The last years of Beethoven's life. Ludwig van Beethoven: short biography and eternal works

Where and when was Beethoven born? Let's share what distinguished the city in which Beethoven was born? Has the legacy of the famous composer been preserved? 5 extraordinary facts about Beethoven.

In what city was Beethoven born?

Ludwig van Beethoven– cult composer of the 18th century, born in Bonn (Westphalia) December 17, 1770, buried in Vienna, March 26, 1827.

North Westphalia- Federal district of the German Republic. Located on the Rhine River, it has about 320 thousand inhabitants. From 1949 to 1990 was the capital of Germany before unification.

Attractions in Bonn:

The house where Ludwig van Beethoven was born is now a museum.
Exhibition Center (http://www.bundeskunsthalle.de)
University of Bonn.

5 facts about Beethoven that they won't tell you in school

What everyone should know about Beethoven:

Beethoven's date of birth is unknown. A mystery that biographers struggle with. According to one version, Beethoven was born on December 17, 1770, but this is just the date of his baptism. Maybe you can find the true date?
Beethoven was a bachelor before his death, but in love. A loner for the rest of his life, Beethoven devoted himself not only to music, but also to Elisabeth Röckel. According to research by Klaus Kopitz, a German musicologist, the famous work “Fur Elise” is dedicated to her. Or pianist Teresa Malfatti – musicologists still haven’t decided.
Beethoven is the last of the classical Viennese composers. Did the classics die after Beethoven? It’s unlikely to be so categorical; most likely, it gradually faded away. W. A. Mozart is considered the penultimate Viennese classic.
Beethoven – provocateur and revolutionary. Like every self-confident creator, Beethoven had his own opinion about the meaning of music in human life. Revolutionary-minded social activists found pro-radical sentiments in the composer’s statements and often used them to excite the ears of onlookers.
Beethoven was a rich man. The composer knew how to manage his accounts, as well as business negotiations on the topic of royalties. By the standards of that time, Beethoven was exorbitantly rich and did not need anything. After death, most of the fortune went to museums.

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More than two centuries have passed since the great German composer Ludwig van Beethoven was born. The heyday of his work occurred at the beginning of the 19th century during the period between classicism and romanticism. The pinnacle of this composer's creativity was classical music. He wrote in many musical genres: choral music, opera and musical accompaniment for dramatic performances. He composed many instrumental works: he wrote many quartets, symphonies, sonatas and concertos for piano, violin and cello, and overtures.

What genres did the composer work in?

Ludwig van Beethoven composed music in different musical genres and for different compositions of musical instruments. For a symphony orchestra he wrote only:

9 symphonies;
a dozen compositions of different musical forms;
7 concerts for orchestra;
opera "Fidelio";
2 masses with orchestra.

It is written to them: 32 sonatas, several arrangements, 10 sonatas for piano and violin, sonatas for cello and horn, many small vocal works and a dozen songs. Chamber music also plays an important role in Beethoven's work. His work includes sixteen string quartets and five quintets, string and piano trios and more than ten works for wind instruments.

Creative path

Beethoven's creative path is divided into three periods. In the early period, Beethoven's music felt the style of his predecessors - Haydn and Mozart, but in a newer direction. The main works of this time:

the first two symphonies;
6 string quartets;
2 piano concertos;
the first 12 sonatas, the most famous of which is the Pathétique.

In the middle period, Ludwig van Beethoven was very worried about his deafness. He transferred all his experiences into his music, in which one can feel expression, struggle and heroism. During this time, he composed 6 symphonies and 3 piano concertos and a concerto for piano, violin and cello with orchestra, string quartets and a violin concerto. It was during this period of his work that the Moonlight Sonata and Appassionata, the Kreutzer Sonata and the only opera, Fidelio, were written.

In the late period of the great composer’s work, new complex shapes. The fourteenth string quartet has seven interlocking movements, and the last movement of the 9th symphony adds choral singing. During this period of creativity, the Solemn Mass, five string quartets, and five piano sonatas were written. You can listen to the music of the great composer endlessly. All of his compositions are unique and leave a good impression on the listener.

The composer's most popular works

The most famous composition of Ludwig van Beethoven "Symphony No. 5", it was written by the composer at the age of 35. At this time, he was already hard of hearing and was distracted by the creation of other works. The symphony is considered the main symbol of classical music.

"Moonlight Sonata"- was written by the composer during a time of strong experiences and mental anguish. During this period, he was already hard of hearing, and broke off relations with his beloved woman, Countess Giulietta Guicciardi, whom he wanted to marry. The sonata is dedicated to this woman.

"To Eliza"- one of Beethoven's best compositions. To whom did the composer dedicated this music? There are several versions:

to his student Teresa von Drossdieck (Malfatti);
a close friend of Elisabeth Reckel, whose name was Eliza;
Elizaveta Alekseevna, wife of the Russian Emperor Alexander I.

Ludwig van Beethoven himself called his work for piano “a sonata in the spirit of fantasy.” Symphony No. 9 in D minor, called "Choral"- This is Beethoven's very last symphony. There is a superstition associated with it: “starting with Beethoven, all composers die after writing the ninth symphony.” However, many authors do not believe this.

Overture "Egmont"- music written for Goethe's famous tragedy, which was commissioned by the Viennese Courtier.

Concerto for violin and orchestra. Beethoven dedicated this music to his best friend Franz Clement. Beethoven first wrote this concerto for violin, but was not successful and then, at the request of a friend, he had to redo it for piano. In 1844, this concerto was performed by the young violinist Joseph Joachim along with the royal orchestra, led by Felix Mendelssohn. After this, this work became popular and was listened to all over the world, and also greatly influenced the history of the development of violin music, which is still considered the best concerto for violin and orchestra in our time.

"Kreutzer Sonata" and "Appassionata" gave additional popularity to Beethoven.

The list of works of the German composer is multifaceted. His work includes the operas “Fidelio” and “The Fire of Vesta”, the ballet “The Works of Prometheus”, and a lot of music for choir and soloists with orchestra. There are also many works for symphony and brass orchestra, vocal lyrics and ensemble of instruments, for piano and organ.

How much music has been written by a great genius? How many symphonies did Beethoven have? All the work of the German genius still surprises music lovers. You can listen to the beautiful and expressive sound of these works in concert halls around the world. His music sounds everywhere and Beethoven’s talent does not dry out.

My willingness to serve poor suffering humanity with my art has never, since childhood... needed any reward other than inner satisfaction...
L. Beethoven

Musical Europe was still full of rumors about the brilliant miracle child - W. A. Mozart, when Ludwig van Beethoven was born in Bonn, into the family of a tenor player of the court chapel. He was baptized on December 17, 1770, naming him in honor of his grandfather, a venerable bandmaster, a native of Flanders. Beethoven received his first musical knowledge from his father and his colleagues. His father wanted him to become a “second Mozart” and forced his son to practice even at night. Beethoven did not become a child prodigy, but he discovered his talent as a composer quite early. He was greatly influenced by K. Nefe, who taught him composition and playing the organ, a man of advanced aesthetic and political convictions. Due to the poverty of the family, Beethoven was forced to enter the service very early: at the age of 13 he was enrolled in the chapel as an assistant organist; later worked as an accompanist at the National Theater in Bonn. In 1787, he visited Vienna and met his idol, Mozart, who, 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: a serious illness and the death of his mother forced him to hastily return to Bonn. There Beethoven found moral support in the enlightened Breuning family and became close to the university environment, which shared the most progressive views. 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.

In Bonn, Beethoven wrote a number of large and small works: 2 cantatas for soloists, choir and orchestra, 3 piano quartets, several piano sonatas (now called sonatinas). It should be noted that the sonatinas known to all beginning pianists salt And F major, according to researchers, do not belong to Beethoven, but are only attributed, but another, truly Beethoven Sonatina in F major, discovered and published in 1909, remains, as it were, in the shadows and is not played by anyone. A large part of Bonn's creativity also consists of variations and songs intended for amateur music-making. Among them are the familiar song “Groundhog”, the touching “Elegy for the Death of a Poodle”, the rebellious poster-like “Free Man”, the dreamy “Sigh of the Unloved and Happy Love”, containing a prototype of the future theme of joy from the Ninth Symphony, “Sacrifice Song”, which Beethoven loved it so much that he returned to it 5 times (last edition - 1824). 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 J. Haydn, J. Schenk, J. Albrechtsberger and A. Salieri. Although the student was obstinate, he studied zealously and subsequently spoke with gratitude of all his teachers. At the same time, Beethoven began performing as a pianist and soon gained fame as an unsurpassed improviser and a brilliant virtuoso. On his first and last long tour (1796), he captivated the audiences of Prague, Berlin, Dresden, and Bratislava. The young virtuoso was patronized by many distinguished music lovers - K. Likhnovsky, F. Lobkowitz, F. Kinsky, 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 trying to humiliate his dignity. The legendary words uttered by the composer to the patron of the arts who insulted him are known: “There have been and will be thousands of princes, but there is only one Beethoven.” Of the many aristocratic women who were Beethoven's students, Ertman, the sisters T. and J. Bruns, and M. Erdedi became his constant friends and promoters of his music. 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. In 1792-1802 3 piano concertos and 2 dozen sonatas were created. Of these, only Sonata No. 8 (“ Pathetic") has the author's title. Sonata No. 14, which bears the subtitle of a fantasy sonata, was called “Moonlight” by the romantic poet L. Relshtab. Stable names were also established for sonatas No. 12 (“With Funeral March”), No. 17 (“With Recitatives”) and later ones: No. 21 (“Aurora”) and No. 23 (“Appassionata”). The first Viennese period includes, in addition to the piano ones, 9 (out of 10) violin sonatas (including No. 5 - “Spring”, No. 9 - “Kreutzer”; both titles are also not the author’s); 2 cello sonatas, 6 string quartets, a number of ensembles for various instruments (including the cheerfully gallant Septet).

Since the beginning of the 19th century. Beethoven also began as a symphonist: in 1800 he completed his First Symphony, and in 1802 his Second. At the same time, his only oratorio, “Christ on the Mount of Olives,” was written. The first signs of an incurable disease - progressive deafness - that appeared in 1797 and the realization 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 - the “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.”

1802-12 - the time of the brilliant flowering of Beethoven's genius. His deeply developed 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 basic ideas of the French Revolution and the liberation movements of the early 19th century. These ideas were embodied in the Third (“Eroic”) and Fifth Symphonies, in the tyrannical opera “Fidelio”, in the music for the tragedy of J. V. Goethe “Egmont”, in Sonata No. 23 (“Appassionata”). The composer was also inspired by the philosophical and ethical ideas of the Enlightenment, which he perceived in his youth. The natural world appears full of dynamic harmony in the Sixth (“Pastoral”) Symphony, in the Violin Concerto, in the piano (No. 21) and violin (No. 10) sonatas. Folk or close to folk melodies are heard in the Seventh Symphony and in quartets Nos. 7-9 (the so-called “Russian” ones - they are dedicated to A. Razumovsky; Quartet No. 8 contains 2 melodies of Russian folk songs: used much later also by N. Rimsky-Korsakov “Glory” and “Oh, is my talent, talent”). The Fourth Symphony is full of powerful optimism, the Eighth Symphony is permeated with humor and slightly ironic nostalgia for the times of Haydn and Mozart. The virtuoso genre is treated epically and monumentally in the Fourth and Fifth Piano Concertos, as well as in the Triple Concerto for violin, cello and piano with orchestra. In all these works, the style of Viennese classicism with its life-affirming belief in reason, goodness and justice, expressed at the conceptual level as a movement “through suffering to joy” (from Beethoven’s letter to M. Erdedi), and at the compositional level, found the most complete and final embodiment of the style of Viennese classicism - as a balance between unity and diversity and adherence to strict proportions at the largest scale of the composition.

1812-15 - 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 the Congress of Vienna (1814-15), after which reactionary-monarchical tendencies intensified in the domestic and foreign policies of European countries. The style of heroic classicism, expressing the spirit of revolutionary renewal at the end of the 18th century. and patriotic sentiments of the beginning of the 19th century, should inevitably either turn into pompous and official art, or give way to romanticism, which became the leading trend in literature and managed to make itself known in music (F. Schubert). Beethoven also had to solve these complex spiritual problems. He 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, in other works of 1813-17. reflected a persistent and sometimes painful search for new paths. At this time, cello (Nos. 4, 5) and piano (Nos. 27, 28) sonatas, several dozen arrangements of songs of different nations for voice and ensemble, and the first vocal cycle in the history of the genre “To a Distant Beloved” (1815) were written. The style of these works is, as it were, experimental, with many ingenious discoveries, but not always as integral as in the period of “revolutionary classicism.”

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 “conversational 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 sole custody rights. The capable but frivolous nephew caused Beethoven a lot of grief. The contrast between sad and sometimes tragic life circumstances and the ideal beauty of the works created is a manifestation of the spiritual feat that made Beethoven one of the heroes of European culture of the New Age.

Creativity 1817-26 marked a new rise in Beethoven's genius and at the same time became an epilogue to the era of musical classicism. Remaining faithful to classical ideals until his last days, the composer found new forms and means of their implementation, bordering on the romantic, but not turning into them. Beethoven's late style is a unique aesthetic phenomenon. The idea of the dialectical relationship of contrasts, the struggle between light and darkness, central to Beethoven, acquires an emphatically philosophical sound in his late work. Victory over suffering is no longer achieved through heroic action, but through the movement of spirit and thought. A great master of the sonata form, in which dramatic conflicts previously developed, Beethoven in his later works often turns to the fugue form, which is most suitable for embodying the gradual formation of a generalized philosophical idea. The last 5 piano sonatas (Nos. 28-32) and the last 5 quartets (Nos. 12-16) are distinguished by a particularly complex and sophisticated musical language, requiring the greatest skill from the performers, and soulful perception from the listeners. 33 variations on the Waltz of Diabelli and Bagateli op. 126 are also true masterpieces, despite the difference in scale. Beethoven's later work has long been controversial. Of his contemporaries, only a few were able to understand and appreciate his latest works. One of these people was N. Golitsyn, on whose order the quartets No. , and were written and dedicated to him. The overture “Consecration of the House” (1822) is dedicated to him.

In 1823, Beethoven completed the “Solemn Mass,” which he considered his greatest work. This mass, designed more for concert than for religious performance, became one of the landmark phenomena in the German oratorio tradition (G. Schütz, J. S. Bach, G. F. Handel, W. A. Mozart, I. Haydn). The first mass (1807) was not inferior to the masses of Haydn and Mozart, but did not become a new word in the history of the genre, like the “Solemn”, which embodied all the skill of Beethoven as a symphonist and playwright. Turning to the canonical Latin text, Beethoven highlighted in it the idea of self-sacrifice in the name of the happiness of people and introduced into the final plea for peace the passionate pathos of the denial of war as the greatest evil. With the assistance of Golitsyn, 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 Ninth Symphony was performed with a final chorus based on the words of “Ode to Joy” by F. Schiller. The idea of overcoming suffering and the triumph of light is consistently carried through the entire symphony and is expressed with utmost clarity at the end thanks to the introduction of a poetic text that Beethoven dreamed of setting to music back in Bonn. The Ninth Symphony with its final call - “Embrace, millions!” - became Beethoven’s ideological testament to humanity and had a strong influence on symphony in the 19th and 20th centuries.

Beethoven's traditions were adopted and one way or another continued by G. Berlioz, F. Liszt, J. Brahms, A. Bruckner, G. Mahler, S. Prokofiev, D. Shostakovich. Beethoven was also revered as a teacher by the composers of the New Viennese school - the “father of dodecaphony” A. Schoenberg, the passionate humanist A. Berg, the innovator and lyricist A. Webern. In December 1911, Webern wrote to Berg: “Few things are as wonderful as the holiday of Christmas. ... Isn’t this how we should celebrate Beethoven’s birthday?” Many musicians and music lovers would agree with this proposal, because for thousands (and perhaps millions) of people, Beethoven remains not only one of the greatest geniuses of all times and peoples, but also the personification of an unfading ethical ideal, an inspirer of the oppressed, a consoler of the suffering, a faithful friend in sorrow and joy.

L. Kirillina

Beethoven is one of the greatest phenomena of world culture. His work ranks alongside the art of such titans of artistic thought as Tolstoy, Rembrandt, and Shakespeare. In terms of philosophical depth, democratic orientation, and courage of innovation, Beethoven has no equal in the musical art of Europe of past centuries.

Beethoven's work captured the great awakening of peoples, the heroism and drama of the revolutionary era. Addressed to all progressive humanity, his music was a bold challenge to the aesthetics of the feudal aristocracy.

Beethoven's worldview was formed under the influence of the revolutionary movement that spread in the advanced circles of society at the turn of the 18th and 19th centuries. As its unique reflection on German soil, the bourgeois-democratic Enlightenment took shape in Germany. Protest against social oppression and despotism determined the leading directions of German philosophy, literature, poetry, theater and music.

Lessing raised the banner of the struggle for the ideals of humanism, reason and freedom. The works of Schiller and young Goethe were imbued with a civic feeling. The playwrights of the Sturm und Drang movement rebelled against the petty morality of feudal-bourgeois society. The challenge to the reactionary nobility is heard in Lessing’s “Nathan the Wise,” in Goethe’s “Götz von Berlichingen,” and in Schiller’s “The Robbers” and “Cunning and Love.” The ideas of the struggle for civil liberties permeate Schiller's Don Carlos and William Tell. The tension of social contradictions was also reflected in the image of Goethe’s Werther, the “rebellious martyr,” as Pushkin put it. The spirit of challenge marked every outstanding work of art of that era created on German soil. Beethoven's work was the most general and artistically perfect expression in the art of popular movements in Germany at the turn of the 18th and 19th centuries.

The great social upheaval in France had a direct and powerful impact on Beethoven. This brilliant musician, a contemporary of the revolution, was born in an era that perfectly suited his talent and his titanic nature. With rare creative power and emotional acuity, Beethoven sang the majesty and tension of his time, its stormy drama, the joys and sorrows of the gigantic masses. To this day, Beethoven's art remains unsurpassed as an artistic expression of feelings of civic heroism.

The revolutionary theme in no way exhausts Beethoven's legacy. Undoubtedly, the most outstanding Beethoven works belong to the art of heroic-dramatic nature. The main features of his aesthetics are most clearly embodied in works that reflect the theme of struggle and victory, glorifying the universal democratic principle of life and the desire for freedom. “Eroica”, Fifth and Ninth Symphonies, overtures “Coriolanus”, “Egmont”, “Leonore”, “Sonata Pathétique” and “Appassionata” - it was this circle of works that almost immediately won Beethoven the widest world recognition. And in fact, Beethoven’s music differs from the structure of thought and manner of expression of its predecessors primarily in its effectiveness, tragic power, and grandiose scale. It is not surprising that his innovation in the heroic-tragic sphere, earlier than in others, attracted general attention; It was mainly on the basis of Beethoven's dramatic works that both his contemporaries and the generations immediately following them made judgments about his work as a whole.

However, the world of Beethoven's music is staggeringly diverse. There are other fundamentally important aspects to his art, outside of which his perception will inevitably be one-sided, narrow and therefore distorted. And above all, this depth and complexity of the intellectual principle inherent in it.

The psychology of the new man, freed from feudal shackles, is revealed in Beethoven not only in terms of conflict and tragedy, but also through the sphere of high inspired thought. His hero, possessing indomitable courage and passion, is also endowed with a rich, finely developed intellect. He is not only a fighter, but also a thinker; Along with action, he is characterized by a tendency to concentrated thinking. No secular composer before Beethoven achieved such philosophical depth and breadth of thought. Beethoven's glorification of real life in its multifaceted aspects was intertwined with the idea of the cosmic greatness of the universe. Moments of inspired contemplation coexist in his music with heroic and tragic images, illuminating them in a unique way. Through the prism of sublime and deep intellect, life in all its diversity is refracted in Beethoven’s music - violent passions and detached daydreaming, theatrical dramatic pathos and lyrical confession, pictures of nature and scenes of everyday life...

Finally, compared to the work of his predecessors, Beethoven's music stands out for its individualization of the image, which is associated with the psychological principle in art.

Not as a representative of a class, but as an individual possessing his own rich inner world, a man of a new, post-revolutionary society recognized himself. It was in this spirit that Beethoven interpreted his hero. He is always significant and unique, every page of his life is an independent spiritual value. Even motives that are related to each other in type acquire in Beethoven’s music such a richness of shades in conveying mood that each of them is perceived as unique. Given the unconditional commonality of ideas that permeate all of his work, with the deep imprint of a powerful creative individuality lying on all Beethoven’s works, each of his opuses is an artistic surprise.

Perhaps it is precisely this undying desire to reveal the unique essence of each image that makes the problem of Beethoven's style so complex.

Beethoven is usually spoken of as a composer who, on the one hand, completes the classicist (In Russian theater studies and foreign musicological literature, the term “classicist” has been established in relation to the art of classicism. Thus, the confusion that inevitably arises when the single word “classical” is used to characterize the peak, “eternal” phenomena of any art, and to define one stylistic category. We, by inertia, continue to use the term “classical” in relation to the musical style of the 18th century, and to classical examples in music of other styles (for example, romanticism, baroque, impressionism, etc.). era in music, on the other hand, opens the way to the “romantic age”. From a broad historical perspective, this formulation is not objectionable. However, it gives little insight into the essence of Beethoven's style itself. For, while in some respects at certain stages of evolution it comes into contact with the work of the classicists of the 18th century and the romantics of the next generation, Beethoven’s music does not actually coincide in some important, decisive ways with the requirements of either style. Moreover, it is generally difficult to characterize it using stylistic concepts developed on the basis of studying the work of other artists. Beethoven is inimitably individual. Moreover, he is so many-sided and multifaceted that no familiar stylistic categories cover all the diversity of his appearance.

With a greater or lesser degree of certainty, we can only talk about a certain sequence of stages in the composer’s quest. Throughout his career, Beethoven continuously expanded the expressive boundaries of his art, constantly leaving behind not only his predecessors and contemporaries, but also his own achievements of an earlier period. Nowadays, it is customary to be amazed at the versatility of Stravinsky or Picasso, seeing in this a sign of the special intensity of the evolution of artistic thought characteristic of the 20th century. But Beethoven in this sense is in no way inferior to the above-mentioned luminaries. It is enough to compare almost any randomly selected works of Beethoven to be convinced of the incredible versatility of his style. Is it easy to believe that the elegant septet in the style of the Viennese divertissement, the monumental dramatic “Eroic Symphony” and the deeply philosophical quartets op. 59 belong to the same pen? Moreover, they were all created within one, six-year period.

None of Beethoven's sonatas can be singled out as the most characteristic of the composer's style in the field of piano music. Not a single work typifies his quest in the symphonic sphere. Sometimes in the same year Beethoven releases works that are so contrasting with each other that at first glance it is difficult to recognize the common features between them. Let us at least recall the well-known Fifth and Sixth Symphonies. Every detail of thematicity, every formative technique in them is as sharply opposed to each other as the general artistic concepts of these symphonies - the acutely tragic Fifth and the idyllically pastoral Sixth - are incompatible. If we compare works created at different, relatively distant stages of the creative path - for example, the First Symphony and the “Solemn Mass”, quartets op. 18 and the last quartets, the Sixth and Twenty-ninth piano sonatas, etc., etc., then we will see creations so strikingly different from each other that at first impression they are unconditionally perceived as the product of not only different intellects, but also from different artistic eras. Moreover, each of the mentioned opuses is highly characteristic of Beethoven, each is a miracle of stylistic completeness.

One can only speak about a single artistic principle that characterizes Beethoven’s works in the most general terms: throughout his entire career, the composer’s style evolved as a result of the search for a truthful embodiment of life. The powerful embrace of reality, the richness and dynamics in the transmission of thoughts and feelings, and finally, a new understanding of beauty compared to its predecessors led to such multifaceted, original and artistically timeless forms of expression that can only be summarized by the concept of the unique “Beethoven style.”

According to Serov's definition, Beethoven understood beauty as an expression of high ideology. The hedonistic, gracefully diversified side of musical expressiveness was consciously overcome in Beethoven's mature work.

Just as Lessing advocated precise and meager speech against the artificial, decorative style of salon poetry, saturated with elegant allegories and mythological attributes, so Beethoven rejected everything decorative and conventionally idyllic.

In his music, not only the exquisite ornamentation, inseparable from the style of expression of the 18th century, disappeared. Balance and symmetry of musical language, smooth rhythm, chamber transparency of sound - these stylistic features, characteristic of all of Beethoven's Viennese predecessors without exception, were also gradually crowded out of his musical speech. Beethoven's idea of beauty required emphasized nakedness of feelings. He was looking for different intonations - dynamic and restless, sharp and persistent. The sound of his music became rich, dense, and dramatically contrasting; his themes acquired hitherto unprecedented laconicism and stern simplicity. To people brought up on the musical classicism of the 18th century, Beethoven’s manner of expression seemed so unusual, “unsmoothed,” and sometimes even ugly, that the composer was repeatedly reproached for striving to be original, and they saw in his new expressive techniques a search for strange, deliberately dissonant sounds that grate the ear.

And, however, with all the originality, courage and novelty, Beethoven’s music is inextricably linked with the previous culture and with the classicist system of thought.

Advanced schools of the 18th century, spanning several artistic generations, prepared Beethoven's work. Some of them received a generalization and final form in it; the influences of others are revealed in a new original refraction.

Beethoven's work is most closely connected with the art of Germany and Austria.

First of all, there is a noticeable continuity with Viennese classicism of the 18th century. It is no coincidence that Beethoven entered the history of Culture as the last representative of this school. He began on the path paved by his immediate predecessors Haydn and Mozart. Beethoven also deeply perceived the structure of heroic-tragic images of Gluck's musical drama, partly through the works of Mozart, which in their own way refracted this figurative principle, and partly directly from Gluck's lyrical tragedies. Beethoven is equally clearly perceived as Handel's spiritual heir. The triumphant, lightly heroic images of Handel’s oratorios began a new life on an instrumental basis in Beethoven’s sonatas and symphonies. Finally, clear successive threads connect Beethoven with that philosophical and contemplative line in musical art, which has long been developed in the choral and organ schools of Germany, becoming its typical national principle and reaching its peak expression in the art of Bach. The influence of Bach's philosophical lyrics on the entire structure of Beethoven's music is deep and undeniable and can be traced from the First Piano Sonata to the Ninth Symphony and the last quartets, created shortly before his death.

Protestant chorale and traditional everyday German song, democratic Singspiel and Viennese street serenades - these and many other types of national art are also uniquely embodied in Beethoven's work. It recognizes both the historically established forms of peasant songwriting and the intonations of modern urban folklore. Essentially everything organically national in the culture of Germany and Austria was reflected in the sonata-symphonic work of Beethoven.

The art of other countries, especially France, also contributed to the formation of his multifaceted genius. In Beethoven's music one can hear echoes of Rousseauian motifs, which were embodied in the 18th century in French comic opera, starting with "The Village Sorcerer" by Rousseau himself and ending with the classical works in this genre by Grétry. The poster-like, sternly solemn character of the mass revolutionary genres in France left an indelible mark on it, marking a break with the chamber art of the 18th century. Cherubini's operas introduced acute pathos, spontaneity and dynamics of passions, close to the emotional structure of Beethoven's style.

Just as Bach’s work absorbed and generalized at the highest artistic level all the significant schools of the previous era, so the horizons of the brilliant symphonist of the 19th century embraced all the viable musical movements of the previous century. But Beethoven's new understanding of musical beauty reworked these origins into such an original form that in the context of his works they are not always easily recognizable.

In exactly the same way, the classicist system of thought is refracted in Beethoven’s work in a new form, far from the style of expression of Gluck, Haydn, and Mozart. This is a special, purely Beethovenian type of classicism, which has no prototypes in any artist. Composers of the 18th century did not even think about the very possibility of such grandiose constructions that became typical of Beethoven, such freedom of development within the framework of sonata formation, about such diverse types of musical thematics, and the complexity and richness of the very texture of Beethoven’s music should have been perceived by them as unconditional a step back to the rejected manner of Bach's generation. And yet, Beethoven’s belonging to the classicist system of thought clearly appears against the background of those new aesthetic principles that began to unconditionally dominate in the music of the post-Beethoven era.

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 has long been controversial. 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

One of the most respected and performed composers in the world. He wrote in all genres that existed in his time, including opera, ballet, music for dramatic performances, and choral works. The most significant works in his legacy are considered to be instrumental works: piano, violin and cello sonatas, piano and violin concertos, quartets, overtures, symphonies.

Biography

The house where the composer was born

Ludwig van Beethoven was born in December 1770 in the city of Bonn into the family of a musician. The exact date of birth has not been established; only the date of baptism is known - December 17. His father was a singer in the court chapel, and his grandfather served as bandmaster there. The grandfather of the future composer was from Holland, hence the prefix “van” before Beethoven’s surname. The composer's father was a gifted musician, but a weak man and also a drinker. He wanted to make a second Mozart out of his son and began teaching him how to play the harpsichord and violin. However, he soon cooled down to his studies and entrusted the boy to his friends. One taught Ludwig to play the organ, the other taught him to play the violin and flute.

In 1780, organist and composer Christian Gottlieb Nefe arrived in Bonn. He became Beethoven's real teacher. Nefe immediately realized that the boy had talent. He introduced Ludwig to Bach's Well-Tempered Clavier and the works of Handel, as well as the music of his older contemporaries: F. E. Bach, Haydn and Mozart. Thanks to Nefa, Beethoven's first work, Variations on a Theme of Dressler's March, was published. Beethoven was twelve years old at that time, and he was already working as an assistant to the court organist.

After the death of the grandfather, the family’s financial situation worsened, the father drank and brought almost no money home. Ludwig had to leave school early, but he wanted to supplement his education: he learned Latin, studied Italian and French, and read a lot. Having already become an adult, the composer admitted in one of his letters:

“There is no work that would be too learned for me; Without pretending in the slightest degree to be learned in the proper sense of the word, I have nevertheless, since childhood, striven to understand the essence of the best and wisest people of each era.”

Among Beethoven's favorite writers are the ancient Greek authors Homer and Plutarch, the English playwright Shakespeare, and the German poets Goethe and Schiller.

At this time, Beethoven began to compose music, but was in no hurry to publish his works. Much of what he wrote in Bonn was subsequently revised by him. From the composer’s youthful works, two children’s sonatas and several songs are known, including “Marmot”.

Already in the first years of his life in Vienna, Beethoven gained fame as a virtuoso pianist. His performance amazed the audience. They compared it to a volcanic eruption, and Beethoven himself to Napoleon.

Beethoven at 30

In the early years, in the person of the composer one could find some resemblance to the young revolutionary general, but his contemporaries had something else in mind: a manner of performance that violated all previous rules. Beethoven boldly contrasted the extreme registers (and at that time they played mostly in the middle), made extensive use of the pedal (and it was also rarely used then), and used massive chord harmonies. In fact, it was he who created piano style far from the exquisitely lacy manner of harpsichordists.

This style can be found in his piano sonatas No. 8 - Pathétique (title given by the composer himself), No. 13 and No. 14, both of which have the author's subtitle: "Sonata quasi una Fantasia" (in the spirit of fantasy). The poet Relshtab subsequently called Sonata No. 14 “Moonlight,” and although this name fits only the first movement and not the finale, it was forever attached to the entire work.

Beethoven also amazed with his appearance. Casually dressed, with a mane of black hair, with sharp, angular movements, he immediately stood out among the graceful ladies and gentlemen.

Beethoven did not hide his feelings. On the contrary, as soon as he noticed the slightest disrespect for himself, he stated it directly, without choosing expressions. One day, while he was playing, one of the guests allowed himself to speak to the lady; Beethoven immediately interrupted the performance: “I won’t play with such pigs!”. And no amount of apology or persuasion helped.

Beethoven's works began to be widely published and enjoyed success. During the first Viennese decade, a lot was written: twenty piano sonatas and three piano concertos, eight violin sonatas, quartets and other chamber works, the oratorio “Christ on the Mount of Olives,” the ballet “The Works of Prometheus,” the First and Second Symphonies.

Teresa Brunswik, Beethoven's faithful friend and student

In 1796, Beethoven began to lose his hearing. He develops tinitis, an inflammation of the inner ear that leads to ringing in the ears. On the advice of doctors, he retires for a long time to the small town of Heiligenstadt. However, peace and quiet do not improve his well-being. Beethoven begins to understand that deafness is incurable. During these tragic days, he writes a letter that will later be called the Heiligenstadt Testament. The composer talks about his experiences, admits that he was close to suicide. “It seemed unthinkable to me to leave the world,” writes Beethoven, “before I had fulfilled everything to which I felt called.”

In Heiligenstadt, the composer begins work on a new Third Symphony, which he will call Heroic.

As a result of Beethoven's deafness, unique historical documents have been preserved: “conversation notebooks”, where Beethoven’s friends wrote down their remarks for him, to which he responded either orally or in a response note.

Later years: 1802-1812

In piano work, the composer's own style is noticeable already in the early sonatas, but in symphonic music maturity came to him later. According to Tchaikovsky, only in the third symphony “for the first time, all the immense, amazing power of Beethoven’s creative genius was revealed.”<

Due to deafness, Beethoven is separated from the world and deprived of sound perception. He becomes gloomy and withdrawn. It was during these years that the composer created his most famous works one after another. During these same years, the composer worked on his only opera, Fidelio. This opera belongs to the genre of “horror and salvation” operas. Success for Fidelio came only in 1814, when the opera was staged first in Vienna, then in Prague, where it was conducted by the famous German composer Weber, and finally in Berlin.

Giulietta Guicciardi, to whom the composer dedicated the Moonlight Sonata

Shortly before his death, the composer handed over the manuscript of Fidelio to his friend and secretary Schindler with the words: “This child of my spirit was born in greater torment than others, and caused me the greatest grief. That’s why it’s dearer to me than anyone else..."

Last years

After 1812, the composer's creative activity declined for a while. However, after three years he begins to work with the same energy. At this time, piano sonatas from the Twenty-eighth to the last, the Thirty-second, two cello sonatas, quartets, and the vocal cycle “To a Distant Beloved” were created. Much time is also devoted to adaptations of folk songs. Along with Scottish, Irish, Welsh, there are also Russians. But the main creations of recent years have been Beethoven's two most monumental works - the Solemn Mass and the Ninth Symphony with choir.

The Ninth Symphony was performed in 1824. The audience gave the composer a standing ovation. Beethoven stood with his back to the audience and did not hear anything, then one of the singers took his hand and turned him to face the audience. People waved scarves, hats, and hands, greeting the composer. The ovation lasted so long that the police officials present demanded that it stop. Such greetings were allowed only in relation to the person of the emperor.

In Austria, after the defeat of Napoleon, a police regime was established. The government, frightened by the revolution, persecuted any free thought. Numerous secret agents penetrated all levels of society. In Beethoven's conversation books there are warnings every now and then: "Quiet! Be careful, there's a spy here! And probably after some particularly bold statement from the composer: “You will end up on the scaffold!”

Beethoven's grave in the central cemetery of Vienna, Austria.

However, Beethoven's fame was so great that the government did not dare touch him. Despite his deafness, the composer continues to keep abreast of not only political but also musical news. He read (that is, listens with his inner ear) the scores of Rossini's operas, looks through a collection of Schubert's songs, and gets acquainted with the operas of the German composer Weber "Free Shooter" and "Euryanthe". Arriving in Vienna, Weber visited Beethoven. They had breakfast together, and Beethoven, usually not given to ceremony, looked after his guest. After the death of his younger brother, the composer took care of his son. Beethoven placed his nephew in the best boarding schools and entrusted his student Czerny to study music with him. The composer wanted the boy to become a scientist or artist, but he was not attracted to art, but to cards and billiards. Enmeshed in debt, he attempted suicide. This attempt did not cause much harm: the bullet only slightly scratched the skin on the head. Beethoven was very worried about this. His health deteriorated sharply. The composer develops a serious liver disease.

Beethoven's funeral.

Beethoven at work at home (note the surroundings)

Czerny studied with Beethoven for five years, after which the composer gave him a document in which he noted “the exceptional success of the student and his amazing musical memory.” Cherny's memory was truly amazing: he knew by heart all of his teacher's piano works.

Czerny began his teaching career early and soon became one of the best teachers in Vienna. Among his students was Theodor Leschetizky, who can be called one of the founders of the Russian piano school. From 1858, Leshetitsky lived in St. Petersburg, and from 1862 to 1878 he taught at the newly opened conservatory. Here he studied with A. N. Esipova, later a professor of the same conservatory, V. I. Safonov, professor and director of the Moscow Conservatory, S. M. Maykapar, whose works are known to every student of the music school.

Czerny was an unusually prolific composer, he wrote more than a thousand works in various genres, but his etudes brought him the widest fame. It is difficult to count how many generations of musicians were brought up in these “schools of finger fluency” that are mandatory for every pianist. Czerny's credit also includes editing the sonatas of Giuseppe Scarlatti and Bach's Well-Tempered Clavier.

In 1822, a father and a boy came to Czerny, who had come from the Hungarian town of Doboryan. The boy had no idea about the correct position or fingering, but the experienced teacher immediately realized that in front of him was not an ordinary, but a gifted, perhaps a genius, child. The boy's name was Franz Liszt. Liszt studied with Czerny for a year and a half. His success was so great that his teacher allowed him to speak in public. Beethoven was present at the concert. He guessed the boy's talent and kissed him. Liszt kept the memory of this kiss all his life. It is Liszt who can be called a true student of Beethoven.

Neither Rhys nor Czerny, but he inherited Beethoven's style of playing. Like Beethoven, Liszt interprets the piano as an orchestra. While touring Europe, he promoted Beethoven's work, performing not only his piano works, but also symphonies that he adapted for the piano. At that time, Beethoven's music, especially symphonic music, was still unknown to a wide audience. In 1839 Liszt arrived in Bonn. They had been planning to erect a monument to the composer here for several years, but progress was slow.

Liszt made up the shortfall with proceeds from his concerts. It was only thanks to efforts that the monument to the composer was erected.

Causes of death

Studies of hair and bone matter allowed archaeopathologists to establish that Beethoven suffered from lead poisoning long before his death. Doses of lead entered his body regularly - presumably either through wine or in the baths he took. This resulted in incurable liver disease, which was confirmed by autopsy.

You know a pregnant woman who already has 8 children. Two of them are blind, three are deaf, one is mentally retarded, and she herself has syphilis. Would you advise her to have an abortion?

If you advised an abortion, you just killed Ludwig van Beethoven.

Beethoven's parents married in 1767. In 1769, their first son, Ludwig Maria, was born, who died 6 days later, which was normal for that time. There is no information on whether he was blind, deaf, mentally retarded, etc. In 1770, Ludwig van Beethoven, composer, was born. In 1774, a third son, Caspar Carl van Beethoven, was born. In 1776, the fourth son, Nikolaus Johann, was born. In 1779, a daughter, Anna Maria Francisca, was born; she died four days later. No information has been preserved on whether she was blind, deaf, mentally retarded, etc. In 1781, his brother, Franz Georg, was born (died two years later). In 1786 his sister, Maria Margarita, was born. She died a year later, when Ludwig was 17 years old. That same year, his mother dies of tuberculosis, which was completely normal at that time.

Works

9 symphonies: No. 1 (-), No. 2 (), No. 3 “Heroic” (-), No. 4 (), No. 5 (-), No. 6 “Pastoral” (), No. 7 (), No. 8 ( ), No. 9 ().
11 symphonic overtures, including Coriolanus, Egmont, Leonora No. 3.
5 concertos for piano and orchestra.
32 piano sonatas, many variations and small pieces for piano.
10 sonatas for violin and piano.
concerto for violin and orchestra, concerto for piano, violin and cello and orchestra (“triple concerto”)
5 sonatas for cello and piano.
16 quartets.
Ballet "Creations of Prometheus".
Opera "Fidelio".
Solemn Mass.
Vocal cycle “To a distant beloved”.
Songs based on poems by various poets, adaptations of folk songs.