“It is still unknown whether Beethoven was born on December 16 or 17 1770 as only the day of his baptism is recorded. “The house of his birth is not the “Hohe Haus” in Rheingasse, but the house in Bonngasse.”(Nettl, 1956, pg.13) Beethoven was convinced that he was born in 1772; even though many friends showed him copies of baptismal certificates, he still believed that he was born in 177

I wonder if Beethoven, knew how much “noise” he would not hear with this masterpiece of his. If he thought at the time that the idea of the collision of voices with a symphonic sound like the one he created would be so radical that it had to work. What did he really have to loose, he wouldn’t have been able to hear his critics poor review if his idea had failed.

important sense of his being, the sense of hearing was inexorably failing.” (Slonimsky, 2001, pg. 262)

Beethoven did not bond well with most people, and it could be because of the mental and physical abuse he suffered from his father. He was a strict teacher too when he received custody of his nephew Karl. Beethoven would make Karl practice long hours as he did for his father. Although there are no reports of him beating Karl, there is a time in a poor attempt, when Karl tried to take his own life. One would think that a man who suffered so much as a young boy would treat his “son” much differently then the treatment he received. This carried over to romantic relationships, like most men he wanted the love and devotion of a woman. “Beethoven was often enamored, but with women who were too young, who were inaccessible because of their social position.” (Ewen, 1966, pg. 32)

At a young age, Beethoven’s father who was still a singer in the Electoral choir, could see that his son had been blessed with a gift. He saw this gift as a meal ticket and would cash it in just as Mozart’s father had done years before. Beethoven was forced to brutal practice for long hours during the day and into the night. It was also rumored that the young boy was forced to stand in front of the keyboard for long periods of time frequently in tears. His father, who was strict, would physically discipline him. This physical abuse is rumored to have lead to his deafness. The abuse received by Beethoven from his father made Beethoven seek comfort from his mother and grandfather.

When I listen to Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony, I wonder how someone can write music for all those different instruments, and make it sound as wonderful as it does. I find myself closing my eyes and picturing the huge orchestra and the way they warm up, getting ready for the big show. When the begging of Allegro ma non troppo, un poco maestoso starts the strings repeat themselves over and over again first soft and quick and then repeat again a little louder with the same speed, and then again louder then the last time with force. That is my favorite part. I open eyes and find myself in my dorm room, wondering how Beethoven wrote a seventy-two minute symphony. Not only did he write a seventy-two minute work but he wrote the work deaf. When I think of that, it makes me feel so small and minuscule. Compare the fact that Beethoven wrote many pieces deaf, to a painter who is blind, or better yet a mechanic that can tune your car with no arms. Sure you make think that is not fair to compare an armless mechanic because he needs his arms in order to hold tools to get the job done. But a person needs ears in order to hear music, or for all they know they are making a bunch of racket that could sound as “tone-deaf” as me singing.

I think what Mr. Schoenberg is saying in his quote is that when composers write music especially symphonies that they learn something about themselves. For example it was rumored that Beethoven had already had some of the Ninth Symphony written before the Seventh and Eighth were completed. He wrote those two works parallel . Something could have happened during the process that triggered a change in the way he created the music. I would believe that someone who does write music and symphonies evolves into a different style from when they first started, the individual must mature as an artist and as a person. Musicians always want to be original and I think that Beethoven and his Ninth Symphony had this effect on the world o

Some topics in this essay:
Ninth Symphony, Piano Concerto, Joseph Haydn, , Malzel Streicher, Electorate Cologne, Beethoven Karl, Neefe Beethoven’s, Prince Lichnowsky, Beethoven Bruckner, ninth symphony, 1966 pg, ewen 1966, ewen 1966 pg, write music, pg 30, father beethoven, 1966 pg 30, solomon 1977 pg, 1977 pg, solomon 1977, ability hear, physical abuse, sony 1991 pg, comfort mother grandfather,