode on horseback and looked sideways at the impression he made on those around him.) Sometimes Ludwig visited frighteningly gloomy, and only close friends knew how much kindness was hidden behind external pride. As soon as a smile lit up his face, it was illuminated with such childlike purity that in those moments it was impossible not to love not only him, but the whole world!

At the same time, his first piano works were published. The publication was a tremendous success: more than 100 music lovers subscribed to it. Young musicians especially eagerly awaited his piano sonatas. The future famous pianist Ignaz Moscheles, for example, secretly bought and disassembled Beethoven's “Pathetique” sonata, which his professors had banned. Moscheles later became one of the maestro's favorite students. The listeners, holding their breath, reveled in his improvisations on the piano; they moved many to tears: “He calls spirits both from the depths and from the heights.” But Beethoven did not create for money or for recognition: “What nonsense! I never thought of writing for fame or fame. I need to give vent to what has accumulated in my heart - that’s why I write.”

He was still young, and the criterion of his own importance for him was a sense of strength. He did not tolerate weakness and ignorance, and looked down on both the common people and the aristocracy, even those nice people who loved and admired him. With royal generosity, he helped his friends when they needed it, but in anger he was merciless towards them. Great love and equal contempt collided within him. But despite everything, in Ludwig’s heart, like a beacon, there lived a strong, sincere need to be needed by people: “Never, since childhood, has my zeal to serve suffering humanity weakened. I never charged any remuneration for this. I want nothing more than the feeling of contentment that always accompanies a good deed.”

Youth is characterized by such extremes, because it seeks an outlet for its internal forces. And sooner or later a person faces a choice: where to direct these forces, which path to choose? Fate helped Beethoven make a choice, although its method may seem too cruel... The illness approached Ludwig gradually, over the course of six years, and struck him between the ages of 30 and 32. She struck him in the most sensitive place, in his pride, strength - in his hearing! Complete deafness cut Ludwig off from everything that was so dear to him: from friends, from society, from love and, worst of all, from art!.. But it was from that moment that he began to realize his path in a new way, from that moment he began to be born new Beethoven.

Ludwig went to Heiligenstadt, an estate near Vienna, and settled in a poor peasant house. He found himself on the verge of life and death - the words of his will, written on October 6, 1802, are similar to the cry of despair: “O people, you who consider me heartless, stubborn, selfish - oh, how unfair you are to me! You do not know the hidden reason for what you only think! From my earliest childhood my heart was inclined towards tender feelings of love and goodwill; but think that for six years now I have been suffering from an incurable illness, brought to a terrible degree by incompetent doctors... With my hot, lively temperament, with my love of communicating with people, I had to retire early, spend my life alone... For me, not There is no rest among people, no communication with them, no friendly conversations. I must live like an exile. If sometimes, carried away by my innate sociability, I succumbed to temptation, then what humiliation did I experience when someone next to me heard a flute in the distance, but I did not hear it!.. Such cases plunged me into terrible despair, and the thought of committing suicide often came to mind. Only art kept me from doing this; It seemed to me that I had no right to die until I had accomplished everything to which I felt called... And I decided to wait until the inexorable parks wanted to break the thread of my life... I am ready for anything; in the 28th year I was supposed to become a philosopher. It is not so easy, and for an artist it is more difficult than for anyone else. O deity, you see my soul, you know it, you know how much love it has for people and the desire to do good. Oh, people, if you ever read this, you will remember that you were unfair to me; and let everyone who is unhappy be consoled by the fact that there is someone like him, who, despite all obstacles, did everything he could to be accepted among the ranks of worthy artists and people.”

However, Beethoven did not give up! And before he had time to finish writing his will, the Third Symphony was born in his soul, like a heavenly farewell, like a blessing from fate - a symphony unlike any that had existed before. It was this that he loved more than his other creations. Ludwig dedicated this symphony to Bonaparte, whom he compared to the Roman consul and considered one of the greatest people of modern times. But, subsequently learning about his coronation, he became furious and tore up the dedication. Since then, the 3rd symphony has been called “Eroic”.

After everything that happened to him, Beethoven understood, realized the most important thing - his mission: “Let everything that is life be dedicated to the great and let it be a sanctuary of art! This is your duty before people and before Him, the Almighty. Only in this way can you once again reveal what is hidden in you.” Ideas for new works rained down on him like stars - at that time the piano sonata “Appassionata”, excerpts from the opera “Fidelio”, fragments of Symphony No. 5, sketches of numerous variations, bagatelles, marches, masses, and the “Kreutzer Sonata” were born. Having finally chosen his path in life, the maestro seemed to have received new strength. Thus, from 1802 to 1805, works dedicated to bright joy were born: “Pastoral Symphony”, piano sonata “Aurora”, “Merry Symphony”...

Often, without realizing it, Beethoven became a pure spring from which people drew strength and consolation. This is what Beethoven’s student, Baroness Ertman, recalls: “When my last child died, Beethoven for a long time could not decide to come to us. Finally, one day he called me to his place, and when I came in, he sat down at the piano and said only: “We will speak to you through music,” after which he began to play. He told me everything, and I left him relieved.” Another time, Beethoven did everything to help the daughter of the great Bach, who, after the death of her father, found herself on the verge of poverty. He often liked to repeat: “I know of no other signs of superiority except kindness.”

Now the inner god was Beethoven's only constant interlocutor. Never before had Ludwig felt such closeness to Him: “...you can no longer live for yourself, you must live only for others, there is no more happiness for you anywhere except in your art. Oh, Lord, help me overcome myself!” Two voices constantly sounded in his soul, sometimes they argued and fought, but one of them was always the voice of the Lord. These two voices are clearly heard, for example, in the first movement of the Pathetique Sonata, in the Appassionata, in Symphony No. 5, and in the second movement of the Fourth Piano Concerto.

When an idea suddenly dawned on Ludwig while walking or talking, he would experience what he called an “ecstatic tetanus.” At that moment he forgot himself and belonged only to the musical idea, and he did not let go of it until he completely mastered it. This is how a new daring, rebellious art was born, which did not recognize the rules “that could not be broken for the sake of something more beautiful.” Beethoven refused to believe the canons proclaimed by harmony textbooks; he believed only what he himself tried and experienced. But he was not driven by empty vanity - he was the herald of a new time and a new art, and the newest thing in this art was man! A person who dared to challenge not only generally accepted stereotypes, but primarily his own limitations.

Ludwig was not at all proud of himself, he constantly searched, tirelessly studied the masterpieces of the past: the works of Bach, Handel, Gluck, Mozart. Their portraits hung in his room, and he often said that they helped him overcome suffering. Beethoven read the works of Sophocles and Euripides, his contemporaries Schiller and Goethe. Only God knows how many days and sleepless nights he spent comprehending great truths. And even shortly before his death he said: “I am beginning to know.”

But how did the public accept the new music? Performed for the first time in front of select audiences, the “Eroic Symphony” was condemned for its “divine lengths.” At an open performance, someone from the audience pronounced the sentence: “I’ll give you the kreutzer to end it all!” Journalists and music critics never tired of admonishing Beethoven: “The work is depressing, it is endless and embroidered.” And the maestro, driven to despair, promised to write for them a symphony that would last more than an hour, so that they would find his “Eroic” short. And he would write it 20 years later, and now Ludwig began composing the opera “Leonora,” which he later renamed “Fidelio.” Among all his creations, she occupies an exceptional place: “Of all my children, she cost me the greatest pain at birth, and she caused me the greatest grief, which is why she is dearer to me than others.” He rewrote the opera three times, provided four overtures, each of which was a masterpiece in its own way, wrote a fifth, but was still not satisfied. It was incredible work: Beethoven rewrote a piece of an aria or the beginning of a scene 18 times, and all 18 in different ways. For 22 lines of vocal music - 16 test pages! As soon as “Fidelio” was born, it was shown to the public, but in the auditorium the temperature was “below zero”, the opera lasted only three performances... Why did Beethoven fight so desperately for the life of this creation? The plot of the opera was based on a story that happened during the French Revolution; its main characters were love and marital fidelity - those ideals that always lived in Ludwig’s heart. Like any person, he dreamed of family happiness and home comfort. He, who constantly overcame illnesses and illnesses like no one else, needed the care of a loving heart. Friends did not remember Beethoven as anything other than passionately in love, but his hobbies were always distinguished by their extraordinary purity. He could not create without experiencing love, love was his shrine.

Autograph of the Moonlight Sonata score

For several years Ludwig was very friendly with the Brunswick family. Sisters Josephine and Teresa treated him very warmly and cared for him, but which of them became the one whom he called in his letter his “everything”, his “angel”? Let this remain Beethoven's secret. The fruit of his heavenly love was the Fourth Symphony, the Fourth Piano Concerto, quartets dedicated to the Russian Prince Razumovsky, and the cycle of songs “To a Distant Beloved.” Until the end of his days, Beethoven tenderly and reverently kept in his heart the image of the “immortal beloved.”

The years 1822–1824 became especially difficult for the maestro. He worked tirelessly on the Ninth Symphony, but poverty and hunger forced him to write humiliating notes to publishers. He personally sent letters to the “main European courts,” those who had once paid him attention. But almost all of his letters remained unanswered. Even despite the enchanting success of the Ninth Symphony, the collections from it turned out to be very small. And the composer placed all his hope in the “generous Englishmen,” who more than once showed him their admiration. He wrote a letter to London and soon received 100 pounds sterling from the Philharmonic Society towards the academy being set up in his favor. “It was a heartbreaking sight,” recalled one of his friends, “when, having received the letter, he clasped his hands and sobbed with joy and gratitude... He wanted to dictate a letter of gratitude again, he promised to dedicate one of his works to them - the Tenth Symphony or Overture , in a word, whatever they wish.” Despite this situation, Beethoven continued to compose. His last works were string quartets, opus 132, the third of which, with its divine adagio, he entitled “A Song of Thanks to the Divine from a Convalescent.”

Ludwig seemed to have a presentiment of his imminent death - he rewrote a saying from the temple of the Egyptian goddess Neith: “I am what I am. I am everything that was, that is, and that will be. No mortal has lifted my cover. “He alone comes from himself, and to this alone everything that exists owes its existence,” and he loved to re-read it.

In December 1826, Beethoven went to visit his brother Johann on business for his nephew Karl. This trip turned out to be fatal for him: a long-standing liver disease was complicated by dropsy. For three months the illness seriously tormented him, and he talked about new works: “I want to write a lot more, I would like to compose the Tenth Symphony... music for Faust... Yes, and a school of piano playing. I imagine it in a completely different way than is now accepted...” He did not lose his sense of humor until the last minute and composed the canon “Doctor, close the gate so that death does not come.” Overcoming incredible pain, he found the strength to console his old friend, composer Hummel, who burst into tears seeing his suffering. When Beethoven was operated on for the fourth time and water gushed out of his stomach during the puncture, he exclaimed with laughter that the doctor seemed to him like Moses striking a rock with a rod, and then, to console himself, he added: “It’s better to have water from the stomach than from the stomach.” under the pen."

On March 26, 1827, the pyramid-shaped clock on Beethoven's desk suddenly stopped, which always foreshadowed a thunderstorm. At five o'clock in the afternoon a real storm broke out with rain and hail. Bright lightning illuminated the room, a terrible clap of thunder was heard - and it was all over... On the spring morning of March 29, 20,000 people came to see the maestro off. What a pity that people often forget about those who are nearby while they are alive, and remember and admire them only after their death.

Everything passes. Suns die too. But for thousands of years they continue to bring their light among the darkness. And for millennia we receive the light of these extinct suns. Thank you, great maestro, for an example of worthy victories, for showing how you can learn to hear the voice of your heart and follow it. Every person strives to find happiness, everyone overcomes difficulties and longs to understand the meaning of their efforts and victories. And maybe your life, the way you sought and overcame, will help those who seek and suffer find hope. And in their heart a light of faith will light up that they are not alone, that all troubles can be overcome if you do not despair and give the best that is in you. Maybe, like you, someone will choose to serve and help others. And, like you, he will find happiness in this, even if the path to it will lead through suffering and tears.

for the magazine "Man Without Borders"

BEETHOVEN LUDWIG VAN (1770-1827), German composer, whose work is recognized as one of the peaks in the history of world art. Representative of the Viennese classical school.
“You are vast, like the sea, No one knew such a fate...” S. Nerpe. "Beethoven"

“The highest quality of man is perseverance in overcoming the most severe obstacles.” (Ludwig van Beethoven)

“...It is impossible not to note that the tendency to solitude, to loneliness was an innate quality of Beethoven’s character. Beethoven's biographers paint him as a silent, thoughtful child who prefers solitude to the company of his peers; according to them, he was able to sit motionless for hours at a time, looking at one point, completely immersed in his thoughts. To a large extent, the influence of the same factors that can explain the phenomena of pseudo-autism can also be attributed to those character oddities that were observed in Beethoven from a young age and are noted in the memoirs of all people who knew Beethoven. Beethoven's behavior was often of such an extraordinary nature that it made communication with him extremely difficult, almost impossible, and gave rise to quarrels, sometimes ending in a long cessation of relations even with the persons most devoted to Beethoven himself, persons whom he himself especially valued, considering his closest friends. " (Yurman, 1927, p. 75.)
“His extravagances bordered on insanity. Was absent-minded and impractical. He had a litigious and restless character.” (Nisbet, 1891, p. 167.)
“The fear of hereditary tuberculosis constantly supported his suspiciousness. “Added to this is melancholy, which is almost as great a disaster for me as the disease itself...”

This is how conductor Seyfried describes Beethoven's room: "...A truly amazing mess reigns in his house. Books and sheet music are scattered in the corners, as well as the remains of cold food, sealed or half-drained bottles; on the desk there is a quick sketch of a new quartet, and here the leftovers from breakfast..." Beethoven had little understanding of money matters, was often suspicious and inclined to accuse innocent people of deceit. Irritability sometimes pushed Beethoven to act unfairly.” (Alschwang, 1971, pp. 44, 245.)

Beethoven's deafness gives us the key to understanding the composer's character: the deep spiritual depression of a deaf man, tossing around thoughts of suicide. Melancholy, painful distrust, irritability - these are all known pictures of the disease for the ear doctor.” (Feis, 1911, p. 43.)
“...Beethoven at this time was already physically depressed by a depressive mood, since his student Schindler later pointed out that Beethoven, with his “Largo e mesto” in such a cheerful sonata in D major (op. 10), wanted to reflect the gloomy foreboding of the approaching inevitable fate... The internal struggle with his fate undoubtedly determined Beethoven’s characteristic qualities, this is, first of all, his growing distrust, his painful sensitivity and grumpiness; it would be wrong to try to explain all these negative qualities in Beethoven’s behavior solely by increasing deafness, since many the peculiarities of his character were already evident in his youth. The most significant reason for his increased irritability, his quarrelsomeness and imperiousness, bordering on arrogance, was his unusually intense style of work, when he tried to curb his ideas and ideas with external concentration and squeezed creative plans with the greatest efforts. This painful, exhausting style of work constantly kept the brain and nervous system on the edge of what was possible, in a state of tension. This desire for the best, and sometimes for the unattainable, was expressed in the fact that he unnecessarily delayed commissioned works, not caring at all about the established deadlines.” Neumayr, 1997, vol. 1, p. 248, 252-253,

“Between 1796 and 1800. deafness began its terrible, destructive work. Even at night there was a continuous noise in his ears... His hearing gradually weakened.” (Rolland, 1954, p. 19.)
“It is believed that he did not know women at all, although he fell in love many times and remained a virgin for the rest of his life.” (Yurman, 1927, p. 78.)
“Melancholy, more cruel than all his ailments... The severe suffering was joined by grief of a completely different order. Wegeler says that he does not remember Beethoven except in a state of passionate love. He endlessly fell madly in love, endlessly indulged in dreams of happiness, then very soon disappointment set in, and he experienced bitter torment. And it is in these alternations - love, pride, indignation - that we must look for the most fruitful sources of Beethoven’s inspiration until the time when “the natural storm of his feelings subsides in sad resignation to fate.” (Rolland, 1954, pp. 15, 22.) “...At times he was overcome again and again by dull despair, until depression culminated in the idea of ​​suicide, expressed in the Heiligenstadt will in the summer of 1802. This stunning document, as a kind of farewell letter to both brothers, makes it possible to understand the whole mass of his mental anguish...” (Neumeyr, 1997, vol. 1, p. 255.)
"Severe psychopath." (Nisbet, 1891, p. 56.)
“In a sudden outburst of anger, he could throw a chair after his housekeeper, and once in a tavern the waiter brought him the wrong dish, and when he answered him in a rude tone, Beethoven bluntly poured the plate on his head...” (Neumeyr, 1997, t 1, p. 297.)
“During his life, Beetkhov suffered many somatic illnesses. Let us give only a list of them: smallpox, rheumatism, heart disease, angina pectoris, gout with prolonged headaches, myopia, cirrhosis of the liver as a result of either alcoholism or syphilis, because...
at the autopsy, a “syphilitic node was discovered in the liver affected by cirrhosis”” (Muller, 1939, p. 336.)
Features of creativity
“Since 1816, when deafness became complete, Beethoven’s style of music changed. This is first revealed in the sonata, op. 101". (Rolland, 1954, p. 37.)
“Or Beethoven, when he found his funeral march, / Took from himself

this series of heart-tearing chords, / The cry of an inconsolable soul over

lost by a great thought, / The collapse of bright worlds into a hopeless abyss

chaos? / No, these sounds always sobbed in boundless space,

/ He, deaf to the earth, overheard unearthly sobs.” (Tolstoy A.K., 1856.)

“Often, in the deepest negligee, he stood at the washbasin, poured one jug after another into his hands, while he muttered or howled something (he could not sing), not noticing that he was already standing like a duck in water, then walked a little once around the room with terribly rolling eyes or a completely frozen gaze and, apparently, a meaningless face - from time to time he would approach the desk to take notes, and then continue washing his face with a howl.

No matter how funny these scenes were always, no one should have noticed them, much less disturbed him in this wet inspiration, because these were moments, or rather hours, of the deepest reflection." (Fais, MP p. 54) "According to his testimony friends - while working, he “howled” like an animal and rushed around the room, reminiscent of a violent madman with his tormented appearance.” (Grusenberg, 1924, p. 191.)
“The owner presses his hands to his ears in fear, / Sacrificing courtesy so that the sounds do not cut; / The boy opens his mouth to his ears with laughter, - / Beethoven doesn’t see, Beethoven doesn’t hear - he’s playing!” (Shengeli G. “Beethoven.”)

“It was in the works of this period (1802-1803), when his illness progressed especially strongly, that a transition to a new Beethoven style was outlined. In 2-1 symphonies, in piano sonatas op. 31, in piano variations op. 35, in the "Kreutzer Sonata", in songs based on Gellert's texts, Beethoven reveals the unprecedented strength of the playwright and emotional depth. In general, the period from 1803 to 1812 is distinguished by amazing creative productivity... Many of the beautiful works that Beethoven left as a legacy to humanity are dedicated to women and were the Fruit of his passionate, but, most often, unrequited love.” (Demyanchuk, 2001, Manuscript.)
“Beethoven is an excellent example of compensation: the manifestation of healthy creative power as the opposite of one’s own sickness” - (Lange-Eichbaum, Kulih, 1967, p. 330)”

Deaf composer Ludwig van Beethoven while writing "Solemn Mass"

Detail of a portrait by Karl Joseph Stieler, 1820

Source: wikimedia

Historian SERGEY TSVETKOV - about the proud Beethoven:

Why was it easier for a great composer to write a symphony than to learn to say “thank you”

and how he became an ardent misanthrope, but at the same time adored his friends, nephew and mother.

Ludwig van Beethoven was accustomed to leading an ascetic lifestyle from his youth.

I got up at five or six in the morning.

I washed my face, had breakfast with hard-boiled eggs and wine, drank coffee, which had to be brewed

of sixty grains.

During the day, the maestro gave lessons, concerts, studied the works of Mozart, Haydn and -

worked, worked, worked...

Having taken up musical compositions, he became so insensitive to hunger that

that he scolded the servants when they brought him food.

They said that he constantly went unshaven, believing that shaving interfered with creative inspiration.

And before sitting down to write music, the composer poured a bucket of cold water on his head:

this, in his opinion, was supposed to stimulate brain function.

One of Beethoven's closest friends, Wegeler, testifies

that Beethoven “was always in love with someone, and mostly to a strong degree,”

and even that he rarely saw Beethoven except in a state of excitement,

often reaching the point of paroxysm. IN

Moreover, this excitement had almost no effect on the behavior and habits of the composer.

Schindler, also a close friend of Beethoven, assures:

“he lived his whole life with virginal modesty, not allowing the slightest approach of weakness.”

Even a hint of obscenity in conversations filled him with disgust. Beethoven cared about his friends,

was very affectionate with his nephew and had deep feelings for his mother.

The only thing he lacked was humility.

All his habits show that Beethoven is proud,

mostly due to unhealthy character.

His example shows that it is easier to write a symphony than to learn to say “thank you.”

Yes, he often spoke pleasantries (as the century obliged him to do), but even more often he spoke rudeness and barbs.

He flared up over every trifle, gave full vent to anger, and was extremely suspicious.

His imaginary enemies were numerous:

he hated Italian music, the Austrian government and apartments,

facing north.

Let's listen to how he scolds:

“I cannot comprehend how the government tolerates this disgusting, shameful smokestack!”

Having discovered an error in the numbering of his works, he exploded:

“What a vile fraud!”

Having climbed into some Viennese cellar, he sat down at a separate table,

he lit his long pipe and ordered newspapers, smoked herrings and beer.

But if he didn’t like a random neighbor, he would run away, grumbling.

Once, in a moment of rage, the maestro tried to break a chair over Prince Likhnovsky’s head.

The Lord God Himself, from Beethoven’s point of view, interfered with him in every possible way, sending him material problems,

sometimes illnesses, sometimes unloving women, sometimes slanderers, sometimes bad instruments and bad musicians, etc.

Of course, much can be attributed to his illnesses, which predisposed him to misanthropy -

deafness, severe myopia.

Beethoven's deafness, according to Dr. Maraj, represented the peculiarity

that “she separated him from the outside world, that is, from everything

which could affect his musical output..."

(“Reports on the meetings of the Academy of Sciences”, volume 186).

Dr. Andreas Ignaz Wawruch, professor at the Vienna Surgical Clinic, pointed out,

that in order to stimulate his weakening appetite, Beethoven, in his thirtieth year, began to abuse

alcoholic drinks, drink a lot of punch.

“This was,” he wrote, “the change in lifestyle that brought him to the brink of the grave.”

(Beethoven died of cirrhosis of the liver).

However, pride haunted Beethoven even more than his ailments.

The consequence of increased self-esteem was frequent moving from apartment to apartment,

dissatisfaction with house owners, neighbors, quarrels with fellow performers,

with theater directors, with publishers, with the public.

It got to the point that he could pour soup he didn’t like on the cook’s head.

And who knows how many magnificent melodies were not born in Beethoven’s head

because of a bad mood?

L. Beethoven. Allegro with fire (Symphony No. 5)

Materials used:

Kolunov K.V. “God in three actions”;

Strelnikov N. “Beethoven. Experience Characteristics";

Herriot E. “The Life of Beethoven”

II.Brief biography:

Childhood

Approaching deafness.

The period of mature creativity. "New Way" (1803 - 1812).

Recent years.

III. The most famous works.

IV. List of used literature.

Characteristics of Beethoven's creative style.

Ludwig van Beethoven is one of the most respected and performed composers in the world, a key figure in Western classical music during the period between classicism and romanticism.

He wrote in all genres that existed in his time, including opera, ballet, music for dramatic performances, and choral works. The most significant works in his work are considered to be instrumental works: piano, violin and cello sonatas, piano concertos, violin, quartets, overtures, symphonies.

Beethoven showed himself most fully in the genres of sonata and symphony. It was with Beethoven that the so-called “conflict symphonism”, based on the juxtaposition and collision of brightly contrasting musical images, first became widespread. The more dramatic the conflict, the more complex and vibrant the development process, which for Beethoven becomes the main driving force.

Beethoven found new intonations for his time to express his thoughts - dynamic, restless, harsh. Its sound becomes more rich, dense and dramatically contrasting. His musical themes acquire unprecedented brevity and harsh simplicity.

Listeners brought up on the classicism of the 18th century were stunned and misunderstood by the emotional power of Beethoven's music, manifested either in violent drama, or in a grandiose epic scope, or in soulful lyrics. But it was precisely these qualities of Beethoven’s art that delighted romantic musicians.

Beethoven's connection with romanticism is undeniable, but his art in its main outlines does not coincide with it, and it does not fit into the framework of classicism. Beethoven is unique, individual and multifaceted.

Biography

Childhood

The family into which Beethoven was born lived in poverty; the head of the family earned money only for his own pleasure, completely disregarding the needs of his children and wife.

At the age of four, Ludwig's childhood ended. The boy's father, Johann, began to drill the child. He taught his son to play the violin and piano in the hope that he would become a child prodigy, a new Mozart, and provide for his family. The educational process crossed the boundaries of what was permitted, young Beethoven did not even have the right to walk with friends, he was immediately installed in the house to continue his musical studies. Neither the child's sobs nor the wife's pleas could shake the father's stubbornness.

Intensive work on the instrument took away another opportunity - to receive a general scientific education. The boy had only superficial knowledge, he was weak in spelling and mental arithmetic. A great desire to learn and learn something new helped fill the gap. Throughout his life, Ludwig was engaged in self-education, becoming familiar with the works of such great writers as Shakespeare, Plato, Homer, Sophocles, Aristotle.

All these adversities failed to stop the development of Beethoven's amazing inner world. He was different from other children, he was not attracted to fun games and adventures, an eccentric child preferred loneliness. Having devoted himself to music, he realized his own talent very early and, no matter what, moved forward.

The talent developed. Johann noticed that the student surpassed the teacher, and entrusted classes with his son to a more experienced teacher, Pfeiffer. The teacher has changed, but the methods remain the same. Late at night, the child was forced to get out of bed and play the piano until the early morning. To withstand such a rhythm of life, you need to have truly extraordinary abilities, and Ludwig had them.

In 1787, Beethoven managed to visit Vienna for the first time - at that time the musical capital of Europe. According to stories, Mozart, having listened to the young man’s play, highly appreciated his improvisations and predicted a great future for him. But soon Beethoven had to return home - his mother was dying. He remained the sole breadwinner of a family consisting of a dissolute father and two younger brothers.

First Viennese period (1792 - 1802).

In Vienna, where Beethoven came for the second time in 1792 and where he remained until the end of his days, he quickly found titled friends and patrons of the arts.

People who met the young Beethoven described the twenty-year-old composer as a stocky young man with a penchant for panache, sometimes brash, but good-natured and sweet in his relationships with his friends. Realizing the inadequacy of his education, he went to Joseph Haydn, a recognized Viennese authority in the field of instrumental music (Mozart had died a year earlier) and for some time brought him counterpoint exercises for testing. Haydn, however, soon lost interest in the obstinate student, and Beethoven, secretly from him, began to take lessons from I. Schenck and then from the more thorough I. G. Albrechtsberger. In addition, wanting to improve his vocal writing, he visited the famous opera composer Antonio Salieri for several years. Soon he joined a circle that united titled amateurs and professional musicians. Prince Karl Lichnowsky introduced the young provincial into the circle of his friends.

The political and social life of Europe at that time was alarming: when Beethoven arrived in Vienna in 1792, the city was agitated by news of the revolution in France. Beethoven enthusiastically accepted revolutionary slogans and praised freedom in his music. The volcanic, explosive nature of his work is undoubtedly the embodiment of the spirit of the time, but only in the sense that the character of the creator was to some extent shaped by this time. The bold violation of generally accepted norms, the powerful self-affirmation, the thunderous atmosphere of Beethoven's music - all this would have been unthinkable in Mozart's era.

However, Beethoven's early works largely follow the canons of the 18th century: this applies to trios (strings and piano), violin, piano and cello sonatas. The piano was then Beethoven’s closest instrument; in his piano works he expressed his most intimate feelings with utmost sincerity. The First Symphony (1801) is Beethoven's first purely orchestral work.

Approaching deafness.

We can only guess to what extent Beethoven's deafness influenced his work. The disease developed gradually. Already in 1798, he complained of tinnitus; it was difficult for him to distinguish high tones and understand a conversation conducted in a whisper. Horrified at the prospect of becoming an object of pity - a deaf composer, he told his close friend Karl Amenda about his illness, as well as doctors, who advised him to protect his hearing as much as possible. He continued to move in the circle of his Viennese friends, took part in musical evenings, and composed a lot. He managed to hide his deafness so well that until 1812 even people who often met him did not suspect how serious his illness was. The fact that during a conversation he often answered inappropriately was attributed to a bad mood or absent-mindedness.

In the summer of 1802, Beethoven retired to the quiet suburb of Vienna - Heiligenstadt. A stunning document appeared there - the “Heiligenstadt Testament”, the painful confession of a musician tormented by illness. The will is addressed to Beethoven's brothers (with instructions to read and execute after his death); in it he talks about his mental suffering: it is painful when “a person standing next to me hears a flute playing from afar, inaudible to me; or when someone hears a shepherd singing, but I cannot distinguish a sound.” But then, in a letter to Dr. Wegeler, he exclaims: “I will take fate by the throat!”, and the music that he continues to write confirms this decision: in the same summer the bright Second Symphony and magnificent piano sonatas op. 31 and three violin sonatas, op. 30.