17th December was marked as Beethoven’s anniversary. In keeping with the celebrations, we’ve done some research and come up with 8 interesting facts about Beethoven you probably don’t know:
1. No one is really sure about Beethoven’s birth date
Although we celebrate 17th December as his birthday, it was actually the day of his baptism. There’s no accurate parish record for his birth. He is believed to have been born the day before his baptism, although it may have a few days before. Nobody knows for sure.
2. He had to drop out of school to support his family
Beethoven’s father pulled him out of school when he was only 10 years old. Having noticed his son’s exceptional talent and intelligence, he hoped this talent would translate into monetary benefits. By the time he was a teenager, he had assumed full responsibility for his family. As a result, Beethoven’s handwriting was so bad that to date, musicologists struggle to authenticate his signature.
3. No one really knows why he lost his hearing
What we do know is that he started to lose his hearing when he was only 26 years old and at the peak of his career, and was completely deaf by the time of his death.
No one is entirely sure why he began to lose it but he suffered from a severe form of tinnitus – which meant he heard a severe “ringing” in his ears.
An autopsy after his death in 1827 reported he had had a “distended inner ear” that had developed lesions over time. Via Independent
4. He composed his most celebrated works after he went deaf
As a result of his hearing loss, Beethoven withdrew from conducting and performing to focus on his compositions. This made him feel lonely and isolated, as his journals revealed, but it was these later compositions that are so famous today.
Although he felt lonely and isolated after he withdrew from society – writing his hearing “haunted him everywhere like a ghost” – he produced some of his most renowned symphonies.
His famous ninth symphony being played for the first time in Vienna three years before he died. Via Independent
5. He was unlucky in love
Beethoven fell madly in love twice, but twice his love was unrequited.
Beethoven’s love life was complicated by the class system of early 19th century Vienna. He first fell in love with a young countess called Julie in 1801 but could not marry her because he was a commoner.
A few years later he met and fell in love with Josephine Brunswick after he began giving her piano lessons in 1799.
She later married a count who died in 1804 and she could not marry Beethoven for fear of losing custody of her aristocratic children.
He wrote her at least 15 passionate love letters during his life and she is believed to be the mystery recipient of his famous 1812 “Immortal Beloved” love letter. Via Independent
6. He had an alcohol problem
It may not have impacted his music negatively, but Beethoven had more than a casual relationship with alcohol.
He was once arrested for being a tramp by an unsuspecting policeman who didn’t recognise him! After his death in 1827, his autopsy revealed a shrunken liver due to cirrhosis. Via Classic FM
7. He had a hot temper
Beethoven is known to have had a short temper to match his short stature.
Beethoven admired the ideals of the French Revolution, so he dedicated his third symphony to Napoleon Bonaparte… until Napoleon declared himself emperor. Beethoven then sprung into a rage, ripped the front page from his manuscript and scrubbed out Napoleon’s name. Some modern reproductions of the original title page have scrubbed out Napoleon’s name to create a hole for authenticity’s sake! Via Classic FM
8. His unusual rhythms may have been the result of his heart condition
Findings from researchers in the University of Michigan and University of Washington suggest that the unusual rhythms associated with some of Beethoven’s iconic works could have been the result of cardiac arrhythmia.
The researchers examined the rhythmic patterns of a number of Beethoven’s compositions for clues of this condition, and indeed found that the rhythms of certain sections of his famous works reflect the irregular rhythms of cardiac arrhythmia.
“When your heart beats irregularly from heart disease, it does so in some predictable patterns,” Howell said in a written statement. “We think we hear some of those same patterns in his music.” Via Huffington Post
Featured Image: Image Credit
You have to try this Google Doodle honoring Ludwig van Beethoven https://t.co/7SLZmCkaY4 pic.twitter.com/da0njuPbq8
— TIME.com (@TIME) December 17, 2015
Classical music names you’re pronouncing wrong, including the name of bday boy Beethoven: https://t.co/zRnK33FBNb pic.twitter.com/mwiId6ATBW
— HuffPostArts&Culture (@HuffPostArts) December 17, 2015
Related Articles:
Ludwig van Beethoven – Biography
Ludwig van Beethoven was a deaf German composer and the predominant musical figure in the transitional period between the Classical and Romantic eras.
Synopsis
Composer Ludwig van Beethoven was baptized on December 17, 1770, in Bonn, Germany. He was an innovator, widening the scope of sonata, symphony, concerto and quartet, and combining vocals and instruments in a new way. His personal life was marked by a struggle against deafness, and some of his most important works were composed during the last 10 years of his life, when he was quite unable to hear. Via Biography
Beethoven’s Piano Concertos in 15 Fun Facts
We’re crazy for Beethoven.
And we’re pumped that this month the Tasmanian Symphony Orchestra will host a series of concerts across Hobart and Launceston to celebrate the composer’s piano concertos.
Conducted by Marko Letonja and performed by Britain’s Stephen Hough – named by The Economist as one of only ’20 Living Polymaths’ (that is, a super smart expert on heaps of stuff) and a world class pianist – Tassie audiences are set for an extraordinary fix of the great composer’s writing for piano and orchestra until August 29.
We brief you now on everything you need to know before attending the concerts. Via Cut Common
Here’s What Beethoven Did When He Lost His Hearing
He was born 245 years ago, and the tragedy of his hearing loss still captivates music fans
Even centuries later, there remains one big mystery about Ludwig van Beethoven’s life: When is his birthday? Though his last words were well recorded when he died on Mar. 26, 1827, the other end of his life was much more obscure. The date of his birth is often supposed to be Dec. 16, 1770, and his baptism was on the following day—245 years ago Thursday.
But there’s a lot we do know about Beethoven, and one of the most commonly known facts is that, by the end of his life, the world’s most famous musical genius couldn’t hear his own work. Via Time
