Composer & Pianist1770–1827

    Ludwig van Beethoven

    The Sound He Could Not Hear

    Born in Bonn in December 1770 and baptised on 17 December, Ludwig van Beethoven became the composer who carried Western music from the Classical era into the Romantic — writing nine symphonies, including the Fifth and the choral Ninth, while gradually losing his hearing.

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    • Composer
    • Pianist
    • Classical to Romantic
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    A life in brief

    Ludwig van Beethoven: life and timeline.

    His father, a court tenor who drank, advertised him at seven as a six-year-old prodigy in the hope of a second Mozart. Ludwig van Beethoven was supporting his family by his late teens, left Bonn for Vienna at twenty-one and dazzled its aristocracy as a pianist. Then, in his late twenties, the ringing in his ears began. He wrote the Eroica, the Fifth and the Ninth while his hearing failed, and at the Ninth's premiere a soloist had to turn him round to see the applause.

    1. 1770

      Born in Bonn

      Born in Bonn, in the Electorate of Cologne, and baptised on 17 December; his exact birth date was never recorded. His grandfather and namesake, from Mechelen in today's Belgium, is Kapellmeister at the court.

    2. 1778

      A prodigy for sale

      In March his father, Johann, presents him in a concert in Cologne and advertises him as six when he is seven — an attempt to market him as the next Mozart after years of harsh lessons.

    3. 1783

      Neefe's prediction

      His teacher Christian Gottlob Neefe, the court organist, has introduced him to Bach's Well-Tempered Clavier. Neefe writes in a music magazine that the boy will become a second Mozart if he continues as he has begun.

    4. 1787

      His mother dies

      Maria Magdalena dies of tuberculosis in July, when he is sixteen. As his father's drinking worsens, he becomes the practical head of the family, and in 1789 petitions to have part of his father's salary paid to him.

    5. 1792

      To Vienna

      Leaves Bonn in November to study with Haydn. His patron Count Waldstein writes that he will receive Mozart's spirit from Haydn's hands. Vienna's aristocracy soon prizes him as a pianist and improviser.

    6. 1802

      The Heiligenstadt Testament

      With his hearing failing since the late 1790s, he writes a letter to his brothers in the village of Heiligenstadt admitting he had thought of ending his life, and that only his art held him back. He never sends it.

    7. 1804

      Eroica

      Completes his Third Symphony, longer and more ambitious than any symphony before it. He had linked it to Napoleon, but on hearing Napoleon had made himself Emperor he scratched the name from the title page so hard it tore the paper.

    8. 1808

      The Fifth and the Pastoral

      The Fifth Symphony, with its four-note opening, and the Sixth, the Pastoral, are premiered together at a marathon concert in Vienna on 22 December.

    9. 1814

      Fidelio and the end of performing

      The final version of his only opera, Fidelio, succeeds in Vienna. Around the same time his deafness ends his career as a public pianist; by about 1818 friends communicate with him through conversation books.

    10. 1815

      The fight for Karl

      After his brother Caspar Karl dies, he begins years of legal battles with his sister-in-law Johanna for custody of his nephew Karl. The pressure he puts on the boy ends in Karl's suicide attempt in 1826, which he survives.

    11. 1824

      The Ninth Symphony

      On 7 May the Ninth is premiered at the Theater am Kärntnertor, its finale setting Schiller's 'Ode to Joy' for soloists and chorus. Unable to hear the ovation, he is turned to face the audience by the contralto Caroline Unger.

    12. 1827

      Death in Vienna

      Dies on 26 March, aged fifty-six, after months of illness with jaundice and liver disease. Thousands line the streets for his funeral; Franz Schubert is among the torchbearers.

    Major achievements

    Ludwig van Beethoven: major achievements.

    • 01

      Nine symphonies that changed the form

      The Eroica stretched the symphony's scale, the Fifth turned four notes into a drama of struggle and triumph, and the Ninth brought voices into a symphony's finale. Composers from Brahms to Wagner measured themselves against them.

    • 02

      The piano sonatas

      Thirty-two sonatas, from the Pathétique of 1798–99 to the 'Moonlight' of 1801 and the late works, transformed what the piano could express.

    • 03

      The late quartets

      Written after the Ninth, when he was fully deaf, the late string quartets puzzled many contemporaries and are now counted among the most searching chamber music ever composed.

    • 04

      Europe's anthem

      The 'Ode to Joy' melody was adopted by the Council of Europe in 1972 and by the European Communities in 1985. Leonard Bernstein conducted the Ninth in Berlin on Christmas Day 1989, weeks after the Wall fell.

    • 05

      The composer as independent artist

      He still relied on patrons such as Prince Lichnowsky, but he came to embody a new idea: the composer whose own inner necessity mattered as much as any employer's command.

    Turning points

    Ludwig van Beethoven: defining moments.

    • 1787

      Losing his mother

      Her death at the age of forty left him, at sixteen, effectively running a household with an alcoholic father and two younger brothers. He later called her his best friend.

    • 1792

      Leaving Bonn for Vienna

      Vienna gave him Haydn as a teacher, princes as patrons and a public that adored his improvising. The move made him a professional composer in the city where Mozart had died a year earlier.

    • 1802

      Heiligenstadt

      Sent to the countryside on medical advice, he confronted the likelihood that his deafness was permanent. The unsent letter he wrote there records a decision to live for his work, and a 'heroic' decade of composition followed.

    • 1818–1827

      The music of total deafness

      Communicating through conversation books and increasingly isolated, he turned inward. The Missa Solemnis, the Ninth Symphony and the late quartets came from this final decade.

    I will seize Fate by the throat; it shall certainly never wholly overcome me.

    Letter to Franz Gerhard Wegeler, 16 November 1801 (English translation)

    What you’ll take away

    Lessons from Ludwig van Beethoven’s life.

    1. 01

      Work does not wait for ideal conditions

      His greatest music was written as the sense he depended on most disappeared. He composed what he could only hear in his imagination.

    2. 02

      A private crisis can become a turning point

      The Heiligenstadt letter is a document of despair, but it ends in a decision. What followed was the most productive decade of his life.

    3. 03

      Genius is not the same as kindness

      The man who wrote the 'Ode to Joy' smothered his nephew with control and expectation. His life shows how greatness and failure can share the same household.

    FAQ

    Frequently asked questions about Ludwig van Beethoven.

    When was Ludwig van Beethoven born?

    In December 1770, in Bonn. His exact birth date was not recorded; he was baptised on 17 December 1770, and 16 December is often given as the likely birthday.

    Was Beethoven German?

    Yes. He was born in Bonn, in the German-speaking Electorate of Cologne within the Holy Roman Empire, though his paternal family came from Mechelen in today's Belgium. He lived in Vienna from 1792 until his death.

    How did Beethoven go deaf?

    No one knows for certain. His hearing began to fail in his late twenties, around 1796 to 1798, starting with ringing and buzzing in his ears, and he was profoundly deaf by his final decade. Proposed causes range from otosclerosis to illness, and recent analyses of hair samples have found high lead levels, but none is proven.

    How did Beethoven die?

    Of a long illness involving liver disease. He died in Vienna on 26 March 1827, aged fifty-six, after months of jaundice and abdominal swelling; his autopsy found a cirrhotic liver. A 2023 DNA study of his hair suggested a genetic risk of liver disease and a hepatitis B infection.

    What are Beethoven's most famous works?

    The Fifth and Ninth Symphonies, the 'Moonlight' Sonata and Für Elise are the best known. The Ninth's finale, the 'Ode to Joy', is now Europe's anthem; Für Elise, a short piano piece from about 1810, was only published decades after his death.

    Was Beethoven ever married?

    No. He fell in love repeatedly, often with women of higher rank, but never married and had no children. A passionate letter to an unnamed 'Immortal Beloved', found after his death, has never been conclusively traced.

    Did Beethoven meet Mozart?

    Possibly, but there is no reliable evidence. He travelled to Vienna in 1787, perhaps hoping to study with Mozart, but had to return to Bonn when his mother fell ill; accounts of a meeting are anecdotal.

    Where is Beethoven buried?

    In Vienna's Central Cemetery (Zentralfriedhof). He was first buried at Währing cemetery in 1827, and his remains were moved to the Zentralfriedhof in 1888.

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