The great musical works of Ludwig van Beethoven. The great musical works of Ludwig van Beethoven Beethoven years of life biography

The message about Beethoven, summarized in this article, will tell you about the great German composer, conductor and pianist, a representative of Viennese classicism.

Report on Beethoven

Beethoven was born on December 16, 1770 (this is an estimated date, since it is only known for sure that he was baptized on December 17) in a musical family in the town of Bonn. From an early age, parents instilled in their son a love of music, giving him to learn to play the harpsichord, flute, organ, and violin.

At the age of 12, he was already working as an assistant organist at court. The young man knew several foreign languages ​​and even tried to write music. In addition to music, Beethoven was fond of reading books, he especially liked the ancient Greek authors Plutarch and Homer, as well as Friedrich Schiller, Shakespeare and Goethe.

After Beethoven's mother died in 1787, he began to provide for his family on his own. Ludwig got a job playing in the orchestra, and also went to university lectures. Acquainted with Haydn, he began to take private lessons from him. To this end, the future musician moves to Vienna. Once, the great composer Mozart heard his improvisations, and predicted a brilliant career and fame for him. Haydn, having given Ludwig several lessons, sends him to study with another mentor - Albrechtsberger. After some time, his teacher changed again: this time it was Antonio Salieri.

The beginning of a musical career

Ludwig Beethoven's first mentor noted that his music was too strange and dark. That is why he sent his student to another teacher. But this style of musical works brought Beethoven his first fame as a composer. Against the background of other performers of classical music, they favorably differed. While in Vienna, the composer wrote his famous works - "Pathétique Sonata" and "Moonlight Sonata". Then there were other brilliant works: "First Symphony", "Second Symphony", "Christ on the Mount of Olives", "Creation of Prometheus".

The further work and life of Ludwig Beethoven were overshadowed by sad events. The composer developed a disease of the auricle, as a result of which he lost his hearing. The composer decides to retire to Heiligenstadt, where he works on the Third Symphony. Absolute deafness separated him from the outside world. But he didn't stop making music. Beethoven's opera Fidelio was a success in Berlin, Vienna and Prague.

The period of 1802-1812 was especially fruitful: the composer created a series of works for cello, piano, the Ninth Symphony and the Solemn Mass. Fame, popularity and recognition came to him.

• He was the third person in the family to bear the name Ludwig van Beethoven. The first carrier was the composer's grandfather, a famous Bonn musician, and the second was his 6-year-old older brother.
• Beethoven left school at the age of 11 without learning division and multiplication.
• He was very fond of coffee, brewing 64 grains each time, no more and no less.
• His character was not simple: grumpy and friendly, gloomy and good-natured. Some remember him as a person with an excellent sense of humor, others as a person who is not pleasant in communication.
• He created the famous "Ninth Symphony" when he had already completely lost his hearing.

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“Music is higher than all revelations of wisdom and philosophy,” said Ludwig van Beethoven. This conviction helped the composer get through all the misfortunes that befell him, and at the same time make a grandiose contribution to the history of music.

Beethoven was born in Bonn in the family of a court musician. The future composer grew up in poverty. My father drank away his meager salary; he taught his son to play the violin and piano in the hope that he would become the new Mozart and provide for his family. Over time, the father's salary was increased based on the future of his gifted and hardworking son. The father was very strict with little Ludwig, who "often was in tears behind the instrument."

The court organist Christian-Gotlob Nefe played a much greater role in the development of the future great composer. He became a second father to Ludwig and not only instructed him in music, but was also his friend.

It was Nefe who saw the potential of the young musician. It was he who helped Beethoven in 1787 (at the age of 17) to go to Vienna, to Mozart.

It is not known whether they actually met, but legend ascribes to Mozart the words spoken to the young Beethoven: "Pay attention to him, he will make everyone talk about himself." This was probably the first rise in Ludwig's biography. The praise of the maestro opened up serious prospects, but Beethoven was never destined to become a student of Mozart. Soon he was forced to return back to Bonn due to his mother's illness. Soon she died, and Beethoven was forced to take care of the family.

In 1792, after the death of his father, Beethoven again went to “storm” Vienna, the capital of classical music. He studied here with Haydn, Albrechtsberger and Salieri - Beethoven's last and most valued Viennese teacher.

Beethoven's first performance in Vienna took place on March 30, 1795. It was a charity event in favor of the widows and orphans of musicians. Beethoven's recognition as a composer soon came. His work develops rapidly and rapidly. In seven years he created 15 piano sonatas, 10 cycles of variations, 2 piano concertos. In Vienna, he gained fame and popularity as a brilliant performer and improviser. He became a music teacher in some of the houses of the Viennese nobles, and this gave him the means to live.

However, the rapid rise ended in a sad fall. At the age of 26, Ludwig van Beethoven began to lose his hearing, which meant the end of his career for the musician. The treatment did not provide relief, and Beethoven began to think about suicide. But with the help of will and love for music, he nevertheless overcame despair.

In the so-called "Heiligenstadt testament", written at that time to his brothers, he says: "... a little more - and I would have committed suicide, only one thing kept me - art. Ah, it seemed impossible for me to leave the world before I had accomplished all that I felt called to.” In another letter to his friend, he wrote: "... I want to grab fate by the throat."

And he succeeded. During this period, he writes the most significant works, in particular, almost all symphonies, starting with the third - "Heroic", writes the overture "Egmont", "Coriolanus", the opera "Fidelio", many sonatas, including the sonata "Appassionata".

After the end of the Napoleonic Wars, the life of the whole of Europe changed. There is a period of political reaction. A severe Metternich regime is established in Austria. These events, to which heavy personal experiences were added - the death of his brother and illness - led Beethoven to a difficult state of mind. He actually stopped his creative activity.

In 1818, despite his increasing deafness, Beethoven felt a new surge of strength and enthusiastically devoted himself to creativity, writing a number of major works, among which a special place is occupied by the Ninth Symphony with Choir, the Solemn Mass and the last quartets and piano sonatas.

The Ninth Symphony was unlike any of the symphonies created up to that time. In it, he wanted to sing the wealth of millions, the brotherhood of all the people of the world, united in a single impulse of joy and freedom. The first performance of the Ninth Symphony in Vienna on May 7, 1824 turned into the composer's greatest triumph. But the composer did not hear the applause and enthusiastic cries of the public. When one of the singers turned him to face the audience, he, seeing the general admiration of the audience, fainted from excitement. By that time, Ludwig van Beethoven had completely lost his hearing.

In recent years, Beethoven struggled with a serious liver disease, effectively stopping his creative activity. On March 26, 1827, at five o'clock in the afternoon, the great composer died. The funeral took place on March 29. Huge crowds of people gathered to say goodbye to the great man, no emperor was buried with such reverence.

Ludwig van Beethoven - a brilliant composer, born December 16, 1770 in Bonn, died March 26, 1827 in Vienna. His grandfather was a court bandmaster in Bonn (d. 1773), his father Johann was a tenor in the elector's chapel (d. 1792). Beethoven's initial training was directed by his father, later he moved to many teachers, which in later years caused him to complain about the insufficient and unsatisfactory training he had in his youth. With his piano playing and free fantasizing, Beethoven aroused general astonishment early on. In 1781 he made a concert tour of Holland. By 1782-85. refers to the appearance in print of his first writings. In 1784 he was appointed, 13 years old, second court organist. In 1787 Beethoven traveled to Vienna, where he met Mozart and took several lessons from him.

Portrait of Ludwig van Beethoven. Artist J. K. Stieler, 1820

Upon his return from there, his financial situation improved, thanks to the fate that Count Waldstein and the von Breuping family accepted in him. In the Bonn court chapel, Beethoven played the viola, improving at the same time in playing the piano. Beethoven's further composing attempts date back to this time, but the compositions of this period did not appear in print. In 1792, with the support of Elector Max Franz, brother of Emperor Joseph II, Beethoven went to Vienna to study with Haydn. Here he was a student of the latter for two years, as well as Albrechtsberger and Salieri. In the person of Baron van Swieten and Princess Lichnovskaya, Beethoven found ardent admirers of his brilliant talent.

Beethoven. Composer's life story

In 1795 he made his first public appearance as a complete artist: both as a virtuoso and as a composer. As a virtuoso, Beethoven had to stop his concert trips as a virtuoso, due to the weakening of his hearing that appeared in 1798 and was growing, which subsequently ended in complete deafness. This circumstance left its mark on Beethoven's character and influenced all his future activities, forcing him to gradually abandon public performance on the piano.

From now on, he devotes himself almost exclusively to composing and partly to pedagogical activity. In 1809, Beethoven received an invitation to take the post of Westphalian Kapellmeister in Kassel, but at the insistence of friends and students, in whom he, especially in the upper strata of Vienna, had no shortage, and who promised to provide him with an annual rent, he remained in Vienna. In 1814 he was once again the subject of public attention at the Congress of Vienna. From that time on, increasing deafness and a hypochondriacal mood, which did not leave him until his death, forced him to almost completely abandon society. This, however, did not dampen his inspiration: such major works as the last three symphonies and the Solemn Mass (Missa solennis) belong to the later period of his life.

Ludwig van Beethoven. The best works

After the death of his brother, Karl (1815), Beethoven assumed the duties of guardian over his young son, who caused him much grief and trouble. Severe suffering, which gave his works a special imprint and led to dropsy, put an end to his life: he died 57 years old. His remains, interred at the Vering cemetery, were then transferred to an honorary grave at the central cemetery in Vienna. A bronze monument to him adorns one of the squares in Bonn (1845), another monument was erected to him in 1880 in Vienna.

About the works of the composer - see the article Beethoven's Creativity - Briefly. Links to essays about other outstanding musicians - see below, in the block "More on the topic ..."

The content of the article

BEETHOVEN, LUDWIG WAN(Beethoven, Ludwig van) (1770–1827), German composer, who is often considered the greatest creator of all time. His work is attributed to both classicism and romanticism; in fact, it goes beyond such definitions: Beethoven's compositions are, first of all, an expression of his genius personality.

Origin. Childhood and youth.

Beethoven was born in Bonn, presumably December 16, 1770 (baptized December 17). In addition to German blood, Flemish blood also flowed in his veins: the composer's paternal grandfather, also Ludwig, was born in 1712 in Malin (Flanders), served as a chorister in Ghent and Louvain, and in 1733 moved to Bonn, where he became a court musician in the chapel of the Elector-Archbishop of Cologne . He was an intelligent man, a good singer, a professionally trained instrumentalist, he rose to the position of court bandmaster and was respected by those around him. His only son Johann (the rest of the children died in infancy) sang in the same chapel from childhood, but his position was precarious, because he drank heavily and led a hectic life. Johann married Maria Magdalena Lyme, the daughter of a cook. They had seven children, of whom three sons survived; Ludwig, the future composer, was the eldest of them.

Beethoven grew up in poverty. My father drank away his meager salary; he taught his son to play the violin and piano in the hope that he would become a child prodigy, the new Mozart, and provide for his family. Over time, the father's salary was increased based on the future of his gifted and hardworking son. For all that, the boy was uncertain about the violin, and on the piano (as well as on the violin) he liked to improvise more than to improve his playing technique.

Beethoven's general education was as unsystematic as his musical education. In the latter, however, practice played a big role: he played the viola in the court orchestra, performed on keyboard instruments, including the organ, which he quickly mastered. C. G. Nefe, since 1782 the Bonn court organist, became the first real teacher of Beethoven (among other things, he went with him all Well-Tempered Clavier J.S. Bach). Beethoven's duties as court musician expanded considerably when Archduke Maximilian Franz became Elector of Cologne and began to take care of the musical life of Bonn, where his residence was located. In 1787, Beethoven managed to visit Vienna for the first time - at that time the musical capital of Europe. According to the stories, Mozart, having listened to the young man's play, highly appreciated his improvisations and predicted a great future for him. But soon Beethoven had to return home - his mother lay near death. He remained the sole breadwinner of the family, which consisted of a dissolute father and two younger brothers.

The young man's talent, his greed for musical impressions, his ardent and receptive nature attracted the attention of some enlightened Bonn families, and his brilliant piano improvisations provided him with free entry into any musical gatherings. Especially the Breuning family did a lot for him, who took custody of the clumsy but original young musician. Dr. F. G. Wegeler became his friend for life, and Count F. E. G. Waldstein, his enthusiastic admirer, managed to convince the Archduke to send Beethoven to study in Vienna.

Vein. 1792–1802

In Vienna, where Beethoven came for the second time in 1792 and where he remained until the end of his days, he quickly found titled patrons of the arts.

People who met the young Beethoven described the twenty-year-old composer as a stocky young man, prone to panache, sometimes brash, but good-natured and sweet in dealing with friends. Realizing the insufficiency of his education, he went to Joseph Haydn, the recognized Viennese authority in the field of instrumental music (Mozart had died a year earlier), and for some time brought counterpoint exercises to him to check. Haydn, however, soon cooled off towards the obstinate student, and Beethoven, secretly from him, began to take lessons from I. Shenk and then from the more thorough J. G. Albrechtsberger. In addition, wanting to improve in vocal writing, he visited the famous opera composer Antonio Salieri for several years. Soon he joined a circle that united titled amateurs and professional musicians. Prince Karl Likhnovsky introduced the young provincial to his circle of friends.

The question of how much the environment and the spirit of the times influence creativity is ambiguous. Beethoven read the works of FG Klopstock, one of the forerunners of the Sturm und Drang movement. He was familiar with Goethe and deeply revered the thinker and poet. The political and social life of Europe at that time was alarming: when Beethoven arrived in Vienna in 1792, the city was agitated by the news of the revolution in France. Beethoven enthusiastically accepted revolutionary slogans and sang of freedom in his music. The volcanic, explosive nature of his work is undoubtedly the embodiment of the spirit of the times, but only in the sense that the character of the creator was to some extent shaped by this time. A bold violation of generally accepted norms, a powerful self-affirmation, a thunderous atmosphere of Beethoven's music - all this would have been unthinkable in the era of Mozart.

Nevertheless, Beethoven's early compositions largely follow the canons of the 18th century: this applies to trios (strings and piano), violin, piano and cello sonatas. The piano was then the closest instrument for Beethoven, in piano works he expressed the most intimate feelings with the utmost sincerity, and the slow parts of some sonatas (for example, Largo e mesto from sonata op. 10, no. 3) were already imbued with romantic languor. pathetic sonata op. 13 is also an obvious anticipation of Beethoven's later experiments. In other cases, his innovation has the character of a sudden intrusion, and the first listeners perceived it as a clear arbitrariness. Published in 1801, six string quartets op. 18 can be considered the greatest achievement of this period; Beethoven was clearly in no hurry to publish, realizing what lofty examples of quartet writing left Mozart and Haydn. Beethoven's first orchestral experience was connected with two concertos for piano and orchestra (No. 1, in C major and No. 2, in B flat major), created in 1801: he, apparently, was also not sure about them, being well acquainted with the great Mozart's achievements in this genre. Among the best-known (and least provocative) early works is the septet op. 20 (1802). The next opus, the First Symphony (published at the end of 1801), is Beethoven's first purely orchestral composition.

The approach of deafness.

We can only guess to what extent Beethoven's deafness influenced his work. The disease developed gradually. Already in 1798, he complained of tinnitus, it was difficult for him to distinguish high tones, to understand a conversation conducted in a whisper. Terrified at the prospect of becoming an object of pity, a deaf composer, he spoke about his illness to a close friend, Carl Amenda, as well as doctors, who advised him to protect his hearing as much as possible. He continued to move in the circle of his Viennese friends, took part in musical evenings, composed a lot. He was so good at hiding his deafness that, until 1812, even people who often met him did not suspect how serious his illness was. The fact that during the conversation he often answered inappropriately was attributed to a bad mood or absent-mindedness.

In the summer of 1802, Beethoven retired to a quiet suburb of Vienna - Heiligenstadt. A stunning document appeared there - the "Heiligenstadt Testament", a painful confession of a musician tormented by illness. The will is addressed to the brothers of Beethoven (with instructions to read and execute after his death); in it, he speaks of his mental suffering: it is painful when “a person standing next to me hears a flute playing from afar, which is not audible to me; or when someone hears a shepherd singing and I can't make out a sound." But then, in a letter to Dr. Wegeler, he exclaims: “I will take fate by the throat!”, And the music that he continues to write confirms this decision: in the same summer, the bright Second Symphony, op. 36, magnificent piano sonatas op. 31 and three violin sonatas, op. thirty.

Second period. "New way".

According to the "three-period" classification, proposed in 1852 by W. von Lenz, one of the first researchers of Beethoven's work, the second period approximately covers 1802-1815.

The final break with the past was more a realization, a continuation of the tendencies of the early period, than a conscious "declaration of independence": Beethoven was not a theoretical reformer, like Gluck before him and Wagner after him. The first decisive breakthrough towards what Beethoven himself called "the new path" occurred in the Third Symphony ( Heroic), work on which dates back to 1803-1804. Its duration is three times that of any other symphony written before. The first movement is music of extraordinary power, the second is a stunning outpouring of grief, the third is a witty, whimsical scherzo, and the finale - variations on a jubilant, festive theme - far surpasses in its power the traditional rondo-form finales composed by Beethoven's predecessors. It is often claimed (and not without reason) that Beethoven first dedicated heroic Napoleon, but upon learning that he had proclaimed himself emperor, he canceled the consecration. “Now he will trample on the rights of man and satisfy only his own ambition,” were the words of Beethoven, according to the stories, when he tore the title page of the score with the dedication. Finally Heroic was dedicated to one of the patrons - Prince Lobkowitz.

Works of the second period.

During these years, brilliant creations came out from under his pen one after another. The main works of the composer, listed in the order of their appearance, form an incredible stream of brilliant music, this imaginary sound world replaces for its creator the world of real sounds leaving him. It was a victorious self-affirmation, a reflection of the intense work of thought, evidence of the musician's rich inner life.

We will be able to name only the most important works of the second period: Violin Sonata in A major, op. 47 ( Kreutzer, 1802–1803); Third Symphony, op. 55 ( Heroic, 1802–1805); oratorio Christ on the Mount of Olives, op. 85 (1803); piano sonatas: Waldshteinovskaya, op. 53; in F major, op. 54, Appassionata, op. 57 (1803–1815); Piano Concerto No. 4 in G major, op. 58 (1805–1806); Beethoven's only opera Fidelio, op. 72 (1805, second edition 1806); three "Russian" quartets, op. 59 (dedicated to Count Razumovsky; 1805–1806); Fourth Symphony in B flat major, op. 60 (1806); violin concerto, op. 61 (1806); Overture to the Tragedy of Collin Coriolanus, op. 62 (1807); Mass in C major, op. 86 (1807); Fifth Symphony in C minor, op. 67 (1804–1808); Sixth Symphony, op. 68 ( pastoral, 1807–1808); cello sonata in A major, op. 69 (1807); two piano trios, op. 70 (1808); Piano Concerto No. 5, op. 73 ( Emperor, 1809); quartet, op. 74 ( Harp, 1809); piano sonata, op. 81a ( Parting, 1809–1910); three songs on poems by Goethe, op. 83 (1810); music for Goethe's tragedy Egmont, op. 84 (1809); quartet in F minor, op. 95 (1810); Eighth Symphony in F major, op. 93 (1811–1812); piano trio in B flat major, op. 97 ( Archduke, 1818).

The second period includes the highest achievements of Beethoven in the genres of violin and piano concerto, violin and cello sonatas, operas; the piano sonata genre is represented by such masterpieces as Appassionata and Waldshteinovskaya. But even musicians were not always able to perceive the novelty of these compositions. It is said that once one of Beethoven's colleagues asked: does he really consider one of the quartets dedicated to the Russian envoy in Vienna, Count Razumovsky, to be music? “Yes,” the composer replied, “but not for you, but for the future.”

A number of compositions were inspired by the romantic feelings that Beethoven had for some of his high-society students. This may refer to the two sonatas "quasi una Fantasia", op. 27 (appeared in 1802). The second of them (later called "Lunar") is dedicated to Countess Juliette Guicciardi. Beethoven even thought of proposing to her, but realized in time that a deaf musician was not a suitable match for a coquettish secular beauty. Other ladies he knew rejected him; one of them called him "freak" and "half-crazy". The situation was different with the Brunswick family, in which Beethoven gave music lessons to two older sisters - Teresa ("Tezi") and Josephine ("Pepi"). The assumption that Teresa was the addressee of the message to the "Immortal Beloved", found in Beethoven's papers after his death, has long been discarded, but modern researchers do not exclude that this addressee was Josephine. In any case, the idyllic Fourth Symphony owes its idea to Beethoven's stay at the Hungarian Brunswick estate in the summer of 1806.

Fourth, Fifth and Sixth pastoral) symphonies were composed in 1804–1808. The Fifth - probably the most famous symphony in the world - opens with a brief motif, about which Beethoven said: "Thus fate knocks at the door." In 1812 the Seventh and Eighth symphonies were completed.

In 1804, Beethoven willingly accepted an order to compose an opera, since in Vienna success on the opera stage meant fame and money. The plot in brief was as follows: a brave, enterprising woman, dressed in men's clothes, saves her beloved husband, imprisoned by a cruel tyrant, and exposes the latter before the people. To avoid confusion with the already existing opera on this plot - Leonora Gaveau, Beethoven's work was named Fidelio, by the name that the disguised heroine takes. Of course, Beethoven had no experience of composing for the theatre. The climaxes of the melodrama are marked by excellent music, but in other sections the lack of dramatic flair does not allow the composer to rise above the operatic routine (although he was very keen on this: in Fidelio there are fragments that have been remade up to eighteen times). Nevertheless, the opera gradually won over listeners (during the life of the composer, three of its productions took place in different editions - in 1805, 1806 and 1814). It can be argued that the composer has not invested so much work in any other work.

Beethoven, as already mentioned, deeply revered the works of Goethe, composed several songs on his texts, music for his tragedy Egmont, but met Goethe only in the summer of 1812, when they ended up together at a resort in Teplice. The refined manners of the great poet and the sharpness of the composer's behavior did not contribute to their rapprochement. “His talent struck me extremely, but, unfortunately, he has an indomitable temper, and the world seems to him a hateful creation,” says Goethe in one of his letters.

Friendship with Archduke Rudolph.

Beethoven's friendship with Rudolf, the Austrian archduke and half-brother of the emperor, is one of the most interesting historical plots. Around 1804, the Archduke, then aged 16, began taking piano lessons from the composer. Despite the huge difference in social status, the teacher and the student had a sincere affection for each other. Appearing for lessons at the Archduke's palace, Beethoven had to pass by countless lackeys, call his student "Your Highness" and fight his amateurish attitude to music. And he did all this with surprising patience, although he never hesitated to cancel lessons if he was busy composing. By order of the Archduke, such works as the piano sonata were created Parting, Triple Concerto, the last and most grandiose Fifth Piano Concerto, solemn mass(Missa solemnis). It was originally intended for the ceremony of raising the Archduke to the rank of Archbishop of Olmutsky, but was not completed on time. The Archduke, Prince Kinsky and Prince Lobkowitz established a kind of scholarship for the composer, who made Vienna famous but did not receive support from the city authorities, and the Archduke turned out to be the most reliable of the three patrons. During the Congress of Vienna in 1814, Beethoven derived considerable material benefits for himself from communication with the aristocracy and kindly listened to compliments - he managed to at least partially hide the contempt for the court "brilliance" that he always felt.

Last years.

The financial situation of the composer improved markedly. Publishers hunted for his scores and commissioned works such as Grand Piano Variations on a Waltz by Diabelli (1823). His caring friends, A. Schindler, who was especially deeply devoted to Beethoven, observed the musician’s chaotic and deprivation lifestyle and heard his complaints that he was “robbed” (Beethoven became unreasonably suspicious and was ready to blame almost all persons from his environment for the worst ), could not understand where he put the money. They did not know that the composer was postponing them, but he was not doing it for himself. When his brother Kaspar died in 1815, the composer became one of the guardians of his ten-year-old nephew Karl. Beethoven's love for the boy, the desire to ensure his future came into conflict with the distrust that the composer had for Karl's mother; as a result, he only constantly quarreled with both, and this situation painted a tragic light on the last period of his life. In the years when Beethoven sought full custody, he composed little.

Beethoven's deafness became almost complete. By 1819, he had to completely switch to communicating with his interlocutors using a slate board or paper and pencil (the so-called Beethoven conversational notebooks have been preserved). Fully immersed in work on compositions such as the majestic solemn mass in D major (1818) or the Ninth Symphony, he behaved strangely, inspiring alarm to strangers: he "sang, howled, stamped his feet, and in general it seemed that he was waging a mortal struggle with an invisible enemy" (Schindler). The brilliant last quartets, the last five piano sonatas - grandiose in scale, unusual in form and style - seemed to many contemporaries the works of a madman. Nevertheless, the Viennese listeners recognized the nobility and grandeur of Beethoven's music, they felt that they were dealing with a genius. In 1824 during the performance of the Ninth Symphony with its choral finale to the text of Schiller's ode To Joy (An die Freude) Beethoven stood next to the conductor. The hall was captivated by the powerful climax at the end of the symphony, the audience went on a rampage, but Beethoven did not turn around. One of the singers had to take him by the sleeve and turn him to face the audience so that the composer bowed.

The fate of other later works was more complicated. Many years passed after Beethoven's death, and only then the most receptive musicians began to perform his last quartets (including the Grand Fugue, op. 33) and the last piano sonatas, revealing to people these highest, most beautiful achievements of Beethoven. Sometimes Beethoven's late style is characterized as contemplative, abstract, in some cases neglecting the laws of euphony; in fact, this music is an inexhaustible source of powerful and intelligent spiritual energy.

Beethoven died in Vienna on March 26, 1827 from pneumonia complicated by jaundice and dropsy.

Beethoven's contribution to world culture.

Beethoven continued the general line of development of the genres of symphony, sonata, quartet, outlined by his predecessors. However, his interpretation of well-known forms and genres was distinguished by great freedom; we can say that Beethoven pushed their limits in time and space. He did not expand the composition of the symphony orchestra that had developed by his time, but his scores require, firstly, a larger number of performers in each part, and secondly, the performing skills of each orchestra member, incredible in his era; in addition, Beethoven is very sensitive to the individual expressiveness of each instrumental timbre. The piano in his compositions is not a close relative of the elegant harpsichord: the entire extended range of the instrument, all its dynamic possibilities are used.

In the areas of melody, harmony, rhythm, Beethoven often resorts to the technique of sudden change, contrast. One form of contrast is the juxtaposition of decisive themes with a clear rhythm and more lyrical, smoothly flowing sections. Sharp dissonances and unexpected modulations into distant keys are also an important feature of Beethoven's harmony. He expanded the range of tempos used in music and often resorted to dramatic, impulsive changes in dynamics. Sometimes the contrast appears as a manifestation of Beethoven's characteristically somewhat coarse humor - this happens in his frantic scherzos, which in his symphonies and quartets often replace the more sedate minuet.

Unlike his predecessor Mozart, Beethoven composed with difficulty. Beethoven's notebooks show how gradually, step by step, a grandiose composition emerges from uncertain sketches, marked by convincing logic of construction and rare beauty. Just one example: in the original sketch of the famous “motif of fate” that opens the Fifth Symphony, it was entrusted to the flute, which means that the theme had a completely different figurative meaning. A powerful artistic intellect allows the composer to turn a disadvantage into a virtue: Beethoven opposes Mozart's spontaneity, an instinctive sense of perfection, with unsurpassed musical and dramatic logic. It is she who is the main source of Beethoven's grandeur, his incomparable ability to organize contrasting elements into a monolithic whole. Beethoven erases traditional caesuras between sections of form, avoids symmetry, merges parts of the cycle, develops extended constructions from thematic and rhythmic motifs that at first glance do not contain anything interesting. In other words, Beethoven creates musical space by the power of his mind, by his own will. He anticipated and created those artistic trends that became decisive for the musical art of the 19th century. And today his works are among the greatest, most revered creations of the human genius.

Ludwig van Beethoven (1770-1827) is a German composer and pianist who vividly represented the "classical Viennese school", and is one of the world's most performed composers. He wrote compositions for choirs, music for dramatic performances and operas. His most significant works are concertos and sonatas for violin, cello, and piano.

Childhood

On December 16, 1770, a boy was born in Bonn, who was given the name Ludwig. The next day he was baptized in the Catholic Church of St. Remigius.

The boy's father, Johann Beethoven, was a singer, he sang in the court chapel as a tenor. Ludwig's mother, Mary Magdalene (maiden name Keverich), was the daughter of a cook, her father served at the court in Koblenz. Johann and Maria were married in 1767, during their marriage they had seven children, but only three survived, Ludwig was the eldest child in the family.

The paternal grandfather's name was also Ludwig, in addition to German, Flemish blood flowed in his veins. He was also a singer, he served in the same chapel, where his son Johann was later taken. He ended his musical career as a bandmaster and was a very respected person.

Ludwig Beethoven's childhood years were spent in poverty, as his father drank heavily and spent almost all of his salary on booze and girls. At the same time, he wanted to raise a second Mozart from his son, and he taught him to play the violin, piano and harpsichord.

But the miracle child from Ludwig did not work out, he owned the violin uncertainly, and on the piano he not only mastered the technique of performance, but improvised.

The father gave Ludwig to study with his friends and colleagues, one studied the violin with the boy, the second the organ.

But it was the organist and composer Christian Nefe, who came to Bonn in 1780, who really taught him to play musical instruments. He immediately managed to discern the talent in the child.

Youth

When my grandfather died, the family became very difficult financially. Ludwig had to stop schooling and go to work. Already at the age of 12, he helped the court organist. And he continued his studies on his own, learned Latin, Italian and French, read a lot, especially loved Homer and Plutarch, Goethe, Schiller and Shakespeare.

At the same time, the first written musical works of Beethoven fall. While he did not print anything, he later revised many of his youthful writings.

In 1787, Ludwig had the opportunity to visit Vienna, the musical capital of Europe. There, Mozart himself listened to his improvisations, who predicted a great future for the guy.

Unfortunately, the young man was forced to return home, his mother was dying, and he was left with two younger brothers and a dissolute father.

When his mother died, Beethoven lived and worked in Bonn for another five years. Enlightened urban families drew attention to the gifted young man, and thanks to his ardent nature, greed for music, Beethoven quickly became well received in any musical gatherings.

The Breuning family especially helped the talented young composer, they helped him to continue his studies in Vienna.

And in 1792 Ludwig left for Vienna, where he remained until the end of his life.

Vein

Arriving in Vienna, Ludwig began to look for a teacher. Unfortunately, Mozart had died the year before. At first, Beethoven studied with Haydn, then his mentor left for England and handed over the student to Albrechtsberger. Later, Ludwig began to study with Antonio Salieri.

Beethoven quickly found patrons in Vienna, Prince Likhnovsky introduced the young composer to a circle where both professional and titled amateur musicians gathered. Ludwig played, impressing the audience, and gradually the fame of a virtuoso pianist came to him.

Ludwig combined a good disposition with a very stern character. One day, while he was playing the piano, someone started talking to a neighbor. Beethoven stopped playing, saying: “And for such pigs I don’t play!” And no persuasion helped bring him back to the instrument.

What else he differed from the young people of that time was his casual appearance. He was always unkempt and clumsily dressed.

But neither a daring character nor external data prevented him from creating unique works:

• the oratorio "Christ on the Mount of Olives";
• about twenty sonatas and three piano concertos;
• First and Second Symphonies;
• eight sonatas for violin;
• ballet "The Creations of Prometheus".

His writings were widely published and were a huge success.

Deafness, solitude, death

In 1796, Ludwig developed an inflammation of the inner ear, and his hearing began to disappear. In desperation, he retired to the small provincial town of Heiligenstadt, he even had thoughts of suicide. However, realizing how much more he could have done, Ludwig banished these nonsense from himself. During this period, he began work on the Third Symphony, which later received the name Heroic, as it was written by a deaf composer.

Due to deafness, Ludwig rarely left the house, he became gloomy and unsociable. But it was during this period that the creation of his best works falls.

Beethoven was quite amorous, but never received reciprocity in return. He dedicated his famous Moonlight Sonata to the young Countess Giulietta Guicciardi. He really liked this girl, and he even thought about proposing to her, but stopped in time, deciding that a deaf composer was not the most suitable part for a young beauty.

In the last years of his life, Beethoven composed much less frequently. He took custody of his nephew after the death of his brother, tried his best to give him a decent education, but the young man was only interested in billiards and cards. Ludwig was very worried about this.

To deafness and nervous experiences, problems with the liver were added. The composer's health began to deteriorate sharply. In mid-March 1827, Ludwig's lungs became inflamed. On March 26, the composer died. He was buried at the Central Vienna Cemetery, 20 thousand people followed the coffin, and his favorite Requiem sounded.