Ludwig van Beethoven (1770–1827) was a German composer. He exerted a profound influence on the development of Western classical music.
Pre-eminently an instrumental composer, Beethoven was responsible for a prodigious musical output. He is credited with developing the symphony further than any who preceded him and elevating music to the highest form of art.
Beethoven was born into a family of court musicians in Bonn, Germany. His grandfather was a well-known musician. In 1787, Beethoven visited Vienna, the hub of European music, and briefly studied under Mozart. From 1792, Beethoven made Vienna his home. He took lessons from Joseph Haydn and flourished with funding from many aristocratic patrons.
Despite increasing deafness from his late twenties onwards, Beethoven wrote prodigiously. He wrote nine symphonies, seven concerti, 16 string quartets, and 32 piano sonatas, as well as other orchestral, chamber, and keyboard works.
Beethoven died in 1827, possibly from severe liver damage. Schools were closed on the day of his funeral, and 30,000 people followed his casket through the streets of Vienna.
In 1985, Beethoven’s prelude to Friedrich Schiller’s hymn “An die Freude” (“Ode to Joy”) from the fourth movement of Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony became the official anthem of the European Community.
More: Wikipedia • READ: Works by Ludwig van Beethoven
Nothing is more intolerable than to have to admit to yourself your own errors.
—Ludwig van Beethoven
Topics: Humility
Art! Who comprehends her? With whom can one consult concerning this great goddess?
—Ludwig van Beethoven
Topics: Art, Arts, Artists
Artists who have won fame are often embarrassed by it; thus their first works are often their best.
—Ludwig van Beethoven
Topics: Art
The barriers are not erected which can say to aspiring talents and industry, “Thus far and no farther.”
—Ludwig van Beethoven
Topics: Possibilities, Potential
Fate gave to man the courage of endurance.
—Ludwig van Beethoven
Topics: Perseverance
Only the pure in heart can make a good soup.
—Ludwig van Beethoven
Topics: Food, Eating
Friends applaud, the comedy is over.
—Ludwig van Beethoven
Topics: Last Words, Famous Last Words
My misfortune is doubly painful to me because it will result in my being misunderstood. For me there can be no recreation in the company of others, no intelligent conversation, no exchange of information with peers; only the most pressing needs can make me venture into society. I am obliged to live like an outcast.
—Ludwig van Beethoven
Topics: Individuality
Music should strike fire from the heart of man, and bring tears form the eyes of woman.
—Ludwig van Beethoven
Topics: Music
One must not hold one’s self so divine as to be unwilling occasionally to make improvements in one’s creations.
—Ludwig van Beethoven
Topics: Perfection
Never shall I forget the time I spent with you. Please continue to be my friend, as you will always find me yours.
—Ludwig van Beethoven
Topics: Friends and Friendship
Beethoven can write music, thank God, but he can do nothing else on earth.
—Ludwig van Beethoven
Topics: Music
This is the mark of a really admirable man: steadfastness in the face of trouble.
—Ludwig van Beethoven
Topics: Trouble
Music is mediator between spiritual and sensual life.
—Ludwig van Beethoven
Topics: Music
No one should drive a hard bargain with an artist.
—Ludwig van Beethoven
Topics: Artists, Arts, Art
Music is the mediator between the spiritual and the sensual life. Although the spirit be not master of that which it creates through music, yet it is blessed in this creation, which, like every creation of art, is mightier than the artist.
—Ludwig van Beethoven
Topics: Music
What will be the judgment a century hence concerning the lorded works of our favorite composers today? Inasmuch as nearly everything is subject to the changes of time, and – more’s the pity- the fashions of time, only that which is good and true will endure like a rock and no wanton hand will ever venture to defile it. Then, let every man do that which is right, strive with all his might towards the goal which can never be obtained, develop to the last breath the gifts with which the gracious Creator has endowed him, and never cease to learn. For life is short, art eternal.
—Ludwig van Beethoven
Topics: Music
Music – The one incorporeal entrance into the higher world of knowledge which comprehends mankind but which mankind cannot comprehend.
—Ludwig van Beethoven
From the glow of enthusiasm I let the melody escape. I pursue it. Breathless I catch up with it. It flies again, it disappears, it plunges into a chaos of diverse emotions. I catch it again, I seize it, I embrace it with delight…. I multiply it by modulations, and at last I triumph in the first theme. There is the whole symphony.
—Ludwig van Beethoven
Topics: Enthusiasm
Music is the mediator between the spiritual and the sensual life.
—Ludwig van Beethoven
Topics: Music
Wondering Whom to Read Next?
Johann Sebastian Bach German Composer
Claude Debussy French Composer
Konrad Adenauer German Statesman
Hector Berlioz French Composer
Jean Sibelius Finnish Composer
Igor Stravinsky Russian-born American Composer
E. F. Schumacher German Mathematician
Friedrich Nietzsche German Philosopher, Scholar
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe German Poet
Gian Carlo Menotti Italian-born American Composer