Term 3 Composer: Beethoven

Ludwig van Beethoven (1770-1827) is our composer for this term. Beethoven was born in Bonn, Germany,  and was taught by his father, Johann van Beethoven. Ludwig moved to Vienna when he was 22, intending to study with Mozart but Mozart soon died and so he studied with Haydn. At first, he was known for being a virtuoso pianist but at the age of 30, his hearing began to deteriorate and so he devoted himself to composing. The last decade of his life was spent in almost total deafness but some of his most loved works were composed during this time.

Beethoven composed nine symphonies. Here are a few notes about each:
Symphony no. 1- First performed in 1800 and began on a dissonant chord which was a new musical idea.
Symphony no. 2- written just after Beethoven found out he was losing his hearing.
Symphony no. 3- Eroica: originally intended to be written for Napoleon Bonaparte, whom Beethoven admired as a ruler who cared about the common man. But when Naploeon crowned himself emperor, Beethoven named the symphony Eroica instead.
Symphony no. 4- considered one of his lighter symphonies
Symphony no. 5- one of the most recognizable pieces in all of music
Symphony no. 6- the pastoral symphony
Symphony no. 7- called the symphony of dance.
Symphony no. 8- features a noise that sounds like a ticking of a clock, also his shortest symphony.
Symphony no. 9- Ode to Joy: the first symphony ever written that included singers.

Below is the scene of Beethoven conducting the 9th Symphony from the movie "Copying Beethoven". This movies portrays how Beethoven could have needed help in conducting at this stage in life due to his deafness. Maybe not historically accurate but gives a good portrayal of how the symphony would have been performed.