Beethoven Critique

October 30th, 2006

Beethoven

Ludwig van Beethoven, baptised December 17th 1770 (Prйvot, 2001), must be the most uniquely interesting as well as the most extraordinarily talented artist Germany has ever known. To many he is regarded as one of the greatest composers in musical history and was an extremely influential character in the transition between the Classical and Romantic eras in western classical music (Wikipedia, 2006). To this day Beethoven’s musical genius inspires millions of artists worldwide. Even those who are more artistically challenged can appreciate the genius of Beethoven’s compositions (Dane, 2003).

Beethoven’s introduction to music was first influenced by his father who was his first teacher and mentor. It wasn’t too much of a surprise for his father to start teaching his son music. Beethoven’s grandfather, as well as his great-grandfather, were both accomplished composers (Kerman & Tyson, 1988, pp. 1-2). When he was only 18 his mother died of tuberculosis leaving him and his brothers in the care of their drunken father whose worsening alcoholism left the responsibility of looking after his two younger brothers’ up to Ludwig (Knight, 1973, pp. 13-29). Around the age of 28 Beethoven began to lose his hearing which led him to consider suicide (Solomon, 1998, pp. 146-147). He was also having troubles with women and could not seem to find someone he could marry. There was only one person he pronounced his love for but she would not marry a commoner for the fear of losing her children (Wikipedia, 2006). With these issues going on he was also given custody of his nephew Karl. All of these things together led to the emergence of some sort of depression (Columbia University, 2006). Beethoven found his inspiration in nature and righteousness and many of his symphonies reflected these loves. He would regularly go for walks in the countryside and wrote how he appreciated the beauty of nature (Capistrano School, 2004). By the time he was fifty he had completely lost his sense of hearing but would not let this stop him from his passion (Capistrano School, 2004). Beethoven stopped performing as a pianist but continued on in writing his pieces. It was then that he came up with his brilliant Symphony No. 9, written entirely after he had become deaf (Solomon, 1998, pp. 296-297). In December of 1827 Beethoven was diagnosed with a liver problem called dropsy and eventually passed away on March 26th of that same year (Kerman & Tyson, 1988, pp. 87-88).

In today’s modern society not very many people¬¬ (including myself) are into classical and romantic music. These days it’s all about who can scream the loudest and see who can break the first guitar string. Yet even though I am part of that crowd I can still bring myself to appreciate what Beethoven accomplished; not just as a musician but as a brilliant human being. Beethoven knew his art so well that even after he lost his hearing he did not even have need of listening to the music in order to know exactly how it would sound. That is something very few people in the world could do. In fact I doubt many people have ever achieved such an extraordinary level of completeness. Beethoven completely mastered his talent; perhaps even perfected it. That fact continues to absolutely baffle me. How someone could write something so magnificently complicated yet not be able to hear a single note of it. It reflects the type