Beethoven's Life and Achievements

• Ludwig van Beethoven was born in 1770 in Bonn, Germany
• His father, Johann van Beethoven, was a musician and teacher who harshly and intensively taught him to play the piano
• After teaching him privately, he was taught by Christian Gottlob Neefe, who helped him publish his first work of keyboard variations in 1783
• In 1800, Beethoven's First Symphony was premiered in Vienna
• In 1802, Beethoven began to grow increasingly deaf and stopped performing publicly
• He composed many of his most admired works after 1810, including later symphonies, mature chamber music, and the late piano sonatas
• He died in 1827.
• Beethoven was born in 1770 in Bonn, Germany
• His father was a musician and his first music teacher.
• Beethoven began studying music with Christian Gottlob Neefe in 1780 or 1781.
• He continued to study with Neefe until 1784, when he began to receive payment.
• Between 1784 and 1792, Beethoven composed several piano sonatas, as well as other works.
• In 1792, he left Bonn for Vienna, where he studied with Joseph Haydn and Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart.
• He returned to Bonn in 1795 and died there in 1827.
• Beethoven left his native Bonn for Vienna in 1792, in the midst of war with France;
• He studied under Haydn and worked to develop his skills as a composer;
• In 1795, he was appointed assistant to the Kapellmeister of the Imperial Court;
• In 1800, he was made a full court composer;
• In 1802, he left Vienna for good, after a series of disputes with the authorities.

1. Beethoven left his native Bonn for Vienna in 1792, in the midst of war with France.
2. He studied under Haydn and worked to develop his skills as a composer.
3. In 1795, he was appointed assistant to the Kapellmeister of the Imperial Court.
4. In 1800, he was made a full court composer.
5. In 1802, he left Vienna for good, after a series of disputes with the authorities.

• Beethoven was born in Bonn in 1770 and moved to Vienna in 1792 to study with Johann Albrechtsberger.
• In 1794, Bonn fell to the French and Beethoven was left without a stipend or the necessity to return.
• Several Viennese noblemen had already recognised his ability and offered him financial support, among them Prince Joseph Franz Lobkowitz, Prince Karl Lichnowsky, and Baron Gottfried van Swieten.
• In 1795, Beethoven made his public debut in Vienna over three days, beginning with a performance of one of his own piano concertos on 29 March at the Burgtheater.
• By this year he had two piano concertos available for performance, one in B-flat major he had begun composing before moving to Vienna and had worked on for over a decade, and one in C major composed for the most part during 1795.
• Viewing the latter as the more substantive work, he chose to designate it as his first piano concerto, publishing it in March 1801 as Opus 15.
• Shortly after his public debut he arranged for the publication of the first of his compositions to which he assigned an opus number, the three piano trios, Opus 1.
• These works were dedicated to his patron Prince Lichnowsky, and were a financial success; Beethoven's profits were nearly sufficient to cover his living expenses for a year.
• In 1799 Beethoven participated in (and won) a notorious piano 'duel' at the home of Baron Raimund Wetzlar (a former patron of Mozart) against the virtuoso Joseph Wölfl; and in the following year he similarly triumphed against Daniel Steibelt at the salon of Count Moritz von Fries.
• Beethoven's eighth piano sonata the Pathétique (Op. 13), published in 1799 is described by the musicologist Barry Cooper as "surpass[ing] any of his previous compositions, in strength of character, depth of emotion, level of originality, and ingenuity of motivic and tonal manipulation".
• Between 1798 and 1800, Beethoven composed his first six string quartets (Op. 18) and his Septet (Op. 20).
• In 1800, he premiered his First Symphony and his Second Symphony.
• Between 1800 and 1803, he composed his Third Symphony, Fourth Symphony, and Fifth Symphony.
• In 1804, he composed his Sixth Symphony.
• In 1806, he composed his Seventh Symphony.
• In 1809, he composed his Eighth Symphony.
• In 1811, he composed his Ninth Symphony.
• In 1812, he composed his Tenth Symphony.
• In 1814, he composed his Eleventh Symphony.
• In 1815, he composed his Twelfth Symphony

Test your knowledge of the life and achievements of Ludwig van Beethoven, one of the greatest composers in history. Learn about his early years in Bonn, his move to Vienna, his compositions, and the significant events in his life.