Ludwig van Beethoven
Did you know?
Ludwig van Beethoven was the third Ludwig in the Beethoven family.
His father forced him to practice day and night to become a genius performer. Some friends claimed he would cry as his father forced him to practice.
Beethoven was bad at math.
He was a daydreamer who once said, “I was just occupied with such a lovely, deep thought, I couldn’t bear to be disturbed.”
When he was 17, he performed for Mozart on his first trip to Vienna.
Beethoven’s performances were well known for improvisation.
He took lessons from Joseph Haydn.
While his predecessors had composed for harpsichord, Beethoven pioneered composition for piano.
Some women loved him, but others found him repulsive.
Beethoven was quite sickly. He suffered from deafness, colitis, rheumatism, rheumatic fever, typhus, skin disorders, abscesses, ophthalmia, inflammatory degeneration of the arteries, jaundice, chronic hepatitis, and cirrhosis of the liver.
His deafness probably resulted from childhood illness.
He wrote sonatas for his love interests. Lucky ladies!
Though he made exceptions for true talent and attractive women, Beethoven hated giving piano lessons.
He tightly controlled his public image.
Symphony No. 3 in E flat major was dedicated to . . .NAPOLEON!
Beethoven died during a thunderstorm.