_Ludwig van Beethoven_
Ludwig van Beethoven was born on December 16, 1770, at Bonn, then one of
the most important cities on the lower Rhine. Though Bonn was German and
Beethoven’s mother and his father’s mother were both Germans, he was of
Flemish descent through his father’s father, a native of the country
that eventually became Belgium, whence the “van” in the name. Louis van
Beethoven, a tenor singer, went to Bonn in his youth and promptly became
a court musician to the resident archbishop-elector. His son Johann,
Beethoven’s father, was also a singer in the Elector’s employ, but he
was a worthless fellow, who was fortunate, however, in having as wife a
woman of character. Realizing that his son Ludwig had been born with
uncommon musical talent, he had the child begin to study violin and
piano very early with the idea of putting him forward as a prodigy, as
Mozart’s father had done. But the young Ludwig was less precocious than
Mozart and rebelled strenuously against the enforced training. However,
he did appear at a concert on March 26, 1778.
So strong was the boy’s musical gift that it triumphed over every
obstacle, including his own childish reluctance, and the Elector thought
it worth while to send him to Vienna, then the musical capital of
Europe. He had now been composing for several years, and Haydn accepted
him as a pupil in counterpoint, an arrangement that did not turn out
altogether to Beethoven’s satisfaction. He studied with other teachers
in Vienna and in March 1795, made his first public appearance in that
city, playing his own piano concerto in B flat major. This date marks
the beginning of a kind of recognition that could only spur the young
composer on to the activity that in a nature so vigorous and energetic
meant enthusiastic creation. Of course he wanted to write a symphony.
Mozart, dead in 1791, had left a legacy of forty-nine symphonies. Haydn,
the author of many more, was in full career at 63. They were the world’s
foremost symphonists.