135-610: The list of compositions of Ludwig van Beethoven consists of 722 works written over forty-five years, from his earliest work in 1782 (variations for piano on a march by Ernst Christoph Dressler ) when he was only eleven years old and still in Bonn , until his last work just before his death in Vienna in 1827. Beethoven composed works in all the main genres of classical music, including symphonies, concertos, string quartets, piano sonatas and opera. His compositions range from solo works to those requiring
270-570: A child prodigy , claiming that Beethoven was six (he was seven) on the posters for his first public performance in March 1778. In 1780 or 1781, Beethoven began his studies with his most important teacher in Bonn, Christian Gottlob Neefe . Neefe taught him composition; in March 1783, Beethoven's first published work appeared, a set of keyboard variations ( WoO 63). Beethoven soon began working with Neefe as assistant organist, at first unpaid (1782), and then as
405-557: A musical score , which contains all the instrument parts. Orchestral musicians play from parts which contain just the notated music for their own instrument. Some symphonies also contain vocal parts (e.g., Beethoven 's Ninth Symphony , or Mahler's Second Symphony ). The word symphony is derived from the Greek word συμφωνία ( symphōnía ), meaning "agreement or concord of sound", "concert of vocal or instrumental music", from σύμφωνος ( sýmphōnos ), "harmonious". The word referred to
540-593: A ballet, The Creatures of Prometheus (op. 43). The work received numerous performances in 1801 and 1802 and he rushed to publish a piano arrangement to capitalise on its early popularity. Beethoven completed his Second Symphony in 1802, intended for performance at a concert that was cancelled. The symphony received its premiere one year later, at a subscription concert in April 1803 at the Theater an der Wien , where Beethoven had been appointed composer in residence. In addition to
675-552: A bassoon together with a harpsichord or other chording instrument was also possible. The first additions to this simple ensemble were a pair of horns, occasionally a pair of oboes, and then both horns and oboes together. Over the century, other instruments were added to the classical orchestra : flutes (sometimes replacing the oboes), separate parts for bassoons, clarinets, and trumpets and timpani. Works varied in their scoring concerning which of these additional instruments were to appear. The full-scale classical orchestra, deployed at
810-476: A close relationship with the upper-class von Breuning family, and gave piano lessons to some of the children. The widowed Helene von Breuning became a "second mother" to Beethoven, taught him more refined manners and nurtured his passion for literature and poetry. The warmth and closeness of the von Breuning family offered the young Beethoven a retreat from his unhappy home life, dominated by his father's decline due to alcoholism. Beethoven also met Franz Wegeler ,
945-498: A composer and later wrote about their encounters. The young Carl Czerny , who later became a renowned pianist and music teacher himself, studied with Beethoven from 1801 to 1803. He described his teacher in 1801: Beethoven was dressed in a jacket of shaggy dark grey material and matching trousers, and he reminded me immediately of Campe 's Robinson Crusoe , whose book I was reading just then. His jet-black hair bristled shaggily around his head. His beard, unshaven for several days, made
1080-474: A composer, flutist, and violinist of about his own age who was a nephew of the court orchestra's conductor, Josef Reicha . From 1790 to 1792, Beethoven composed several works, none of which were published at the time; they showed a growing range and maturity. Musicologists have identified a theme similar to those of his Third Symphony in a set of variations written in 1791. It was perhaps on Neefe's recommendation that Beethoven received his first commissions;
1215-551: A composer. This may be attributed to the varied response his initial publications attracted, and also to ongoing issues in his family. While passing through Augsburg , Beethoven visited with composer Anna von Schaden and her husband, who gave him money to return to Bonn to be with his ailing mother. Beethoven's mother died in July 1787, shortly after his return from Vienna, where he stayed for around two weeks and possibly met Mozart. In 1789, due to his chronic alcoholism, Beethoven's father
1350-457: A cure at the spa of Teplitz (now Teplice in the Czech Republic ), where he wrote two more overtures and sets of incidental music for dramas, this time by August von Kotzebue – King Stephen Op. 117 and The Ruins of Athens Op. 113. Advised again to visit Teplitz in 1812, he met there with Goethe, who wrote: "His talent amazed me; unfortunately he is an utterly untamed personality, who
1485-449: 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 his first piano concerto , publishing it in March 1801 as Opus 15, before publishing the former as Opus 19 the following December. He wrote new cadenzas for both in 1809. Shortly after his public debut, Beethoven arranged for the publication of
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#17328698511271620-607: A distinctly Mozartian flavour. Beethoven did not immediately set out to establish himself as a composer but rather devoted himself to study and performance. Working under Haydn's direction, he sought to master counterpoint . He also studied violin under Ignaz Schuppanzigh . Early in this period, he also began receiving occasional instruction from Antonio Salieri , primarily in Italian vocal composition style; this relationship persisted until at least 1802, and possibly as late as 1809. With Haydn's departure for England in 1794, Beethoven
1755-404: A fast movement, a slow movement, and another fast movement. Over the course of the 18th century it became the custom to write four-movement symphonies, along the lines described in the next paragraph. The three-movement symphony died out slowly; about half of Haydn 's first thirty symphonies are in three movements; and for the young Mozart , the three-movement symphony was the norm, perhaps under
1890-669: A few minor pieces, and began but abandoned a sixth piano concerto. Between 1815 and 1819, Beethoven's output dropped again to a level unique in his mature life. He attributed part of this to a lengthy illness that he called an inflammatory fever that he had for more than a year starting in October 1816. Solomon suggests it is also doubtless a consequence of the ongoing legal problems concerning his nephew Karl, and of Beethoven finding himself increasingly at odds with current musical trends. Unsympathetic to developments in German romanticism that featured
2025-527: A large orchestra and chorus. Beethoven straddled both the Classical and Romantic periods, working in genres associated with Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and his teacher Joseph Haydn , such as the piano concerto, string quartet and symphony, while on the other hand providing the groundwork for other Romantic composers, such as Hector Berlioz and Franz Liszt , with programmatic works such as his Pastoral Symphony and Piano Sonata " Les Adieux " . Beethoven's work
2160-505: A long time", was not without difficulties; among the criticisms was that "the players did not bother to pay any attention to the soloist". By the end of 1800, Beethoven and his music were already much in demand from patrons and publishers. In May 1799, Beethoven taught piano to the daughters of Hungarian Countess Anna Brunsvik. During this time, he fell in love with the younger daughter, Josephine . Among his other students, from 1801 to 1805, he tutored Ferdinand Ries , who went on to become
2295-648: A mutual acquaintance, Bettina Brentano (who also wrote to Goethe at this time about Beethoven). Other works of this period in a similar vein were the F minor String Quartet Op. 95 , to which Beethoven gave the subtitle Quartetto serioso , and the Op. 97 Piano Trio in B-flat major known, from its dedication to his patron Rudolph, as the Archduke Trio . In the spring of 1811, Beethoven became seriously ill, with headaches and high fever. His doctor Johann Malfatti recommended he take
2430-658: A new way." An early major work employing this new style was the Third Symphony in E-flat, Op. 55, known as the Eroica , written in 1803–04. The idea of creating a symphony based on the career of Napoleon may have been suggested to Beethoven by General Bernadotte in 1798. Sympathetic to the ideal of the heroic revolutionary leader, Beethoven originally gave the symphony the title "Bonaparte", but disillusioned by Napoleon declaring himself Emperor in 1804 , he scratched Napoleon's name from
2565-522: A paid employee (1784) of the court chapel. His first three piano sonatas , WoO 47, sometimes known as Kurfürst (Elector) for their dedication to Elector Maximilian Friedrich , were published in 1783. In the same year, the first printed reference to Beethoven appeared in the Magazin der Musik – "Louis van Beethoven [sic] ... a boy of 11 years and most promising talent. He plays the piano very skilfully and with power, reads at sight very well ...
2700-493: A particular occasion. Of the concertos, seven are widely known (one violin concerto, five piano concertos, and one triple concerto for violin, piano, and cello); the other two are an early piano concerto ( WoO 4 ) and an arrangement of the Violin Concerto for piano and orchestra ( Opus 61a ). Beethoven is believed to have intended to write a Tenth Symphony in the last year of his life; a performing version of possible sketches
2835-526: A pension of 4000 florins a year. In the event, Rudolf paid his share of the pension on the agreed date. Kinsky, immediately called to military duty, did not contribute and died in November 1812 after falling from his horse. The Austrian currency destabilized and Lobkowitz went bankrupt in 1811 so that to benefit from the agreement Beethoven eventually had recourse to the law, which in 1815 brought him some recompense. The imminence of war reaching Vienna itself
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#17328698511272970-508: A performance of one of his own piano concertos on 29 March at the Burgtheater and ending with a Mozart concerto on 31 March, probably the D minor concerto , for which he had written a cadenza soon after his arrival in Vienna. 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
3105-548: A piano sonata for the first time in five years, his Sonata in E minor, Opus 90 . He was also one of many composers who produced music in a patriotic vein to entertain the many heads of state and diplomats who came to the Congress of Vienna that began in November 1814, with the cantata Der glorreiche Augenblick (The Glorious Moment) (Op. 136) and similar choral works which, in the words of Maynard Solomon, "broadened Beethoven's popularity, [but] did little to enhance his reputation as
3240-405: A preeminent musician in Bonn. The portrait he commissioned of himself toward the end of his life remained displayed in his grandson's rooms as a talisman of his musical heritage. Ludwig had two sons, the younger of whom, Johann , worked as a tenor in the same musical establishment and gave keyboard and violin lessons to supplement his income. Johann married Maria Magdalena Keverich in 1767; she
3375-551: A reputation as a performer and improviser in the salons of the Viennese nobility. His friend Nikolaus Simrock began publishing his compositions, starting with a set of keyboard variations on a theme of Dittersdorf (WoO 66). By 1793, he had established a reputation in Vienna as a piano virtuoso, but he apparently withheld works from publication so that their eventual appearance would have greater impact. In 1795, Beethoven made his public debut in Vienna over three days, beginning with
3510-721: A reputation as a virtuoso pianist, and was soon patronised by Karl Alois, Prince Lichnowsky for compositions, which resulted in his three Opus 1 piano trios (the earliest works to which he accorded an opus number ) in 1795. His first major orchestral work, the First Symphony , premiered in 1800, and his first set of string quartets was published in 1801. Despite his advancing deafness during this period, he continued to conduct, premiering his Third and Fifth Symphonies in 1804 and 1808, respectively. His Violin Concerto appeared in 1806. His last piano concerto (No. 5, Op. 73, known as
3645-416: A revival of Fidelio , which, in its third revised version, was also well received at its July opening in Vienna, and was frequently staged there during the following years. Beethoven's publisher, Artaria , commissioned the 20-year-old Moscheles to prepare a piano score of the opera, which he inscribed "Finished, with God's help!"—to which Beethoven added "O Man, help thyself." That summer Beethoven composed
3780-505: A serious composer". In April and May 1814, playing in his Archduke Trio, Beethoven made his last public appearances as a soloist. The composer Louis Spohr noted: "the piano was badly out of tune, which Beethoven minded little, since he did not hear it ... there was scarcely anything left of the virtuosity of the artist ... I was deeply saddened." From 1814 onward Beethoven used for conversation ear-trumpets designed by Johann Nepomuk Maelzel (a number of these are on display at
3915-477: A storm; and, unconventionally, a fifth movement (symphonies usually had at most four movements). His Symphony No. 9 includes parts for vocal soloists and choir in the last movement, making it a choral symphony . Of the symphonies by Schubert , two are core repertory items and are frequently performed. Of the Eighth Symphony (1822), Schubert completed only the first two movements; this highly Romantic work
4050-560: A variety of different concepts before ultimately settling on its current meaning designating a musical form. In late Greek and medieval theory, the word was used for consonance , as opposed to διαφωνία ( diaphōnía ), which was the word for "dissonance". In the Middle Ages and later, the Latin form symphonia was used to describe various instruments, especially those capable of producing more than one sound simultaneously. Isidore of Seville
4185-409: A work which was extremely popular during Beethoven's lifetime. With premieres of his First and Second Symphonies in 1800 and 1803, Beethoven became regarded as one of the most important of a generation of young composers following Haydn and Mozart. But his melodies, musical development, use of modulation and texture, and characterisation of emotion all set him apart from his influences, and heightened
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4320-489: A young age. He was initially taught intensively by his father, Johann van Beethoven , and later by Christian Gottlob Neefe . Under Neefe's tutelage in 1783, he published his first work, a set of keyboard variations. He found relief from a dysfunctional home life with the family of Helene von Breuning , whose children he loved, befriended, and taught piano. At age 21, he moved to Vienna , which subsequently became his base, and studied composition with Haydn. Beethoven then gained
4455-464: A young medical student, who became a lifelong friend and married one of the von Breuning daughters. Another frequenter of the von Breunings was Count Ferdinand von Waldstein , who became a friend and financial supporter of Beethoven during this period. In 1791, Waldstein commissioned Beethoven's first work for the stage, the ballet Musik zu einem Ritterballett (WoO 1). The period of 1785 to 1790 includes virtually no record of Beethoven's activity as
4590-464: Is an early example of a band symphony. Berlioz later added optional string parts and a choral finale. In 1851, Richard Wagner declared that all of these post-Beethoven symphonies were no more than an epilogue, offering nothing substantially new. Indeed, after Schumann's last symphony, the "Rhenish" composed in 1850, for two decades the Lisztian symphonic poem appeared to have displaced the symphony as
4725-458: Is clear from his correspondence of the period and, later, from the conversation books, that he occasionally had sex with prostitutes. In early 1813, Beethoven apparently went through a difficult emotional period, and his compositional output dropped. His personal appearance degraded—it had generally been neat—as did his manners in public, notably when dining. Family issues may have played a part in this. Beethoven had visited his brother Johann at
4860-482: Is not altogether wrong in holding the world to be detestable, but surely does not make it any more enjoyable ... by his attitude." Beethoven wrote to his publishers Breitkopf and Härtel , "Goethe delights far too much in the court atmosphere, far more than is becoming in a poet." But following their meeting he began a setting for choir and orchestra of Goethe's Meeresstille und glückliche Fahrt (Calm Sea and Prosperous Voyage) , Op. 112, completed in 1815. After it
4995-434: Is this form that is often considered as the direct forerunner of the orchestral symphony. The terms "overture", "symphony" and "sinfonia" were widely regarded as interchangeable for much of the 18th century. In the 17th century, pieces scored for large instrumental ensemble did not precisely designate which instruments were to play which parts, as is the practice from the 19th century to the current period. When composers from
5130-668: Is typically divided into three periods: the "Early" period, where he composed in the "Viennese" style; the "Middle" or "Heroic" period, where his work is characterised by struggle and heroism, such as in the Eroica Symphony , the Fifth Symphony , the Appassionata Sonata and in his sole opera Fidelio ; and the "Late" period, marked by intense personal expression and an emotional and intellectual profundity. Although his output greatly diminished in his later years, this period saw
5265-541: Is unknown. In the autumn of 1808, after having been rejected for a position at the Royal Theatre, Beethoven received an offer from Napoleon's brother Jérôme Bonaparte , then king of Westphalia , for a well-paid position as Kapellmeister at the court in Cassel . To persuade him to stay in Vienna, Archduke Rudolf, Prince Kinsky and Prince Lobkowitz, after receiving representations from Beethoven's friends, pledged to pay him
5400-572: Is usually called by its nickname "The Unfinished". His last completed symphony, the Ninth (1826) is a massive work in the Classical idiom. Of the early Romantics, Felix Mendelssohn (five symphonies, plus thirteen string symphonies ) and Robert Schumann (four) continued to write symphonies in the classical mould, though using their own musical language. In contrast, Berlioz favored programmatic works, including his "dramatic symphony" Roméo et Juliette ,
5535-668: The Emperor ), dedicated to his frequent patron Archduke Rudolf of Austria , premiered in 1811, without Beethoven as soloist. He was almost completely deaf by 1815, and he then gave up performing and appearing in public. He described his problems with health and his unfulfilled personal life in two letters, his Heiligenstadt Testament (1802) to his brothers and his unsent love letter to an unknown " Immortal Beloved " (1812). After 1810, increasingly less socially involved as his hearing loss worsened, Beethoven composed many of his most admired works, including later symphonies, mature chamber music and
List of compositions by Ludwig van Beethoven - Misplaced Pages Continue
5670-568: The Finn Leif Segerstam , whose list of works includes 371 symphonies. Hector Berlioz originally wrote the Grande symphonie funèbre et triomphale for military band in 1840. Anton Reicha had composed his four-movement 'Commemoration' Symphony (also known as Musique pour célébrer le Mémorie des Grands Hommes qui se sont Illustrés au Service de la Nation Française ) for large wind ensemble even earlier, in 1815, for ceremonies associated with
5805-780: The French occupation of the city . In addition to being a financial failure, this version of Fidelio was also a critical failure, and Beethoven began revising it. Despite this failure, Beethoven continued to attract recognition. In 1807 the musician and publisher Muzio Clementi secured the rights to publish his works in England, and Haydn's former patron Prince Esterházy commissioned the Mass in C , Op. 86, for his wife's name-day. But he could not count on such recognition alone. A colossal benefit concert he organized in December 1808, widely advertised, included
5940-712: The London Symphony Orchestra , the Boston Symphony Orchestra , the St. Louis Symphony , the Houston Symphony , or Miami's New World Symphony . For some orchestras, "(city name) Symphony" provides a shorter version of the full name; for instance, the OED gives "Vancouver Symphony" as a possible abbreviated form of Vancouver Symphony Orchestra . Additionally, in common usage, a person may say they are going out to hear
6075-463: The Symphony in C by Igor Stravinsky of 1938–40. There remained, however, certain tendencies. Designating a work a "symphony" still implied a degree of sophistication and seriousness of purpose. The word sinfonietta came into use to designate a work that is shorter, of more modest aims, or "lighter" than a symphony, such as Sergei Prokofiev 's Sinfonietta for orchestra . In the first half of
6210-434: The Third Symphony ("Eroica") that expanded the scope and ambition of the genre. His Symphony No. 5 is perhaps the most famous symphony ever written; its transition from the emotionally stormy C minor opening movement to a triumphant major-key finale provided a model adopted by later symphonists such as Brahms and Mahler . His Symphony No. 6 is a programmatic work, featuring instrumental imitations of bird calls and
6345-554: The late piano sonatas . His only opera , Fidelio , first performed in 1805, was revised to its final version in 1814. He composed Missa solemnis between 1819 and 1823 and his final Symphony, No. 9 , the first major example of a choral symphony , between 1822 and 1824. Written in his last years, his late string quartets , including the Grosse Fuge , of 1825–1826 are among his final achievements. After several months of illness, which left him bedridden, he died on 26 March 1827 at
6480-403: The 17th century wrote pieces, they expected that these works would be performed by whatever group of musicians were available. To give one example, whereas the bassline in a 19th-century work is scored for cellos , double basses and other specific instruments, in a 17th-century work, a basso continuo part for a sinfonia would not specify which instruments would play the part. A performance of
6615-449: The 17th century, for most of the Baroque era, the terms symphony and sinfonia were used for a range of different compositions, including instrumental pieces used in operas , sonatas and concertos —usually part of a larger work. The opera sinfonia , or Italian overture had, by the 18th century, a standard structure of three contrasting movements: fast, slow, fast and dance-like. It
6750-637: The Appendix ( Anhang in German) of Kinsky's catalog that were attributed to Beethoven at the time the catalog was compiled, but might not have been written by him. The 2014 revision to the Kinsky catalogue, edited by Dorfmüller, Gertsch and Ronge also introduced the category of Unvollendete (unfinished works), for several works that had previously appeared in other listings. These works have numbers that were assigned by Willy Hess in his catalogue of Beethoven's works. Many of
6885-519: The Beethoven-Haus in Bonn). His 1815 compositions include an expressive second setting of the poem An die Hoffnung (Op. 94) in 1815. Compared to its first setting in 1805 (a gift for Josephine Brunsvik), it was "far more dramatic ... The entire spirit is that of an operatic scena." But his energy seemed to be dropping: apart from these works, he wrote the two cello sonatas Op. 102 nos. 1 and 2 , and
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#17328698511277020-659: The Empire]". Since the normal size of the orchestra at the time was quite small, many of these courtly establishments were capable of performing symphonies. The young Joseph Haydn , taking up his first job as a music director in 1757 for the Morzin family , found that when the Morzin household was in Vienna, his own orchestra was only part of a lively and competitive musical scene, with multiple aristocrats sponsoring concerts with their own ensembles. LaRue, Bonds, Walsh, and Wilson's article traces
7155-608: The Kinsky–Halm Catalogue, and then works listed in the appendix of that catalogue, which are given "Anhang" numbers. These are followed by additional works with Hess numbers listed in the catalogue of Willy Hess that are not otherwise listed in the Kinsky–Halm Catalogue. Lastly there are works with Biamonti numbers (Bia.), from the Biamonti Catalogue , an attempt to catalogue everything that Beethoven wrote in chronological order, though there are works that were not known at
7290-548: The Literary Society in Bonn commissioned a cantata to mark the recent death of Joseph II (WoO 87), and a further cantata, to celebrate the subsequent accession of Leopold II as Holy Roman Emperor (WoO 88), may have been commissioned by the Elector. These two Emperor Cantatas were not performed during Beethoven's lifetime and became lost until the 1880s, when Johannes Brahms called them "Beethoven through and through" and of
7425-1057: The Second Symphony, the concert also featured the First Symphony, the Third Piano Concerto , and the oratorio Christ on the Mount of Olives . Reviews of the concert were mixed, but it was a financial success; Beethoven was able to charge three times the cost of a typical concert ticket. In 1802, Beethoven's brother Kaspar began to assist the composer in handling his affairs, particularly his business dealings with music publishers. In addition to successfully negotiating higher payments for Beethoven's latest works, Kaspar also began selling several of Beethoven's earlier unpublished compositions and encouraged his brother (against Beethoven's preference) to make arrangements and transcriptions of his more popular works for other instruments and combinations. Beethoven decided to accede to these requests, as he
7560-474: The age in which it was created. Five composers from across the span of the 20th century who fulfil this measure are Jean Sibelius , Igor Stravinsky , Luciano Berio (in his Sinfonia , 1968–69), Elliott Carter (in his Symphony of Three Orchestras , 1976), and Pelle Gudmundsen-Holmgreen (in Symphony/Antiphony , 1980). From the mid-20th century into the 21st there has been a resurgence of interest in
7695-528: The age of 56. Beethoven was the grandson of Ludwig van Beethoven , a musician from the town of Mechelen in the Austrian Duchy of Brabant in what is now the Flemish region of Belgium , who moved to Bonn at the age of 21. Ludwig was employed as a bass singer at the court of Clemens August , Archbishop-Elector of Cologne , eventually rising to become, in 1761, Kapellmeister (music director) and hence
7830-457: The century, composers including Edward Elgar , Gustav Mahler , Jean Sibelius , Carl Nielsen , Igor Stravinsky , Bohuslav Martinů , Roger Sessions , William Walton , Sergei Prokofiev , Rued Langgaard and Dmitri Shostakovich composed symphonies "extraordinary in scope, richness, originality, and urgency of expression". One measure of the significance of a symphony is the degree to which it reflects conceptions of temporal form particular to
7965-426: The chief piece he plays is Das wohltemperierte Klavier of Sebastian Bach , which Herr Neefe puts into his hands". Maximilian Friedrich's successor as Elector of Bonn was Maximilian Franz . He gave some support to Beethoven, appointing him Court Organist and assisting financially with Beethoven's move to Vienna in 1792. During this time, Beethoven met several people who became important in his life. He developed
8100-839: The composition of masterpieces such as the late string quartets , the final five piano sonatas , the Diabelli Variations , the Missa Solemnis and the Ninth Symphony . Beethoven's works are classified by both genre and various numbering systems. The best-known numbering system for Beethoven's works is that by opus number , assigned by Beethoven's publishers during his lifetime. Only 172 of Beethoven's works have opus numbers, divided among 138 opus numbers. Many works that were unpublished or published without opus numbers have been assigned one of " WoO " ( Werke ohne Opuszahl —works without opus number), Hess or Biamonti numbers. For example,
8235-434: The course of 36 years , and Mozart, with at least 47 symphonies in 24 years . At the beginning of the 19th century, Beethoven elevated the symphony from an everyday genre produced in large quantities to a supreme form in which composers strove to reach the highest potential of music in just a few works. Beethoven began with two works directly emulating his models Mozart and Haydn, then seven more symphonies, starting with
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#17328698511278370-444: The custom in the region at the time was to carry out baptism within 24 hours of birth. There is a consensus (with which Beethoven himself agreed) that his birth date was 16 December, but no documentary proof of this. Of the seven children born to Johann van Beethoven, only Ludwig, the second-born, and two younger brothers survived infancy. Kaspar Anton Karl (generally known as Karl) was born on 8 April 1774, and Nikolaus Johann , who
8505-460: The difficulties they caused in both professional and social settings (although it is likely some of his close friends were already aware of the issues). The cause was probably otosclerosis , possibly accompanied by degeneration of the auditory nerve . On his doctor's advice, Beethoven moved to the small Austrian town of Heiligenstadt , just outside Vienna, from April to October 1802 in an attempt to come to terms with his condition. There he wrote
8640-580: The document now known as the Heiligenstadt Testament , a letter to his brothers that records his thoughts of suicide due to his growing deafness and his resolution to continue living for and through his art. The letter was never sent and was discovered in his papers after his death. The letters to Wegeler and Amenda were not so despairing; in them Beethoven commented also on his ongoing professional and financial success at this period, and his determination, as he expressed it to Wegeler, to "seize Fate by
8775-451: The elderly Count Joseph Deym, who died in 1804. Beethoven began to visit her and commenced a passionate correspondence. Initially, he accepted that Josephine could not love him, but he continued to address himself to her even after she had moved to Budapest, finally demonstrating that he had got the message in his last letter to her of 1807: "I thank you for wishing still to appear as if I were not altogether banished from your memory". Malfatti
8910-491: The end of October 1812. He wished to end Johann's cohabitation with Therese Obermayer, a woman who already had an illegitimate child. He was unable to convince Johann to end the relationship and appealed to the local civic and religious authorities, but Johann and Therese married on 8 November. The illness and eventual death of his brother Kaspar from tuberculosis became an increasing concern. Kaspar had been ill for some time; in 1813 Beethoven lent him 1500 florins , to procure
9045-440: The end of the 19th century, Gustav Mahler began writing long, large-scale symphonies that he continued composing into the early 20th century. His Third Symphony , completed in 1896, is one of the longest regularly performed symphonies at around 100 minutes in length for most performances. The Eighth Symphony was composed in 1906 and is nicknamed the "Symphony of a Thousand" because of the large number of voices required to perform
9180-405: The end of the century for the largest-scale symphonies, has the standard string ensemble mentioned above, pairs of winds ( flutes , oboes , clarinets , bassoons ), a pair of horns, and timpani. A keyboard continuo instrument (harpsichord or piano ) remained an option. The "Italian" style of symphony, often used as overture and entr'acte in opera houses , became a standard three-movement form:
9315-570: The event for his mechanical instrument the Panharmonicon . This Beethoven also transcribed for orchestra as Wellington's Victory (Op. 91, also known as the Battle Symphony ). It was first performed on 8 December, along with his Seventh Symphony , Op. 92, at a charity concert for victims of the war, a concert whose success led to its repeat on 12 December. The orchestra included several leading and rising musicians who happened to be in Vienna at
9450-457: The family. It would seem that Antonie and Beethoven had an affair during 1811–1812. Antonie left Vienna with her husband in late 1812 and never met with (or apparently corresponded with) Beethoven again, although in her later years, she wrote and spoke fondly of him. Some speculate that Beethoven was the father of Antonie's son Karl Josef, though the two never met. After 1812 there are no reports of any romantic liaisons of Beethoven's; however, it
9585-538: The few major works he completed include the 1818 Hammerklavier Sonata (Sonata No. 29 in B-flat major, Op. 106) and his settings of poems by Alois Jeitteles , An die ferne Geliebte Op. 98 (1816), which introduced the song cycle into classical repertoire. In 1818 he began musical sketches that eventually formed part of his Ninth Symphony. Symphony A symphony is an extended musical composition in Western classical music , most often for orchestra . Although
9720-599: The final movement, Das Wiedersehen (The Return), is dated in the manuscript with the date of Rudolf's homecoming of 30 January 1810. During the French bombardment of Vienna in May, Beethoven took refuge in the cellar of his brother Kaspar's house. The subsequent occupation of Vienna and disruptions to cultural life and to Beethoven's publishers, together with Beethoven's poor health at the end of 1809, explain his significantly reduced output during this period, although other notable works of
9855-420: 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
9990-424: The form in Vienna included Georg Christoph Wagenseil , Wenzel Raimund Birck and Georg Matthias Monn , while later significant Viennese composers of symphonies included Johann Baptist Wanhal , Carl Ditters von Dittersdorf and Leopold Hofmann . The Mannheim school included Johann Stamitz . The most important symphonists of the latter part of the 18th century are Haydn, who wrote at least 106 symphonies over
10125-437: The four-movement form to orchestral or multi-instrument chamber music such as quartets, though since Beethoven solo sonatas are as often written in four as in three movements. The composition of early symphonies was centred on Milan, Vienna, and Mannheim . The Milanese school centred around Giovanni Battista Sammartini and included Antonio Brioschi , Ferdinando Galimberti and Giovanni Battista Lampugnani . Early exponents of
10260-450: The gradual expansion of the symphonic orchestra through the 18th century. At first, symphonies were string symphonies, written in just four parts: first violin, second violin, viola, and bass (the bass line was taken by cello(s), double bass(es) playing the part an octave below, and perhaps also a bassoon). Occasionally the early symphonists even dispensed with the viola part, thus creating three-part symphonies. A basso continuo part including
10395-424: The help of assiduous labour you shall receive Mozart's spirit from Haydn's hands." Beethoven left Bonn for Vienna in November 1792 amid rumours of war spilling out of France . Shortly after departing, Beethoven learned that his father had died. Over the next few years, he responded to the widespread feeling that he was a successor to the recently deceased Mozart by studying Mozart's work and writing works with
10530-544: The impact some of his early works made when they were first published. For the premiere of his First Symphony, he hired the Burgtheater on 2 April 1800, and staged an extensive programme, including works by Haydn and Mozart, as well as his Septet, the Symphony, and one of his piano concertos (the latter three works all then unpublished). The concert, which the Allgemeine musikalische Zeitung called "the most interesting concert in
10665-448: The influence of his friend Johann Christian Bach . An outstanding late example of the three-movement Classical symphony is Mozart's Prague Symphony , from 1786. The four-movement form that emerged from this evolution was as follows: Variations on this layout, like changing the order of the middle movements or adding a slow introduction to the first movement, were common. Haydn, Mozart and their contemporaries restricted their use of
10800-847: The late 16th century to the 18th century. In the sense of "sounding together", the word begins to appear in the titles of some works by 16th- and 17th-century composers including Giovanni Gabrieli 's Sacrae symphoniae , and Symphoniae sacrae, liber secundus , published in 1597 and 1615, respectively; Adriano Banchieri 's Eclesiastiche sinfonie, dette canzoni in aria francese, per sonare, et cantare , Op. 16, published in 1607; Lodovico Grossi da Viadana 's Sinfonie musicali , Op. 18, published in 1610; and Heinrich Schütz 's Symphoniae sacrae , Op. 6, and Symphoniarum sacrarum secunda pars , Op. 10, published in 1629 and 1647, respectively. Except for Viadana's collection, which contained purely instrumental and secular music, these were all collections of sacred vocal works, some with instrumental accompaniment. In
10935-421: The leading form of large-scale instrumental music. However, Liszt also composed two programmatic choral symphonies during this time, Faust and Dante . If the symphony had otherwise been eclipsed, it was not long before it re-emerged in a "second age" in the 1870s and 1880s, with the symphonies by Bruckner , Brahms , Tchaikovsky , Saint-Saëns , Borodin , Dvořák , and Franck —works which largely avoided
11070-536: The lower part of his swarthy face still darker. In late 1801, Beethoven met a young countess, Julie Guicciardi , through the Brunsvik family; he mentions his love for Julie in a November 1801 letter to a friend, but class difference prevented any consideration of pursuing it. He dedicated his 1802 Sonata Op. 27 No. 2 , now commonly known as the Moonlight Sonata , to her. In the spring of 1801, Beethoven completed
11205-430: The manuscript's title page, and the symphony was published in 1806 with its present title and the subtitle "to celebrate the memory of a great man". The Eroica was longer and larger in scope than any previous symphony. When it premiered in early 1805 it received a mixed reception. Some listeners objected to its length or disliked its structure, while others viewed it as a masterpiece. Other middle-period works extend in
11340-707: The most performed of the classical music repertoire and span the transition from the Classical period to the Romantic era in classical music. His early period, during which he forged his craft, is typically considered to have lasted until 1802. From 1802 to around 1812, his middle period showed an individual development from the styles of Joseph Haydn and Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart , and is sometimes characterized as heroic. During this time, Beethoven began to grow increasingly deaf . In his late period, from 1812 to 1827, he extended his innovations in musical form and expression. Born in Bonn , Beethoven displayed his musical talent at
11475-517: The mountains and Alan Hovhaness 's Symphony No. 9, Saint Vartan —originally Op. 80, changed to Op. 180—composed in 1949–50, is in twenty-four. A concern with unification of the traditional four-movement symphony into a single, subsuming formal conception had emerged in the late 19th century. This has been called a "two-dimensional symphonic form", and finds its key turning point in Arnold Schoenberg 's Chamber Symphony No. 1 , Op. 9 (1909), which
11610-652: The musicologist Maynard Solomon has argued that the intended recipient was Antonie Brentano ; other candidates included Julie Guicciardi, Therese Malfatti and Josephine Brunsvik. All of these had been regarded by Beethoven as possible soulmates during his first decade in Vienna. Guicciardi, although she flirted with Beethoven, never had any serious interest in him and married Wenzel Robert von Gallenberg in November 1803. (Beethoven insisted to his later secretary and biographer, Anton Schindler , that Guicciardi had "sought me out, crying, but I scorned her".) Josephine had, since Beethoven's initial infatuation with her, married
11745-418: The numbers here represent the most commonly used. Beethoven's works are published in several editions, the first of these was Ludwig van Beethovens Werke: Vollständige kritisch durchgesehene überall berechtigte Ausgabe published between 1862 and 1865 with a supplemental volume in 1888 by Breitkopf & Härtel , commonly known as the " Beethoven Gesamtausgabe " [ GA ]. While this was a landmark achievement at
11880-437: The operas Alessandro, Memnons Dreiklang, and Bradamante; an oratorio on a text by Meissner, an oratorio "Die Befrieung Jerusalems", and an oratorio "Die Sündflut" with text by Hammer-Purgstall. Ludwig van Beethoven Ludwig van Beethoven (baptised 17 December 1770 – 26 March 1827) was a German composer and pianist. He is one of the most revered figures in the history of Western music; his works rank among
12015-458: The piece might be done with a basso continuo group as small as a single cello and harpsichord . However, if a bigger budget was available for a performance and a larger sound was required, a basso continuo group might include multiple chord-playing instruments (harpsichord, lute , etc.) and a range of bass instruments, including cello, double bass, bass viol or even a serpent , an early bass wind instrument. LaRue, Bonds, Walsh, and Wilson write in
12150-734: The premieres of the Fifth and Sixth ( Pastoral ) symphonies, the Fourth Piano Concerto , extracts from the Mass in C, the scena and aria Ah! perfido Op. 65 and the Choral Fantasy op. 80 . There was a large audience (including Czerny and the young Ignaz Moscheles ), but it was under-rehearsed, involved many stops and starts, and during the Fantasia Beethoven was noted shouting at the musicians "badly played, wrong, again!" The financial outcome
12285-429: The programmatic elements of Berlioz and Liszt and dominated the concert repertory for at least a century. Over the course of the 19th century, composers continued to add to the size of the symphonic orchestra. Around the beginning of the century, a full-scale orchestra would consist of the string section plus pairs of flutes, oboes, clarinets, bassoons, horns, trumpets, and lastly a set of timpani. This is, for instance,
12420-433: The projected 56 volumes have been published so far. As this edition has not been published in full there are works without an NA designation. Legend for publications – p: parts s: full score vs: vocal score Beethoven wrote nine symphonies , nine concertos, and a variety of other orchestral music, ranging from overtures and incidental music for theatrical productions to other miscellaneous "occasional" works, written for
12555-1047: The reburial of Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette After those early efforts, few symphonies were written for wind bands until the 20th century when more symphonies were written for concert band than in past centuries. Although examples exist from as early as 1932, the first such symphony of importance is Nikolai Myaskovsky 's Symphony No. 19, Op. 46, composed in 1939. Some further examples are Paul Hindemith 's Symphony in B-flat for Band , composed in 1951; Morton Gould 's Symphony No. 4 "West Point", composed in 1952; Vincent Persichetti 's Symphony No. 6, Op. 69, composed in 1956; Vittorio Giannini 's Symphony No. 3, composed in 1958; Alan Hovhaness 's Symphonies No. 4, Op. 165, No. 7, "Nanga Parvat", Op. 175, No. 14, "Ararat", Op. 194, and No. 23, "Ani", Op. 249, composed in 1958, 1959, 1961, and 1972 respectively; John Barnes Chance 's Symphony No. 2, composed in 1972; Alfred Reed 's 2nd, 3rd, 4th, and 5th symphonies, composed in 1979, 1988, 1992, and 1994 respectively; eight of
12690-454: The repayment of which he was ultimately led to complex legal measures. After Kaspar died on 15 November 1815, Beethoven immediately became embroiled in a protracted legal dispute with Kaspar's widow Johanna over custody of their son Karl , then nine years old. Beethoven had successfully applied to Kaspar to have himself named the sole guardian of the boy. A late codicil to Kaspar's will gave him and Johanna joint guardianship. While Beethoven
12825-623: The same dramatic manner the musical language Beethoven had inherited. The Rasumovsky string quartets and the Waldstein and Appassionata piano sonatas share the Third Symphony's heroic spirit. Other works of this period include the Fourth through Eighth Symphonies, the oratorio Christ on the Mount of Olives , the opera Fidelio , and the Violin Concerto . Beethoven was hailed in 1810 by
12960-519: The scoring used in Beethoven's symphonies numbered 1 , 2 , 4 , 7 , and 8 . Trombones, which had previously been confined to church and theater music, came to be added to the symphonic orchestra, notably in Beethoven's 5th , 6th , and 9th symphonies. The combination of bass drum, triangle, and cymbals (sometimes also: piccolo), which 18th-century composers employed as a coloristic effect in so-called " Turkish music ", came to be increasingly used during
13095-623: The second edition of The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians that "the symphony was cultivated with extraordinary intensity" in the 18th century. It played a role in many areas of public life, including church services, but a particularly strong area of support for symphonic performances was the aristocracy. In Vienna, perhaps the most important location in Europe for the composition of symphonies, "literally hundreds of noble families supported musical establishments, generally dividing their time between Vienna and their ancestral estate [elsewhere in
13230-476: The second half of the 19th century without any such connotations of genre. By the time of Mahler (see below), it was possible for a composer to write a symphony scored for "a veritable compendium of orchestral instruments". In addition to increasing in variety of instruments, 19th-century symphonies were gradually augmented with more string players and more wind parts, so that the orchestra grew substantially in sheer numbers, as concert halls likewise grew. Towards
13365-747: The short piano piece " Für Elise " is more fully known as the "Bagatelle in A minor, WoO 59 ('Für Elise')". Some works are also commonly referred to by their nicknames, such as the Kreutzer Violin Sonata , or the Archduke Piano Trio . Works are also often identified by their number within their genre. For example, the 14th string quartet , published as Opus 131, may be referenced either as " String Quartet No. 14 " or "the Opus 131 String Quartet". The listings below include all of these relevant identifiers. While other catalogues of Beethoven's works exist,
13500-710: The style that marked Beethoven's music distinct from the classical tradition. Beethoven probably was first introduced to Joseph Haydn in late 1790, when Haydn was travelling to London and made a brief stop in Bonn around Christmastime. In July 1792, they met again in Bonn on Haydn's return trip from London to Vienna, when Beethoven played in the orchestra at the Redoute in Godesberg . Arrangements were likely made at that time for Beethoven to study with Haydn. Waldstein wrote to Beethoven before his departure: "You are going to Vienna in fulfilment of your long-frustrated wishes ... With
13635-451: The supernatural (as in operas by Spohr, Heinrich Marschner and Carl Maria von Weber ), he also "resisted the impending Romantic fragmentation of the ... cyclic forms of the Classical era into small forms and lyric mood pieces" and turned towards study of Bach, Handel and Palestrina . An old connection was renewed in 1817 when Maelzel sought, and obtained, Beethoven's endorsement for his newly developed metronome . During these years
13770-572: The symphony with many postmodernist composers adding substantially to the canon, not least in the United Kingdom: Peter Maxwell Davies (10), Robin Holloway (1), David Matthews (9), James MacMillan (5), Peter Seabourne (6), and Philip Sawyers (6). British composer Derek Bourgeois has surpassed the number of symphonies written by Haydn, with 116 symphonies. The greatest number of symphonies to date has been composed by
13905-681: The ten numbered symphonies of David Maslanka ; five symphonies to date by Julie Giroux (although she is currently working on a sixth ); Johan de Meij 's Symphony No. 1 "The Lord of the Rings" , composed in 1988, and his Symphony No. 2 "The Big Apple", composed in 1993; Yasuhide Ito's Symphony in Three Scenes 'La Vita', composed in 1998, which is his third symphony for wind band; John Corigliano 's Symphony No. 3 'Circus Maximus , composed in 2004; Denis Levaillant 's PachaMama Symphony, composed in 2014 and 2015, and James M. Stephenson's Symphony No. 2 which
14040-536: The term has had many meanings from its origins in the ancient Greek era, by the late 18th century the word had taken on the meaning common today: a work usually consisting of multiple distinct sections or movements , often four, with the first movement in sonata form . Symphonies are almost always scored for an orchestra consisting of a string section ( violin , viola , cello , and double bass ), brass , woodwind , and percussion instruments which altogether number about 30 to 100 musicians. Symphonies are notated in
14175-559: The throat; it shall certainly not crush me completely". In 1806, Beethoven noted on one of his musical sketches: "Let your deafness no longer be a secret—even in art." Beethoven's hearing loss did not prevent him from composing music, but it made playing at concerts—an important source of income at this phase of his life—increasingly difficult. It also contributed substantially to his social withdrawal. Czerny remarked that Beethoven could still hear speech and music normally until 1812. Beethoven never became totally deaf; in his final years, he
14310-563: The time it was compiled. Thus there is no definitive catalogue of Beethoven's works to match the Deutsch catalogue for Schubert or the Köchel catalogue for Mozart. The opus numbers were assigned by publishers to Beethoven's works as they were published. The opus numbers do not include all works that were published in Beethoven's lifetime nor are they in chronological order. For instance, the Octet Op. 103
14445-449: The time, including Giacomo Meyerbeer and Domenico Dragonetti . The work received repeat performances at concerts staged by Beethoven in January and February 1814. These concerts brought Beethoven more profit than any others in his career, and enabled him to buy the bank shares that were the most valuable assets in his estate at his death. Beethoven's renewed popularity led to demands for
14580-567: The time, the limitations of this edition soon became apparent. Between 1959 and 1971 Willy Hess prepared a supplemental edition, Beethoven: Sämtliche Werke: Supplemente zur Gesamtausgabe , [ HS ] containing works that were not in the Gesamtausgabe . Since 1961 the Beethoven Archive has been publishing a new scholarly–critical Complete Edition of Beethoven's works, Beethoven: Werke: neue Ausgabe sämtlicher Werke [ NA ]. However, only 42 of
14715-429: The viola symphony Harold en Italie and the highly original Symphonie fantastique . The latter is also a programme work and has both a march and a waltz and five movements instead of the customary four. His fourth and last symphony, the Grande symphonie funèbre et triomphale (originally titled Symphonie militaire ) was composed in 1840 for a 200-piece marching military band , to be performed out of doors, and
14850-473: The violin. His tuition began in his fifth year. The regime was harsh and intensive, often reducing him to tears. With the involvement of Pfeiffer, who was an insomniac , there were irregular late-night sessions with the young Beethoven dragged from his bed to the keyboard. Beethoven's musical talent became obvious at a young age. Aware of Leopold Mozart 's successes in this area with his son Wolfgang and daughter Nannerl , Johann attempted to promote his son as
14985-693: The virtuoso Joseph Wölfl ; and the next 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) (commissioned by, and dedicated to, Prince Lobkowitz), published in 1801. He also completed his Septet (Op. 20) in 1799,
15120-577: The well-known " Für Elise ". While he completed only one opera, Beethoven wrote vocal music throughout his life, including two Mass settings, other works for chorus and orchestra (in addition to the Ninth Symphony), arias , duets , art songs ( lieder ), and true song cycles . text of recitative by Pietro Metastasio from Achille in Sciro The following is a list of Beethoven's works, sorted by Opus number , followed by works listed as WoO in
15255-514: The work. The 20th century saw further diversification in the style and content of works that composers labeled symphonies . Some composers, including Dmitri Shostakovich , Sergei Rachmaninoff , and Carl Nielsen , continued to write in the traditional four-movement form, while other composers took different approaches: Jean Sibelius ' Symphony No. 7 , his last, is in one movement, Richard Strauss ' Alpine Symphony , in one movement, split into twenty-two parts, detailing an eleven hour hike through
15390-701: The works in the Hess catalog also have WoO or Unv. numbers; those entries are not listed here. These are works included in the appendix of Hess's catalogue that might not be genuine works by Beethoven. The Italian musicologist Giovanni Biamonti compiled a chronological catalogue Beethoven's entire output known at the time, including sketches and fragments. While most of these works were already included in other catalogues, there were some that had been missed by earlier compilers. This list does not include works with opus, WoO or Hess numbers, nor does it include sketches. There were also several projected works by Beethoven, including
15525-421: The works were published, WoO numbers were assigned by genre. Orchestra alone Concertante Dances Marches and dances for winds Without piano With piano Sonatas and single-movement works Variations Dances The 2014 revision to the Kinsky catalogue, edited by Dorfmüller, Gertsch and Ronge, assigned WoO numbers to a number of works that appear in other listings. These are works from
15660-846: The writer and composer E. T. A. Hoffmann , in an influential review in the Allgemeine musikalische Zeitung , as the greatest of (what he considered) the three Romantic composers (that is, ahead of Haydn and Mozart); in Beethoven's Fifth Symphony his music, wrote Hoffmann, "sets in motion terror, fear, horror, pain, and awakens the infinite yearning that is the essence of romanticism". During this time, Beethoven's income came from publishing his works, from performances of them, and from his patrons, for whom he gave private performances and copies of works they commissioned for an exclusive period before their publication. Some of his early patrons, including Lobkowitz and Lichnowsky, gave him annual stipends in addition to commissioning works and purchasing published works. Perhaps his most important aristocratic patron
15795-711: The year include his String Quartet No. 10 in E-flat major, Op. 74 ( The Harp ) and the Piano Sonata No. 24 in F-sharp major, Op. 78, dedicated to Josephine's sister Therese Brunsvik . At the end of 1809, Beethoven was commissioned to write incidental music for Goethe 's play Egmont . The result (an overture, and nine additional entractes and vocal pieces, Op. 84), which appeared in 1810, fit well with Beethoven's heroic style and he became interested in Goethe, setting three of his poems as songs (Op. 83) and learning about him from
15930-550: The years that followed, Beethoven frequently interfered in his nephew's life in what Karl perceived as an overbearing manner. Beethoven was finally motivated to begin significant composition again in June 1813 when news arrived of the French defeat at the Battle of Vitoria by a coalition led by the Duke of Wellington . The inventor Johann Nepomuk Maelzel persuaded him to write a work commemorating
16065-506: Was Archduke Rudolf of Austria , the youngest son of Emperor Leopold II , who in 1803 or 1804 began to study piano and composition with him. They became friends, and their meetings continued until 1824. Beethoven dedicated 14 compositions to Rudolf, including such major works as the Archduke Trio Op. 97 (1811) and Missa solemnis Op. 123 (1823). His position at the Theater an der Wien
16200-523: Was assembled by Barry Cooper . Beethoven wrote 16 string quartets and numerous other forms of chamber music , including piano trios , string trios , and sonatas for violin and cello with piano, as well as works with wind instruments. (Hess 33) In addition to the 32 celebrated sonatas , Beethoven's work for solo piano includes many one- movement pieces, more than twenty sets of variations , most unpublished in his lifetime or published without opus number, and over thirty bagatelles , including
16335-679: Was expected by the Elector to return home to Bonn. He chose instead to remain in Vienna, continuing his instruction in counterpoint with Johann Albrechtsberger and other teachers. In any case, by this time it must have seemed clear to his employer that Bonn would fall to the French, as it did in October 1794, effectively leaving Beethoven without a stipend or the necessity to return. But 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 . Assisted by his connections with Haydn and Waldstein, Beethoven began to develop
16470-561: Was felt in early 1809. In April, Beethoven completed writing his Piano Concerto No. 5 in E-flat major, Op. 73, which the musicologist Alfred Einstein has called "the apotheosis of the military concept" in Beethoven's music. Rudolf left the capital with the Imperial family in early May, prompting Beethoven's piano sonata Les Adieux (Sonata No. 26, Op. 81a), actually titled by Beethoven in German Das Lebewohl (The Farewell), of which
16605-481: Was followed in the 1920s by other notable single-movement German symphonies, including Kurt Weill 's First Symphony (1921), Max Butting 's Chamber Symphony, Op. 25 (1923), and Paul Dessau 's 1926 Symphony. Alongside this experimentation, other 20th-century symphonies deliberately attempted to evoke the 18th-century origins of the genre, in terms of form and even musical style, with prominent examples being Sergei Prokofiev 's Symphony No. 1 "Classical" of 1916–17 and
16740-515: Was forced to retire from the service of the Court and it was ordered that half of his father's pension be paid directly to Ludwig for support of the family. Ludwig contributed further to the family's income by teaching (to which Wegeler said he had "an extraordinary aversion" ) and by playing viola in the court orchestra. This familiarised him with a variety of operas, including works by Mozart, Gluck and Paisiello . There he also befriended Anton Reicha ,
16875-447: Was generally known as Johann, the youngest, was born on 2 October 1776. Beethoven's first music teacher was his father. He later had other local teachers, including the court organist Gilles van den Eeden (d. 1782), Tobias Friedrich Pfeiffer, a family friend, who provided keyboard tuition, Franz Rovantini, a relative who instructed him in playing the violin and viola, and court concertmaster Franz Anton Ries , who instructed Beethoven on
17010-478: Was powerless to prevent publishers from hiring others to do similar arrangements of his works. Beethoven told the English pianist Charles Neate (in 1815) that his hearing loss began in 1798, during a heated quarrel with a singer. During its gradual decline, his hearing was further impeded by a severe form of tinnitus . As early as 1801, he wrote to Wegeler and another friend, Karl Amenda, describing his symptoms and
17145-646: Was premiered by the United States Marine Band ("The President's Own") and received both the National Band Association's William D. Revelli (2017) and the American Bandmasters Association's Sousa/Ostwald (2018) awards. In some forms of English, the word "symphony" is also used to refer to the orchestra , the large ensemble that often performs these works. The word "symphony" appears in the name of many orchestras, for example,
17280-426: Was published in 1822 with a dedication to the poet, Beethoven wrote to him: "The admiration, the love and esteem which already in my youth I cherished for the one and only immortal Goethe have persisted." While Beethoven was at Teplitz in 1812, he wrote a ten-page love letter to his " Immortal Beloved ", which he never sent to its addressee. The identity of the intended recipient was long a subject of debate, although
17415-417: Was still able to distinguish low tones and sudden loud sounds. Beethoven's return to Vienna from Heiligenstadt was marked by a change in musical style, and is now often designated as the start of his middle or "heroic" period, characterised by many original works composed on a grand scale. According to Czerny, Beethoven said: "I am not satisfied with the work I have done so far. From now on I intend to take
17550-580: Was successful at having his nephew removed from her custody in January 1816, and had him removed to a private school, in 1818 he was again preoccupied with the legal processes around Karl. While giving evidence to the court for the nobility , the Landrechte , Beethoven was unable to prove that he was of noble birth and as a consequence, on 18 December 1818 the case was transferred to the civil magistrate of Vienna, where he lost sole guardianship. He regained custody after intensive legal struggles in 1820. During
17685-489: Was terminated when the theatre changed management in early 1804, and he was forced to move temporarily to the suburbs of Vienna with his friend Stephan von Breuning. This slowed work on Leonore (his original title for his opera), his largest work to date, for a time. It was delayed again by the Austrian censor and finally premiered, under its present title of Fidelio , in November 1805 to houses that were nearly empty because of
17820-537: Was the daughter of Heinrich Keverich (1701–1751), who was head chef at the court of Johann IX Philipp von Walderdorff , Archbishop of Trier . Beethoven was born of this marriage in Bonn, at what is now the Beethoven House Museum, Bonngasse 20. There is no authentic record of the date of his birth; but the registry of his baptism , in the Catholic Parish of St. Remigius on 17 December 1770, survives, and
17955-403: Was the first to use the word symphonia as the name of a two-headed drum, and from c. 1155 to 1377 the French form symphonie was the name of the organistrum or hurdy-gurdy . In late medieval England, symphony was used in both of these senses, whereas by the 16th century it was equated with the dulcimer . In German, Symphonie was a generic term for spinets and virginals from
18090-422: Was the niece of Beethoven's doctor, and he had proposed to her in 1810. He was 40, and she was 19. The proposal was rejected. She is now remembered as the possible recipient of the piano bagatelle known as Für Elise . Antonie (Toni) Brentano (née von Birkenstock), ten years younger than Beethoven, was the wife of Franz Brentano, the half-brother of Bettina Brentano , who provided Beethoven's introduction to
18225-543: Was written before November 1792, while Op. 102 and Op. 104 were written in 1815 and 1817 respectively. The numbers and categories used below are from the Kinsky–Halm Catalogue of 1955. WoO is an abbreviation of "Werke ohne Opuszahl", German for "Works without Opus number". While some of these works were published during Beethoven's lifetime but not given opus numbers, for instance the piano variations WoO 80, others like Für Elise WoO 59 were not published until later. Unlike with opus numbers which were assigned depending on when
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