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I have done enough research about Ludwig van Beethoven, one of the best music composers that ever lived and I am now ready to give the story of his life, his most outstanding compositions and his influence on the music that came after him. Ludwig van Beethoven was born in Bonn Germany in the summative years of the 18th century. His father and grandfather were musicians .They were immigrants from Belgium. His interest in music started at a very early and his father took advantage of this interest to teach him music day and night. Beethoven was so talented in music that his father predicted that his son would definitely be the next Mozart. He had his first public performance when he was barely eight years old. Wowed by his interest and talent in music, renowned musicians of the day such as Neefe took their time to teach the young boy more music as they exposed him to the works of modern and ancient philosophers. Ludwig van Beethoven published his first work (9 Variations in C minor) and Neefe started seeing a New Mozart in Beethoven (Lockwood 21).
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Prince Maximilian Franz, aware of Beethoven's gift in music sent him to Vienna where he met Mozart for the first time. He went back to Bonn a year later when his mother fell sick but returned to Vienna again five years later to pursue his musical education under the sponsorship of Prince Franz. Beethoven made his first public performance in 1795 at the age of 18 and the international world started admiring his music. In 1801, Beethoven discovered that he was going deaf and was so disillusioned by this handicap that he contemplated suicide. However, this handicap did not put him down because in the years that followed, his creativity became so intense and composed many more symphonies and sonatas.
Beethoven's Compositions
Ludwig van Beethoven made compositions in several music genres and had a variety of musical combinations. He had nine symphonies, Seven Concerti for orchestra and soloist, 32 piano sonatas, 16 string quartets and a number of occasional classical. However, he had only one opera titled the Fidelio. There are some compositions that stood out one of the most outstanding composition made by this musical great was his massive third symphony that was called "The Eroica" that he composed between 1803 and 1804. This composition was a landmark in cultural history and signalled a major break from the past and ushered a new era of music. The length and orchestration, the structure and harmonics of Erica broke all the known conventions in conventional music. He originally dedicated this symphony to Napoleon but later withdrew when the latter declared him the emperor. His second most influential compositions are the Piano Concertos, Emperor Concerto, the Waldestein and the Appassionata. These compositions were composed during the middle age at the pick of his creativity.
After 1816, Beethoven made compositions of greater depth and complexity. One of the most influential compositions during this period was the very demanding and almost symphonic "Hammerklavier". This is the most popular composition that Beethoven made during his prime and it is the compositions that have had the most impact on 2oth century classical music. His last five string quartets plus the "Grosse Fuge" were made in his final years of his music careers and are considered by most lovers as his most supreme compositions. They are also considered as the most sublime pieces of music that have ever graced the world of music. These compositions have remained unrivalled today and they still wow many lovers of classical music to date.
Beethoven's Influence on Romantic and modern Music
Ludwig van Beethoven was the greatest musical masterminds that ever graced the musical world. He has undoubtedly influenced music more than anyone else including his contemporaries like Neefe and Mozart. Every significant composer of the romantic period was influenced by Ludwig van Beethoven in many ways. The composers include Berlioz, Johannes Brahms and Richard Wagner (Clive 105). Beethoven is one of the most admired composers of the classical era and many composers in the distant and recent past have drawn very many conclusions from him. All this influence demonstrates his creativity and ability. The saying that Ludwig van Beethoven single-handedly began the began the Romantic era in music would not be an overstatement because, though many others contributed to the cultural change that gave birth to musical romanticism, his works really influenced the shape that music took in this important era of history. Beethoven was one of the most transformational figures that have ever graced the world of music. His music illuminates the development of the classical music forms of the 18th century in a concrete manner (Solomon 90). His style was extremely experimental and his difficult compositions really challenged the players of those days. Listening to the Appassionata and the Moonlight Sonata one gets a feeling that Beethoven managed to make passion an integral part of music. He was the first person to write music without a key signature and this style has really influenced the development of modern pop music. His music changed the western based concept of the role of music in a more abstract sense. Before the advent Beethoven and his music, classical music used to be written primarily for pleasant distractions and for use by the conventional church. However, Ludwig Van Beethoven turned music into an expressive form of art where emotions and feelings became an integral part of the art.