Beethoven: A Prodigy That Survives Through Generations

Ludwig van Beethoven was born in Bonn, Germany, in 1827.  This German composer of classical music lived for the most part of his life in Vienna, Austria. Beethoven is extensively considered as one of history's highest composers; he produced outstanding masterpieces despite the fact that he was losing his hearing.

Beethoven is extremely recognized as one of the greatest personages in the midway epoch between the Classical and Romantic periods in music. His standing has stimulated or overawed the creative facility of thousands of composers, musicians, and audiences who met him through generations.

These are his most widely-recognized works: Third, Fifth, Sixth and Ninth symphonies (the last one includes "Ode to Joy"); Piano Concerto No. 5 ("Emperor"); a Violin Concerto; the Pathétique, Moonlight, Appassionata, and Hammerklavier piano sonatas; and the bagatelle Für Elise.

His career as a composer is divided into three different periods: early, middle and late. In the early period, he tried to imitate his predecessors Haydn and Mozart; the second or middle period is defined by a crisis due to deafness; it represents heroism and struggle. The late stage was from 1816 to 1827. This is the most admired because it represents his maturity not only intellectually but also his artistic expression of depth and the highest manifestation of his feelings. Though he was attracted to several aristocratic women, he never got married.

Beethoven died on 26 March 1827, after suffering from an extensive illness; after almost two years, Franz Schubert’s body was buried next to Beethoven’s in the Währinger cemetery. In 1888, their graves were relocated in the Zentralfriedhof (Central Cemetery), where they lie next to Johann Strauss I and Johannes Brahms.