When and where did Beethoven live? The life and creative path of Beethoven. The rise of a musical career

Ludwig Van Beethoven is a famous deaf composer who created 650 musical works that are recognized as world classics. The life of a talented musician is marked by a constant struggle with difficulties and adversity.

In the winter of 1770, Ludwig van Beethoven was born in a poor quarter of Bonn. The baby's baptism took place on December 17. The boy's grandfather and father are distinguished by their singing talent, so they work in the court chapel. A child’s childhood years can hardly be called happy, because a constantly drunk father and a miserable existence do not contribute to the development of talent.

Ludwig remembers with bitterness his own room, located in the attic, where there was an old harpsichord and an iron bed. Johann (father) often got drunk to the point of unconsciousness and beat his wife, taking out his evil. My son also received beatings from time to time. Mom Maria dearly loved the only surviving child, sang songs to the baby and brightened up the gray, joyless everyday life as best she could.

Ludwig's early age musical abilities appeared, which Johann immediately noticed. Envious of the fame and talent, whose name is already thundering in Europe, he decided to raise a similar genius from his own child. Now the baby’s life is filled with exhausting lessons in playing the piano and violin.

The father, figuring out the boy’s talent, forced him to practice 5 instruments simultaneously - organ, harpsichord, viola, violin, flute. Young Louis spent hours poring over playing music. The slightest mistakes were punished by flogging and beatings. Johann invited teachers to his son, whose lessons were mostly mediocre and unsystematic.

The man sought to quickly teach Ludwig concert performance in the hope of royalties. Johann even asked for an increase in salary at work, promising to place his gifted son in the archbishop's chapel. But the family did not live any better, as the money was spent on alcohol. At the age of six, Louis, urged by his father, gives a concert in Cologne. But the fee received turned out to be tiny.

Thanks to his mother's support, the young genius began to improvise and take notes on his own works. Nature generously endowed the child with talent, but development was difficult and painful. Ludwig was so immersed in the melodies created in his mind that he could not get out of this state on his own.

In 1782, Christian Gottloba was appointed director of the court chapel, who became Louis's teacher. The man saw glimpses of talent in the young man and began to educate him. Realizing that musical skills do not provide full development, he instills in Ludwig a love of literature, philosophy and ancient languages. , become the idols of the young genius. Beethoven eagerly studies the works and Handel, dreaming of working together with Mozart.

The young man first visited the musical capital of Europe, Vienna, in 1787, where he met Wolfgang Amadeus. The famous composer, having heard Ludwig’s improvisations, was delighted. To the astonished audience, Mozart said:

“Keep your eyes on this boy. One day the world will talk about him.”

Beethoven agreed with the maestro on several lessons, which had to be interrupted due to his mother’s illness.

Returning to Bonn and burying his mother, the young man plunged into despair. This painful moment in his biography had a negative impact on the musician’s work. The young man is forced to look after his two younger brothers and endure his father's drunken antics. The young man turned to the prince for financial help, who assigned the family an allowance of 200 thalers. The ridicule of the neighbors and the bullying of the children greatly hurt Ludwig, who said that he would get out of poverty and earn money through his own labor.

The talented young man found patrons in Bonn who provided him with free access to musical meetings and salons. The Breuning family took custody of Louis, who taught music to their daughter Lorchen. The girl married Dr. Wegeler. Until the end of his life, the teacher supported friendly relations with this couple.

Music

In 1792, Beethoven went to Vienna, where he quickly found friends and patrons of the arts. To improve his skills in instrumental music, he turned to him, to whom he brought his own works for testing. The relationship between the musicians did not work out right away, as Haydn was annoyed by the obstinate student. Then the young man takes lessons from Schenk and Albrechtsberger. He improves his vocal writing together with Antonio Salieri, who introduced the young man to the circle of professional musicians and titled persons.

A year later, Ludwig van Beethoven created music for the “Ode to Joy,” written by Schiller in 1785 for the Masonic lodge. Throughout his life, the maestro modifies the anthem, striving for a triumphant sound of the composition. The public heard the symphony, which caused frantic delight, only in May 1824.

Beethoven soon became a fashionable pianist in Vienna. In 1795, the young musician made his debut in the salon. Having played three piano trios and three sonatas of his own composition, he charmed his contemporaries. Those present noted Louis's stormy temperament, richness of imagination and depth of feeling. Three years later, the man is overtaken by terrible disease– tinnitus, which develops slowly but surely.

Beethoven hid his illness for 10 years. Those around him did not even realize that the pianist had begun to become deaf, and his slips and answers were inadvertently attributed to absent-mindedness and inattention. In 1802 he wrote the “Heiligenstadt Testament” addressed to his brothers. In the work, Louis describes his own mental suffering and worry about the future. The man orders this confession to be announced only after death.

In the letter to Dr. Wegeler there is a line: “I will not give up and will take fate by the throat!” The love of life and expression of genius were expressed in the enchanting “Second Symphony” and three violin sonatas. Realizing that he will soon become completely deaf, he eagerly gets to work. This period is considered the heyday of the work of the brilliant pianist.

The “Pastoral Symphony” of 1808 consists of five movements and occupies a special place in the life of the master. The man loved to relax in remote villages, communicate with nature and think about new masterpieces. The fourth movement of the symphony is called “Thunderstorm. Storm”, where the master conveys the riot of the raging elements, using piano, trombones and piccolo flute.

In 1809, Ludwig received a proposal from the management of the city theater to write musical accompaniment for Goethe’s drama “Egmont”. As a sign of respect for the writer’s work, the pianist refused any monetary reward. The man wrote music in parallel with theater rehearsals. Actress Antonia Adamberger joked with the composer, admitting to him his lack of singing talent. In response to the puzzled look, she skillfully performed the aria. Beethoven did not appreciate the humor and said sternly:

“I see that you can still perform overtures, so I’ll go and write these songs.”

From 1813 to 1815 he wrote fewer works, as he finally lost his hearing. A brilliant mind finds a way out. Louis uses a thin line to “hear” the music. wooden stick. One end of the plate is clamped with the teeth, and the other is leaned against the front panel of the instrument. And thanks to the transmitted vibration, he feels the sound of the instrument.

Compositions of this life period filled with tragedy, depth and philosophical meaning. The works of the greatest musician become classics for contemporaries and descendants.

Personal life

The personal life story of the gifted pianist is extremely tragic. Ludwig was considered a commoner among the aristocratic elite, and therefore had no right to lay claim to noble maidens. In 1801 he fell in love with the young Countess Julie Guicciardi. The feelings of the young people were not mutual, since the girl was simultaneously dating Count von Gallenberg, whom she married two years after they met. The composer expressed the torment of love and the bitterness of losing his beloved in the “Moonlight Sonata,” which became a hymn to unrequited love.

From 1804 to 1810, Beethoven was passionately in love with Josephine Brunswick, the widow of Count Joseph Deim. The woman enthusiastically responds to the advances and letters of her ardent lover. But the romance ended at the insistence of Josephine’s relatives, who are sure that a commoner would not be a worthy candidate for a wife. After a painful breakup, a man proposes to Teresa Malfatti out of principle. Receives a refusal and writes the masterpiece sonata “Für Elise”.

The emotional turmoil he experienced so upset the impressionable Beethoven that he decided to spend the rest of his life in splendid isolation. In 1815, after the death of his brother, he became embroiled in a legal battle over the custody of his nephew. The child's mother has a reputation as a woman who goes out for a walk, so the court satisfied the musician's demands. It soon became clear that Karl (nephew) had inherited bad habits mother.

The uncle raises the boy strictly, tries to instill a love of music and eradicate alcohol and gambling addiction. Having no children of his own, the man is not experienced in teaching and does not stand on ceremony with the spoiled young man. Another scandal leads the guy to attempt suicide, which was unsuccessful. Ludwig sends Karl to the army.

Death

In 1826, Louis caught a cold and contracted pneumonia. The pulmonary disease was accompanied by stomach pain. The doctor incorrectly calculated the dosage of the medicine, so the malaise progressed daily. The man was bedridden for 6 months. At this time, Beethoven was visited by friends trying to ease the suffering of the dying man.

The talented composer died at the age of 57, on March 26, 1827. On this day, a thunderstorm raged outside the windows, and the moment of death was marked by a terrible thunderclap. During the autopsy, it turned out that the master’s liver had decomposed and the auditory and adjacent nerves were damaged. Beethoven is seen off on his last journey by 20,000 townspeople, and the funeral procession is headed by. The musician was buried in the Waring cemetery of the Holy Trinity Church.

At the age of 12 he published a collection of variations for keyboard instruments.
He was considered the first musician to whom the city council assigned a financial allowance.
Wrote 3 love letters to the “Immortal Beloved”, found only after death.
Beethoven wrote a single opera called Fidelio. There are no other similar works in the master’s biography.
The greatest misconception of contemporaries is that Ludwig wrote the following works: “Music of Angels” and “Melody of Tears of Rain.” These compositions were created by other pianists.
He valued friendship and helped those in need.
Could work on 5 works at the same time.
In 1809, when he bombed the city, he was worried that he would lose his hearing from the shell explosions. Therefore, he hid in the basement of the house and covered his ears with pillows.
In 1845, the first monument dedicated to the composer was opened in Beaune.
The Beatles' song "Because" is based on the "Moonlight Sonata" played in reverse.
“Ode to Joy” has been designated as the anthem of the European Union.
Died from lead poisoning due to medical error.
Modern psychiatrists believe that he suffered from bipolar disorder.
Beethoven's photographs are printed on German postage stamps.

Discography

Symphonies

First C major op. 21 (1800)
Second D major op. 36 (1802)
Third Es-dur “Heroic” op. 56 (1804)
Fourth B major op. 60 (1806)
Fifth c minor op. 67 (1805-1808)
Sixth F-dur “Pastoral” op. 68 (1808)
Seventh A major op. 92 (1812)
Eighth F major op. 93 (1812)
Ninth d minor op. 125 (with choir, 1822-1824)

Overtures

"Prometheus" from op. 43 (1800)
"Coriolanus" op. 62 (1806)
"Leonora" No. 1 op. 138 (1805)
"Leonora" No. 2 op. 72 (1805)
"Leonora" No. 3 op. 72a (1806)
"Fidelio" op. 726 (1814)
"Egmont" from op. 84 (1810)
"Ruins of Athens" from op. 113 (1811)
"King Stephen" from op. 117 (1811)
"Birthday" op. 115 (18(4)
"Consecration of the House" cf. 124 (1822)

More than 40 dances and marches for symphony and brass orchestra

In a family with Flemish roots. The composer's paternal grandfather was born in Flanders, served as a choirmaster 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. His only son Johann, like his father, served in the choir as a vocalist (tenor) and earned money by giving violin and clavier lessons.

In 1767 he married Maria Magdalene Keverich, daughter of the court chef in Koblenz (seat of the Archbishop of Trier). Ludwig, the future composer, was the eldest of their three sons.

His musical talent manifested itself early. Beethoven's first music teacher was his father, and the choir musicians also studied with him.

On March 26, 1778, the father organized his son's first public performance.

Since 1781, the composer and organist Christian Gottlob Nefe supervised the lessons of the young talent. Beethoven soon became accompanist of the court theater and assistant organist of the chapel.

In 1782, Beethoven wrote his first work, Variations for Clavier on a March Theme by composer Ernst Dresler.

In 1787, Beethoven visited Vienna and took several lessons from the composer Wolfgang Mozart. But he soon learned that his mother was seriously ill and returned to Bonn. After the death of his mother, Ludwig remained the sole breadwinner of the family.

The young man's talent attracted the attention of some enlightened Bonn families, and his brilliant piano improvisations provided him with free entry into any musical gatherings. The von Breuning family did especially a lot for him, and took custody of the musician.

In 1789, Beethoven was a volunteer student at the Faculty of Philosophy at the University of Bonn.

In 1792, the composer moved to Vienna, where he lived almost without leaving for the rest of his life. His initial goal when moving was to improve his composition under the guidance of composer Joseph Haydn, but these studies did not last long. Beethoven quickly gained fame and recognition - first as the best pianist and improviser in Vienna, and later as a composer.

In the prime of his creative powers, Beethoven showed tremendous efficiency. In 1801-1812 he wrote such outstanding works as the Sonata in C sharp minor ("Moonlight", 1801), the Second Symphony (1802), the "Kreutzer Sonata" (1803), the "Eroic" (Third) Symphony, and the "Aurora" sonatas. and "Appassionata" (1804), the opera "Fidelio" (1805), the Fourth Symphony (1806).

In 1808, Beethoven completed one of the most popular symphonic works - the Fifth Symphony and at the same time the "Pastoral" (Sixth) Symphony, in 1810 - the music for Johann Goethe's tragedy "Egmont", in 1812 - the Seventh and Eighth Symphonies.

From the age of 27, Beethoven suffered from progressive deafness. A serious illness for the musician limited his communication with people and made it difficult for him to perform as a pianist, which Beethoven eventually had to stop. Since 1819, he had to completely switch to communicating with his interlocutors using a slate board or paper and pencil.

In his later works, Beethoven often turned to the fugue form. The last five piano sonatas (No. 28-32) and the last five quartets (No. 12-16) are distinguished by a particularly complex and sophisticated musical language, requiring the greatest skill from the performers.

Beethoven's later work for a long time caused controversy. Of his contemporaries, only a few were able to understand and appreciate his latest works. One of these people was his Russian admirer, Prince Nikolai Golitsyn, on whose order Quartets No. 12, 13 and 15 were written and dedicated to him. The overture “Consecration of the House” (1822) is also dedicated to him.

In 1823, Beethoven completed the “Solemn Mass,” which he considered his greatest work. This mass, designed more for a concert than for a cult performance, became one of the landmark phenomena in the German oratorio tradition.

With the assistance of Golitsyn, the “Solemn Mass” was first performed on April 7, 1824 in St. Petersburg.

In May 1824, Beethoven's last benefit concert took place in Vienna, in which, in addition to parts from the mass, his final Ninth Symphony was performed with a final chorus based on the words of the poet Friedrich Schiller's "Ode to Joy." The idea of overcoming suffering and the triumph of light is consistently carried through the entire work.

The composer created nine symphonies, 11 overtures, five piano concertos, a violin concerto, two masses, and one opera. Beethoven's chamber music includes 32 piano sonatas (not counting six youth sonatas written in Bonn) and 10 sonatas for violin and piano, 16 string quartets, seven piano trios, as well as many other ensembles - string trios, septet for mixed composition. His vocal heritage consists of songs, over 70 choirs, and canons.

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

The composer is buried in the Vienna Central Cemetery.

Beethoven's traditions were adopted and continued by composers Hector Berlioz, Franz Liszt, Johannes Brahms, Anton Bruckner, Gustav Mahler, Sergei Prokofiev, Dmitri Shostakovich. The composers of the New Viennese school - Arnold Schoenberg, Alban Berg, Anton Webern - also revered Beethoven as their teacher.

Since 1889, a museum has been opened in Bonn in the house where the composer was born.

In Vienna, three house museums are dedicated to Ludwig van Beethoven, and two monuments have been erected.

The Beethoven Museum is also open at Brunswick Castle in Hungary. At one time, the composer was friendly with the Brunswick family, often came to Hungary and stayed in their house. He was alternately in love with two of his students from the Brunswick family - Juliet and Teresa, but neither of the hobbies ended in marriage.

The material was prepared based on information from open sources

Ludwig van Beethoven is an outstanding German composer of world significance. He is the latest representative of the “Viennese classical school”. Creative heritage Beethoven includes works of various genres: sonatas and concertos for various instruments - violin, piano, cello, overtures, symphonies, operas, etc. The composer’s work influenced the development of musical art not only of the nineteenth, but also of the twentieth century.

Childhood and youth

The probable date of Beethoven's birth is the sixteenth of December 1770. It is known for certain that he was baptized in Bonn on December 17th of the same year. Ludwig's father, a singer of the court chapel, began teaching his son music from an early age. The boy learned to play the violin, organ, harpsichord and flute.

His teacher Christian Gottlob Nefe had a great influence on the young musician. With his help, the first work of twelve-year-old Ludwig was published - “Variations on a Theme of the March of E. Dressler.” Then young Beethoven began working as an assistant to the court organist.

At the age of seventeen, Ludwig travels to Vienna to take lessons from V.A. Mozart. However, due to the death of his mother, he was forced to return to take care of his younger brothers.

The most famous of the works of the early period is the song “Marmot” based on the verses of I.V. Goethe.

Young years and flowering of musical creativity

Again, the young musician returned to Vienna in 1792 and settled there forever. Initially takes composition lessons from Joseph Haydn. However, the teacher and student do not find mutual understanding and part ways. Beethoven continued his studies with teacher and musicologist I.G. Albrechtsberger and composer Antonio Salieri.

Very soon the young man won recognition as a virtuoso pianist and improviser. His style of performance was fundamentally different from that generally accepted in those years. Beethoven makes extensive use of the pedal, the extreme registers of the instrument, and often uses chords. In fact, he was a fundamentally new style of piano performance was created.

Possessing a fantastic capacity for work, Beethoven created in his young years (before the age of 35) a number of works that later became world classics of musical art:

Piano Sonata in C sharp minor (“Moonlight”) – 1801
“Kreutzer Sonata” for violin and piano – 1803
“Heroic” Symphony No. 3 – 1804
Piano Sonata “Apassionata” - 1805
Opera "Fidelio" - 1804

Despite universal recognition and successful publication of musical works, Beethoven’s life was darkened by a tragic illness from the age of twenty-seven. The composer began to rapidly lose his hearing. It soon became obvious that the disease was irreversible. Despite this, Beethoven tried for many years to hide his misfortune from others.

Mature years

Deafness makes Beethoven withdrawn and unsociable. Many contemporaries noted his difficult, quarrelsome character. The disease aggravated these features. Since 1819, the composer has been able to communicate with others only through recordings, many of which have survived to this day.

Despite the misfortune, his inner hearing allowed the genius to create a number of outstanding musical masterpieces in his later years. The most significant works of his mature years are the Ninth Symphony with choir and “Solemn Mass”.

The Ninth Symphony is the composer's last work in this genre. For the first time, a choir and soloists were involved in a symphonic work along with the instruments of the orchestra.

The Mass, written for organ, orchestra, choir and soloists, was created over four years (from 1019 to 1823). The first performance took place in St. Petersburg, which was facilitated by Prince Nikolai Golitsyn, who provided patronage to Beethoven. Only after the death of the composer, in 1830, the work was performed within the walls of the church.

During the same period, the last sonatas for piano (Nos. 28 - 32), the vocal cycle “To a Distant Beloved,” and works for string quartet were written.

Despite his lifetime fame and recognition, Beethoven died at the age of fifty-six, in March 1827. It is believed that this was facilitated by worries about his unlucky nephew, to whom the composer was strongly attached and in whose fate he took part.

Ludwig van Beethoven's grave is located in Vienna, at the Central Cemetery.

The composer's legacy

The most significant works included in the world cultural heritage:

Nine symphonies
Five concertos for piano and orchestra
Thirty-two piano sonatas
"Solemn Mass" in five parts

Beethoven was also a talented teacher, raising a number of talented students, including the later famous composer - pianist Karl Czerny.

The composer's works are still actively performed in prestigious concert halls around the world.

by Notes of the Wild Mistress

During Beethoven's childhood, his father used harsh measures to force his son to study music. More than once little Louis was found crying bitter tears over an unruly instrument. But soon announcements like this began to appear in the city: “Today, in the hall of the music academies on Sterngasse, Electorate of Cologne, the court tenor Beethoven will have the honor of presenting his two students, namely, Mlle Averdonck, the court violist, and his six-year-old son.” It seems, however, that Beethoven’s age was underestimated by two years, and subsequently he repeatedly said that, in essence, he did not know exactly how old he was...

At seventeen he met Mozart in Vienna. Mozart biographer Otto Jahn notes: the maestro “quickly walked to his friends sitting in the next room and excitedly said: “Take care of him, one day he will make the world talk about himself.”

At twenty-three, when Beethoven showed Haydn his first compositions, he told him: “You have enormous talent, and you will achieve even greater, monstrously great talent. Your imagination is an inexhaustible source of thoughts, however ... you want me to talk to you.” sincerely?.. I will say that, in my opinion, in your works there will always be something, I don’t want to say strange, but unusual... because you yourself are somewhat gloomy and strange, and the style of a musician is always that myself".

I think Beethoven is easier to understand if we compare him with Friedrich Nietzsche. The time, of course, is different - the end of the century - but the same rebellious spirit, loneliness, irritation of the surrounding world from “crazy” ideas. During his lifetime, Nietzsche’s philosophy was understood, in his own words, by five or six people. Beethoven's music was also listened to (heard) by a very limited society. Can anyone hear her now?

Although historically another parallel is more justified - with Beethoven’s contemporary, whose figure excited the composer’s imagination until the end of his life. This is Napoleon. Two great men lived in the same world, but in opposition. After the Battle of Jena (October 14, 1806), Beethoven met his friend Krumpholz and asked him: “What's new?” He answered. Beethoven sadly remarked: “It’s a pity that I am not as versed in the art of war as I am in music. I would have defeated him.”

It is known that the “Eroica Symphony” was originally called “Buonoparte”. However, after Napoleon proclaimed himself emperor, Beethoven flew into a rage: “And he, too, is nothing more than ordinary person!.. he will become a tyrant!" The composer tore the title page and rewrote the first page again: "A heroic symphony (in memory of one great man)."

Answering one lady who asked how often he listened to Mozart’s operas, Beethoven answered without hesitation: “I don’t know them, I’m generally reluctant to listen to other people’s music, so as not to damage my originality.”

Beethoven was lonely. Unprepossessing in appearance, eccentric, extremely hot-tempered, capable of calling the orchestra musicians the last words, so that they sometimes subsequently refused to play in his presence - it was difficult for such a person to count on mutual understanding. “His talent,” Goethe will write, “amazed me; however, he is a completely unbridled personality...” He was lonely not only in his creativity. Although it is very difficult to separate Beethoven’s work and life.

On November 16, 1801, he writes to his friend Wegeler: “You cannot imagine how desolate, how sad my life has been in the last two years. A change was made by a sweet, charming girl who loves me and whom I love. After two years, I again had a few happy moments, and this is the first time I feel that marriage can bring me happiness." Life? Yes, sure. But - the life of Beethoven. A sonata for piano was written (called "Moon" by Relshtab). With dedication to Countess Giulietta Guicciardi...

Almost ten years pass. Another woman, Bettina Brentano, writes: “In a quarter of an hour he acquired such a disposition towards me that he could not part with me... I fell infinitely in love with this man...” She owns a very interesting recording of Beethoven’s thoughts: “When I open my eyes , I am forced to sigh, because what I see is contrary to my beliefs, and I am forced to despise the world, which does not even suspect that music is a higher revelation than all wisdom and philosophy... Music is a means of transforming the spiritual life into the sensual. I would like to talk about this with Goethe, will he understand me?.. Tell him to listen to my symphonies, then he will agree with me that music is the only ethereal entrance into upper world knowledge..." When Bettina read this recording to Beethoven, he said: "Did I really say that? Well, then I got crazy.">

Not everyone knows Beethoven’s music to this day. But almost everyone knows that Beethoven was deaf. Deafness became an extension of loneliness. He tries to hide it, but it's getting harder and harder. And then on one of the sheets of sketches he writes: “Let your deafness no longer be a secret - and in art too...”

From a letter to a friend Gleichenstein, 1810: “...Give your regards to everyone who is dear to you and me, as I would like to add: and to whom are we dear? At least do I have the right to this sign? - Farewell, be happy, me not..."

While still young, Beethoven wrote the so-called Heiligenstadt Testament. “Oh, you people who consider or have declared me embittered, stubborn or a misanthrope, how unfair you are to me. You do not know the secret reason why I seem like this to you: just think, it’s been six years since I was struck by an incurable illness.. "I must live as an exile. As soon as I get close to society, a burning fear seizes me, I am afraid of being in danger of letting my condition be noticed... But what a humiliation when someone, standing next to me, heard the sounds of a flute from afar , I didn't hear anything...

Such cases brought me to the brink of despair; it was all it took for me to end my life. Only it, art, it held me. Ah, it seemed impossible to me to leave the world before I had accomplished everything to which I felt called... O Divinity, You penetrate from above into the depths of my being, You know it, You know that love for people and desire live in it do good. O people, if you ever read this, think that you were unfair to me, and let the unfortunate one be consoled by finding an equally unfortunate one..."

On March 24, 1827, Beethoven took communion for the last time. There was a thunderstorm. Eyewitness testimony: "After 5 o'clock lightning struck terrible thunder brightly illuminated the dying man's room. Beethoven opened his eyes and raised right hand and, extending his clenched fist upward, looked with a stern, threatening face. As he lowered his raised hand onto the bed, his eyes half closed. He no longer breathed, and his heart did not beat!” And in this raised fist is the result of Beethoven’s life - Victory.

Alexey Kozhunkov

Beethoven was lucky to be born in an era that perfectly suited his nature. This is an era rich in great social events, the main one of which is the revolutionary coup in France. The Great French Revolution and its ideals had a strong impact on the composer - both on his worldview and on his work. It was the revolution that gave Beethoven the basic material for comprehending the “dialectics of life.”

The idea of heroic struggle became the most important idea in Beethoven's work, although it was far from the only one. Efficiency, an active desire for a better future, a hero in unity with the masses - this is what the composer brings to the fore. The idea of citizenship and the image of the main character - a fighter for republican ideals - make Beethoven's work similar to the art of revolutionary classicism (with the heroic paintings of David, Cherubini's operas, revolutionary marching songs). “Our time needs people with a powerful spirit,” said the composer. It is significant that he dedicated his only opera not to the witty Susana, but to the courageous Leonora.

However, not only social events, but also the composer’s personal life contributed to the fact that heroic themes came to the fore in his work. Nature endowed Beethoven with the inquisitive, active mind of a philosopher. His interests have always been unusually broad, they extended to politics, literature, religion, philosophy, and natural sciences. Truly immense creative potential was opposed by a terrible illness - deafness, which could seemingly close the path to music forever. Beethoven found the strength to go against fate, and the ideas of Resistance and Overcoming became the main meaning of his life. It was they who “forged” the heroic character. And in every line of Beethoven's music we recognize its creator - his courageous temperament, unbending will, intransigence to evil. Gustav Mahler formulated this thought as follows: “The words allegedly spoken by Beethoven about the first theme of the Fifth Symphony - “So fate knocks on the door” ... for me, far from exhausting its enormous content. Rather, he could say about her: “It is I.”

Periodization of Beethoven's creative biography

I - 1782-1792 - Bonn period. The beginning of a creative journey.
II - 1792-1802 - Early Viennese period.
III - 1802-1812 - Central period. Time for creative flourishing.
IV - 1812-1815 - Transitional years.
V - 1816-1827 - Late period.

Beethoven's childhood and early life

Beethoven's childhood and youth (until the autumn of 1792) were associated with Bonn, where he was born in December 1770 of the year. His father and grandfather were musicians. Close to the French border, Bonn was one of the centers of German enlightenment in the 18th century. In 1789, a university was opened here, among whose educational documents Beethoven’s grade book was later found.

In early childhood, Beethoven's professional education was entrusted to frequently changing, “random” teachers - acquaintances of his father, who gave him lessons in playing the organ, harpsichord, flute, and violin. Having discovered his son’s rare musical talent, his father wanted to make him a child prodigy, a “second Mozart” - a source of large and constant income. To this end, both he himself and the choir friends he invited began to technically train little Beethoven. He was forced to practice at the piano even at night; however, the young musician’s first public performances (concerts were organized in Cologne in 1778) did not live up to his father’s commercial plans.

Ludwig van Beethoven did not become a child prodigy, but he discovered his talent as a composer quite early. Had a great influence on him Christian Gottlieb Nefe, who taught him composition and playing the organ from the age of 11, is a man of advanced aesthetic and political convictions. Being one of the most educated musicians of his era, Nefe introduced Beethoven to the works of Bach and Handel, enlightened him on issues of history, philosophy, and most importantly, brought him up in the spirit of deep respect for his native German culture. In addition, Nefe became the first publisher of the 12-year-old composer, publishing one of his early works - piano variations on a theme of Dressler's march(1782). These variations were Beethoven's first surviving work. IN next year Three piano sonatas were completed.

By this time, Beethoven had already begun working in the theater orchestra and held the position of assistant organist in the court chapel, and a little later he also earned money by teaching music lessons in aristocratic families (due to the poverty of the family, he was forced to enter the service very early). Therefore, he did not receive a systematic education: he attended school only until he was 11 years old, wrote with errors all his life and never learned the secrets of multiplication. Nevertheless, thanks to his own perseverance, Beethoven managed to become an educated person: he independently mastered Latin, French and Italian, I constantly read a lot.

Dreaming of studying with Mozart, Beethoven visited Vienna in 1787 and met his idol. Mozart, after listening to the young man’s improvisation, said: “Pay attention to him; he will someday make the world talk about himself.” Beethoven failed to become Mozart's student: due to his mother's fatal illness, he was forced to urgently return back to Bonn. There he found moral support in the enlightened the Breuning family.

The ideas of the French Revolution were enthusiastically received by Beethoven's Bonn friends and had a strong influence on the formation of his democratic beliefs.

Beethoven's talent as a composer did not develop as rapidly as Mozart's phenomenal talent. Beethoven composed rather slowly. For 10 years of the first - Bonn period (1782-1792) 50 works were written, including 2 cantatas, several piano sonatas (now called sonatinas), 3 piano quartets, 2 trios. A large part of Bonn's creativity also consists of variations and songs intended for amateur music-making. Among them is the familiar song “Groundhog”.

Early Viennese period (1792-1802)

Despite the freshness and brightness of his youthful compositions, Beethoven understood that he needed to study seriously. In November 1792, he finally left Bonn and moved to Vienna, the largest musical center in Europe. Here he studied counterpoint and composition with I. Haydn, I. Schenk, I. Albrechtsberger And A. Salieri . At the same time, Beethoven began performing as a pianist and soon gained fame as an unsurpassed improviser and a brilliant virtuoso.

The young virtuoso was patronized by many distinguished music lovers - K. Likhnovsky, F. Lobkowitz, Russian Ambassador A. Razumovsky and others; Beethoven's sonatas, trios, quartets, and later even symphonies were first heard in their salons. Their names can be found in the dedications of many of the composer's works. However, Beethoven's manner of dealing with his patrons was almost unheard of at the time. Proud and independent, he did not forgive anyone for attempts to humiliate his human dignity. The legendary words uttered by the composer to the patron who insulted him are known: “There were and will be thousands of princes, but there is only one Beethoven.” Although he did not like to teach, Beethoven was nevertheless the teacher of K. Czerny and F. Ries in piano (both of them later won European fame) and the Archduke Rudolf of Austria in composition.

In the first Viennese decade, Beethoven wrote mainly piano and chamber music: 3 piano concertos and 2 dozen piano sonatas, 9(out of 10) violin sonatas(including No. 9 - “Kreutzerova”), 2 cello sonatas, 6 string quartets, a number of ensembles for various instruments, the ballet “Creations of Prometheus”.

With the beginning of the 19th century, Beethoven's symphonic work began: in 1800 he completed his First symphony, and in 1802 - Second. At the same time, his only oratorio, “Christ on the Mount of Olives,” was written. The first signs appeared in 1797 incurable disease- progressive deafness and awareness of the hopelessness of all attempts to treat the disease led Beethoven to a mental crisis in 1802, which was reflected in the famous document - "Heiligenstadt Testament" . The way out of the crisis was creativity: “... A little was missing for me to commit suicide,” the composer wrote. - “It was only art that held me back.”

Central period of creativity (1802-1812)

1802-12 - the time of the brilliant flowering of Beethoven's genius. His deep-rooted ideas of overcoming suffering through the power of spirit and the victory of light over darkness after a fierce struggle turned out to be consonant with the ideas of the French Revolution. These ideas were embodied in the 3rd (“Eroic”) and Fifth symphonies, in the opera “Fidelio”, in the music for J. V. Goethe’s tragedy “Egmont”, in Sonata No. 23 (“Appassionata”).

In total, the composer created during these years:

six symphonies (No. 3 to No. 8), quartets Nos. 7-11 and other chamber ensembles, the opera Fidelio, piano concertos 4 and 5, Violin Concerto, as well as the Triple Concerto for violin, cello and piano with orchestra.

Transitional years (1812-1815)

The years 1812-15 were turning points in the political and spiritual life of Europe. The period of the Napoleonic Wars and the rise of the liberation movement was followed by Congress of Vienna (1814-15), after which in the internal and foreign policy reactionary-monarchist tendencies intensified in European countries. The style of heroic classicism gave way to romanticism, which became the leading trend in literature and managed to make itself known in music (F. Schubert). Beethoven paid tribute to the victorious jubilation by creating the spectacular symphonic fantasy “The Battle of Vittoria” and the cantata “Happy Moment”, the premieres of which were timed to coincide with the Vienna Congress and brought Beethoven unprecedented success. However, other works of 1813-17 reflected a persistent and sometimes painful search for new paths. At this time, cello (No. 4, 5) and piano (No. 27, 28) sonatas, several dozen arrangements of songs were written different nations for voice and ensemble, the first vocal cycle in the history of the genre "To a Distant Beloved"(1815). The style of these works is experimental, with many ingenious discoveries, but not always as integral as in the period of “revolutionary classicism.”

Late period (1816-1827)

The last decade of Beethoven's life was marred both by the general oppressive political and spiritual atmosphere in Metternich's Austria and by personal adversity and upheaval. The composer's deafness became complete; from 1818, he was forced to use “conversation notebooks” in which his interlocutors wrote questions addressed to him. Having lost hope for personal happiness (the name of the “immortal beloved” to whom Beethoven’s farewell letter dated July 6-7, 1812 was addressed remains unknown; some researchers consider her to be J. Brunswick-Dame, others - A. Brentano), Beethoven accepted took care of raising his nephew Karl, the son of his younger brother who died in 1815. This led to a long-term (1815-20) legal battle with the boy's mother over the rights to sole custody. The capable but frivolous nephew caused Beethoven a lot of grief.

The late period includes the last 5 quartets (Nos. 12-16), “33 variations on the Diabelli waltz”, piano Bagatelles op. 126, two sonatas for cello op.102, fugue for string quartet, All these works qualitatively different from everything previous. This allows us to talk about style late Beethoven, which has a clear resemblance to the style of Romantic composers. The idea of the struggle between light and darkness, central to Beethoven, becomes emphasized in his late work. philosophical sound. Victory over suffering is no longer achieved through heroic action, but through the movement of spirit and thought.

In 1823 Beethoven finished "Solemn Mass", which he himself considered his greatest work. The “Solemn Mass” was first performed on April 7, 1824 in St. Petersburg. A month later, Beethoven’s last benefit concert took place in Vienna, in which, in addition to parts from the mass, his final concert was performed. Ninth Symphony with a final chorus on the words of “Ode to Joy” by F. Schiller. The Ninth Symphony with its final call - “Embrace, millions”! - became the composer’s ideological testament to humanity and had a strong influence on symphony in the 19th and 20th centuries.

About traditions

Beethoven is usually spoken of as a composer who, on the one hand, ends the classicist era in music, and on the other, opens the way to romanticism. In general this is true, but his music does not completely coincide with the requirements of either style. The composer is so universal that no stylistic features cover the entirety of his creative appearance. Sometimes in the same year he created works that were so contrasting with each other that it was extremely difficult to recognize common features between them (for example, the 5th and 6th symphonies, which were first performed in the same concert in 1808). If we compare the works created in different periods, for example, in early and mature, or mature and late, they are sometimes perceived as creations of different artistic eras.

At the same time, Beethoven's music, for all its novelty, is inextricably linked with previous German culture. It is undeniably influenced by the philosophical lyrics of J. S. Bach, the solemn heroic images of Handel’s oratorios, Gluck’s operas, and the works of Haydn and Mozart. The musical art of other countries, primarily France, and its mass revolutionary genres, so far from the gallantly sensitive style of the 18th century, also contributed to the formation of Beethoven’s style. Its typical ornamental decorations, arrests, and soft endings are becoming a thing of the past. Many of the fanfare-march themes of Beethoven's works are close to the songs and hymns of the French Revolution. They vividly illustrate the strict, noble simplicity of the music of the composer, who loved to repeat: “It’s always simpler.”