Ludwig van Beethoven

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Ludwig van Beethoven

• Lets review..

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Birth and childhood

• Born in Bonn, Germany in 1770.
• Father and Grandfather were musicians.
• Father was Ludwigs first music teacher.
• Ludwig had to practice many nights when his
  father came home drunk.
• Ludwig showed an interest in composing when he
  was a child.

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Young adulthood

• Beethoven went to Vienna, Austria to learn more
  about composing when he was 17.
• He had to return home when his mother died, and
  help raise his brothers.

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Return to Vienna

• When Beethoven was 22, he moved to Austria and
  never returned to Germany.
• He learned from Haydn, another great composer,
  ...and played for Mozart before that respected
  composer died.
• Beethoven loved to visit the country, where he
  composed a lot of music.
• We still love his music, 175 years later!

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Losing his hearing

• Beethoven began hearing buzzing in his ears.
• At first he tried to hide his loss of hearing
  from his friends.
• He continued to write music when he was deaf.

• Beethoven tried many hearing devices, but none of
  them worked.
• He could watch peoples lips to understand what
  they were saying, or have them write in a
  notebook.

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Medical methods back then...

• Doctors poured warm milk and crushed nuts in
  Beethovens ears, telling him that this would
  help restore his hearing!
• Doctors rubbed Beethovens arms with an ointment
  until they blistered, then punctured and drained
  the blisterstelling him that this would help
  restore his hearing!

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His Later Years

• He still composed when he was deaf..how could he
  do this?

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He could hear the music inside his head.and he
wasnt bothered with other noises around him.He
wrote some of his best music during this time.
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His temperament

• Beethoven was not easy to be around. He had a
  temper, and he was very demanding.
• He would get lost in his own thoughts and would
  get impatient with others when they didnt do
  what he thought they should do.

• He criticized other musicians when they didnt
  perform his pieces the way he wanted them to
  sound.
• His whole life was very stormy there were many
  sad and discouraging times.

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Some of his Works

• 32 Piano Sonatas
• Moonlight Sonata
• Sonata Pathetique
• Fur Elise
• Fidelio (his only opera)
• 9 Symphonies
• Choral Symphony 9 (Ode to Joy)
• Beethovens Fifth 5
• Pastorale ..6

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Beethovens death

• Beethoven died in Vienna, Austria in 1827.
• It was storming when he died. (There was
  thundering during a snow storm!)
• Beethoven raised his fist toward the storm and
  fell back on his bed, dying.
• 50,000 lined the streets at his funeral to pay
  tribute to this great man.

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Ludwig van Beethoven

• 1770-1827
• German composer, who spent his adult life in
  Austria
• Wrote during the Classical Era.
• Chose a new and different way of composing.

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What a great Composer !!!
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