Το παρακάτω κείμενο αποτελεί μία εργασία από τον μαθητή της Β΄ Γυμνασίου Σπύρου Φράγκου που πραγματοποίησε στο πλαίσιο του μαθήματος των αγγλικών.
THE GREATEST MUCISIAN OF HISTORY: A brief biography of Ludwig Van Beethoven.
Who was Ludwig Van Beethoven?
Ludwig van Beethoven was a German pianist and composer, born in the city of Bonn, he is to this day considered to be one of, if not the greatest musical composer of all time. His unique way of writing music, and the inspiration he acquired from personal experiences, resulted in some of the best music, not only of the classical genre, but the best in music all together.
The pieces he wrote varied, ranging from sonatas, all the way to entire symphonies, some of his most, notable, works include his 27 piano sonatas for conservatory, the most recognizable of which being his sonata no.14 moonlight, which is one of the hardest sonatas ever written, considering its third movement is written in the playing style “prestro algerto”, which in English it translates to “powerful and fast”, so its no wonder this piece is held so high up in difficulty.
Of course, the most recongniseable works of Beethoven, are his 9 symphonies, the most famous one being his symphony no.5 in the g minor key.
Family.
As far as beethovens siblings go, literally, he had only two, younger, brother brothers, whom made it past childhood, their names were, Caspar, who was born in 1774, and jonathan born in 1776. Beethovens mother, Maria Magdalena van Beethoven, did not have any musical expiriences, nor had any notable features, other than she was rather moralistic.
His father, Johann van Beethoven, was a mediocre court singer better known for his alcoholism than any musical ability. However, Beethoven’s grandfather, godfather and namesake, Kapellmeister Ludwig van Beethoven, was Bonn’s most prosperous and eminent musician, a source of endless pride for young Beethoven.
The Ninth.
Beethovens 9th, and final symphony, marked, not only what is considered to be the single greatest piece of music ever written, but one of the greatest achievements in the history of humanity, and also notable fact, is that when Beethoven wrote this second to last masterpiece of his, he had gone completely deaf. Beethovens ninth symphony is used today as the anthem of the European union, and was played at the time of nazi Germany ever year on Adolf Hitlers Birthday.
In 2001, the original, handwritten music sheet of symphony no.9, was added to the “Memory of the world programme heritage list, becoming the first musical score so designated.
A controversial Birthday
Beethoven was born on or about December 16, 1770, in the city of Bonn in the Electorate of Cologne, a principality of the Holy Roman Empire. Although his exact date of birth is uncertain, Beethoven was baptized on December 17, 1770.
As a matter of law and custom, babies at the time were baptized within 24 hours of birth, so December 16 is his most likely birthdate.
A not well received marvel of music.
There no other way I could complete this article, other than talking about the last ever piece of music ever written by Beethoven, his “Grosse Fugue, Op.133”, This fugue alone explains the struggle and trouble Beethoven bared throughout his life, he wrote this piece with a hope of a new beginning, most people say that the fact that Beethoven died happily can be heard in the 4th part of symphony no.9, so called “ode to joy”, but all in all, I believe the true genius of this man can be heard in the Grosse fugue. Beethoven single handedly, predicted the road music would take, 200 years before modern music would even be considered, listening to the grosse fugue, you would believe that it was a piece written in a year like 2010, or maybe even later, but no, it was written in 1826! Whats even more crazy, is that when Beethoven showed this piece to the world, Vienna hated it! The emperor himself notably said “you are more deaf than I thought you were!”, and yet if he hadent written this fugue, music would not be the same today.
Conclusion.
All in all, I truly cannot put into words, the absolute genius this man had, because I simply cannot! Nobody can, I believe that if he did not suffer from deafness, he would not have only influenced the music of his time, not only would he have influenced music as a whole, but that he would be able to create music, none of us have the ability to even imagine, and most probably, nobody will ever be able to imagine.
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