If you’ve ever watched any of the older classic cartoons like Bugs Bunny, you’ve undoubtedly heart bits and pieces of music by Beethoven. But have you ever really sat down to listed to any of the classical music composers?
Let’s learn a little bit about the man himself. Ludwig van Beethoven was one of several German classical music composers. He was also a pianist. He studied under Joseph Haydn in the late 1700’s. It was around that time that we heard the first music by Beethoven when he composed his first six string quartets (Op. 18). He also gave piano lessons and a couple of his students went on to become classical music composers themselves, including Ferdinand Ries.
Sadly, Beethoven had health problems, specifically auto-immune disorders, and started losing his hearing at age 26, eventually becoming deaf. Beethoven’s romances were the stuff Shakespeare would write about, or would be presented on Jerry Springer, as they were both wild and sad. He died in 1827, probably as a result of liver damage caused by alcoholism.
Music by Beethoven is generally broken down into three distinct career periods: Early, Middle, and Late. Each period represents style changes as a reflection of what was doing on in Beethoven’s life at the time.
You might recognize some of these pieces of music by Beethoven: Piano Sonata No.1 in F-, Op.2, No.1, Fur Elise, Minuet in C, Biamonti74, or Symphony No.5 in C-, Op.67. If you want to sample music by some of the classical music composers, try the website classicalarchives.com.
Photo © zimbio
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