1. Childhood

Beethoven’s grandfather and father were both court singers. Most of the time, his father was drunk and never cared about the family harmony. He never even cared about whether the family had enough food and clothing. At first, the kind-hearted grandfather could save the family from too much suffering; in turn, his eldest grandson's musical talent also made the old man feel great comfort. But when little Beethoven was only four years old, his grandfather died. Beethoven's father often dragged his son to the keyboard, made him practice hard for many hours, and slapped him every time he made a mistake. Neighbors often heard the little child sobbing to sleep from fatigue and pain. Soon, Pfeifer, a traveling musician with little skill, came to this town and was taken to Beethoven's house. He and the old Beethoven often drank in a tavern outside until midnight, and then went home and dragged little Ludwig out of bed to start class. This class sometimes was not completed until dawn. In order to make him look like a child prodigy, his father lied about his age and took him out to perform a concert as a six-year-old when he was eight years old. But there is no child prodigy in the world who is nurtured. Although he spent a lot of time, the old Beethoven was never able to cultivate his son into another young Mozart. Compared with Mozart, Beethoven's childhood was too unfortunate. Mozart received a good education in his childhood. His practice time was pleasant and quiet, and he had a loving father and a beloved sister. This was not the case with Beethoven. Although his performance won the respect of his hometown people, he was not recognized worldwide. However, his travel performances are far from astonishing as Mozart.

2. Good Teachers

The father took the boy to one teacher after another and asked him to learn different instruments and the art of composition. None of these teachers could be called good until he fell into the hands of Neefe, the court luthier and manager of the Bonn theater. This is a respected music teacher, friendly, well-educated young man. This was truly a blessing for Beethoven. Because although Bonn had the best schools in town—the kind that even good old Bach would happily send many of his children to—Beethoven’s father never thought it worthwhile to send Beethoven there to study. Even if it is only for two or three months, in his eyes, studying is not as profitable as studying music. For the first time in his life, young Beethoven found lessons enjoyable. Mr. Nephew was very kind to him and taught him not only music but many other things in the world. To pay for his tuition, Beethoven took his place as organist when Mr. Nieffe was busy or out of town. So when he had just turned fourteen, he was appointed assistant court organist and clavichord at the theatre. How proud was the hateful and unfortunate father when he saw that his son's music had finally made some money!

3. Visit to Mozart

Around this time, he visited Vienna for the first time in his life to play for his most admired idol, Mozart. Mozart thought that the boy was just playing a virtuosic showpiece that he had long practiced for such occasions, and out of politeness he had to praise him politely but coldly. Young Beethoven got angry and asked Mozart to give him a theme, which he then improvised on with so much emotion and genius. Mozart was so surprised that he immediately ran to the door of the next room. "Pay attention to this young man," he shouted to a group of friends who were partying inside. "One day the whole world will hear his voice!"

4. Beethoven and Haydn

Beethoven finally understood that he could not make greater progress in his hometown, so he decided to go to Vienna to seek his luck. Mozart was dead by this time, but Haydn had just won his first London victory and was at the height of his fame. When passing through Bonn, Haydn had heard and praised one of Beethoven's cantata, so Beethoven decided to turn to Haydn to learn first. Haydn was by this time long past his youth and working more diligently than ever in composing and conducting his greatest works. No wonder he didn't have much time and energy to correct papers.

Moreover, he requires students to pay only 20 cents for each class. He probably feels that there is no need to spend too much time on practice papers. So Beethoven often found some uncorrected mistakes in his practice, and he was very angry. When the old teacher set off for a second visit to London, Beethoven turned to a less gifted but strict teacher. Later he often loudly declared that he had learned nothing from Haydn. Before long, however, he must have come to feel that, if he had gained nothing from corrective exercises, he had derived inspiration from Haydn, to whom he had dedicated his first piano sonatas. And when Haydn appeared on stage for the last time for his performance of Genesis and was helped out by several of his servants, Beethoven bent down and kissed the frail old man affectionately.

5. Go his own way

Beethoven did not want to be a favorite in the living room. He would rather be in his own residence, able to come in and out, get up, dress and eat as he pleased. . He likes to mess around with trivial matters in the room according to his own interests. Once, in order to allow air circulation and see the scenery outside the window clearly, he deliberately cut off a piece of the window. He was always having troubles with his landlords and was constantly moving. Whenever he was at the height of his creativity, he would pour basin after basin of water over his head to cool it down, until the water soaked into the rooms downstairs - one can only imagine the mood of the landlord and other tenants. ! Sometimes he moved so frequently that he wouldn't even bother putting the legs up on the piano and would just sit on the floor and play it. Since he had to sign a lease specifying the lease term every time he rented a new house, he often paid rent for four apartments at the same time. This is probably the reason why although he earns a lot of money, he never has much savings!

6. Deafness

When he really felt that his ears were getting deafer, he almost despaired. Life seemed not worth living: what could be more unfortunate for a musician than not being able to hear the sweet sound he loved to hear and by which he lived! At first, only a few old friends such as Dr. Wigler and Stephan von Breuning knew about his misfortune. He gave up going to the palaces to hear the cheerful concerts which he loved so much, for he was afraid that people would notice his deafness, thinking that a musician who could not hear could not write good music. No! He thought of all the music he wanted to write, "I want to grab fate by the throat!" Maybe for him, composing music when he was deaf was not as difficult as other musicians. In his view, music is not only the use of charming sounds to arrange various themes or sound patterns, it is also a language that expresses the most profound thoughts.

7. Beethoven and his friends

No musician has so much success and so few happy days in his life as he did. His friends

are kind and loyal, but his cursed deafness separates him from them. Even his hearing aids tended to fail him, so his only way to stay in touch with them was the "conversation pad" and pencil he always carried with him. He saw them talking to each other and thought they were always talking about him, speaking ill of him, and plotting against him. One day he wrote: "Never show your face to me again! You are a mean dog, a dishonest fellow!" The next day, when he found that his suspicions were wrong and his friends were sincere At that time, he wrote another note: "Dear friend, you are an honest man, and you are right. I understand now. So come to me this afternoon and receive your Beethoven love." And. His friends--and what good people they were--always forgave his rough quarrels and stayed with him to the end. His home life was miserable from beginning to end: he never married. When he first arrived in Vienna, he proposed to Magdalene Willman, a singer from his own hometown, but she refused because Beethoven was "too ugly."

Since then, he has fallen in love with several aristocratic women - lovely women with lovely names - and he confided in them with music, but they accepted his music and rejected his love!

[Master Style]

1. Eroica Symphony

Beethoven’s heart was filled with the ideals of freedom, equality and fraternity. He was a French asset in 1789 An ardent supporter of class revolution. In 1798, General Bernadotte (1763-1844) served as the French ambassador to Vienna. Beethoven often visited his home and had close contacts with the people around him. In 1802, at the suggestion of Bernadotte, Beethoven began to write the "Third Symphony" dedicated to Napoleon. In his mind, Napoleon was a hero who destroyed the autocratic system and realized his ideals and revolution. In 1804, Beethoven completed the "Third Symphony". Just as he was preparing to dedicate it to Napoleon, news of Napoleon's proclaimed emperor reached Vienna. When Beethoven learned the news from his student Liss (1784-1838), he angrily shouted: "He is just an ordinary person. Now he will also trample on human rights to fulfill his personal ambitions. He will ride on the Become a tyrant over everyone!" He walked to the table, tore up the dedication to Napoleon and threw it on the floor, not allowing anyone else to pick it up. After many days, Beethoven's anger gradually subsided and he allowed this work to be made public. In December 1804, the symphony was performed for the first time at the court of Prince Robkowitz in Vienna. The first public performance at the Vienna Theater in April 1805 was conducted by Beethoven himself. The program notes read: "A new grand symphony in D sharp major, Ludwig van Bedow Composed by Mr. Fen, dedicated to His Royal Highness Prince Lobkovitz. "Strangely, Beethoven did not say it was in E-flat major, but said it was in D-sharp major. When the score was published in October 1806, the title page printed: Eroica Symphony was written in memory of a great man. From then on, the "Third Symphony" was called the "Eroica Symphony".

2. Symphony of Destiny

The first four notes of Beethoven's "Symphony in C minor" (Op. 67) are strong and heavy, like the sound of fate knocking on the door. This work is therefore called "Symphony of Destiny". "Symphony of Destiny" was composed from 1805 to 1808. Beethoven already said in a letter to his friend Wegler (1765-1848) in November 1808: "I want to block the throat of fate, and it will never completely overwhelm me!" "Fate knocks "The sound of the door" has already appeared in the third movement of "Piano Sonata in C minor" (Op. 10-1) composed in 1798, and later appeared in the third movement of "String Quartet in D major" (Op. 18-3) , the first movement of "Passionate Sonata" (Op. 57), the third "Leonora" Overture (Op. 72), "String Quartet in E flat major" (Op. 74) and other works. It can be seen that defeating fate through struggle has been Beethoven's consistent creative thought. The raging passion for struggle expressed in "Symphony of Destiny" is highly contagious. When the Spanish alto singer Maribrandt heard "Symphony of Destiny" for the first time, she was so frightened that she had to leave. An old guard of Napoleon couldn't help but jump up and shout after hearing the theme at the beginning of the fourth movement: "This is the Emperor!" Berlioz regarded the thrilling struggle scene in "Symphony of Destiny" as "Othello's obedience" Iago's slander misunderstood Desdemona's terrible rage when she had an affair with others. "Schumann believed: "Although you hear this symphony often, it always has a constant power on you. ——Just like the phenomena in nature that occur from time to time, they always make people feel frightened.” In May and June of 1830, Mendelssohn stayed in Weimar for two weeks, meeting Goethe for the last time, and wrote a poem on the piano. He performed famous works of ancient and modern times. Goethe was greatly excited after listening to the first movement of the "Symphony of Destiny". He said: "This is magnificent and thrilling. It will almost shake the house down. If many people play it together, I don't know what will happen. "In March 1841, Engels listened to the performance of "Symphony of Destiny".

It seems that what this piece of music expresses is by no means a clear landscape painting, but an inner gloomy mood. The author of "The Biography of Beethoven" (1817-1897) said that the first movement is "A girl prays for her sick father", which is more appropriate than "Moonlight" and "Garden Pavilion". In 1801, while he was in love with Giulifata Guicciardi (1784-1856), this piece was dedicated to her. On November 16 of this year, Beethoven mentioned her in a letter to Wegler and said: "She loves me and I love her." But by the beginning of 1802, she had fallen in love with Luo Luo. Count Burl Hallenberg, whom he married in 1803. Romain Rolland linked this piece to Beethoven's lovelorn, saying, "The fantasy lasted for a short time, and there was already more pain and grief in the sonata than love." Rolland interpreted the first movement as melancholy, lamentation and crying. Russian musicologist Olibyshev (1794-1858) believed that the first movement is a "deep sorrow" of lost love, like a "dying fire". But in 1801, Beethoven and Guicciardi were passionately in love. To say that this work is about the pain of broken love may not be consistent with the facts. Regarding the explanation of this work, perhaps the views of Russian art critic Stasov (1824-1906) are more reasonable. After recalling listening to Liszt's performance in Petersburg, he believed that this sonata was a complete tragedy. The first movement is a wistful tenderness and a mental state sometimes full of dark premonitions. He also had a similar impression when listening to Anton Rubinstein's performance: "...from afar, far away, as if a quiet voice suddenly rose from the depths of the invisible soul.

Some of the sounds are melancholy, full of infinite melancholy; others are pensive, with a flood of memories and dark omens..." "#C Minor Sonata" is particularly famous for its title and legend of "Moonlight". Beethoven once said: "People often talk about the "#C Minor Sonata", but I have written better things than this, such as the "#F Major Sonata" (Op. 78)." It can be seen that Beethoven I am not very satisfied with "Moonlight Song".

4. Passionate Sonata

Schindler once asked Beethoven about "Sonata in D minor" (Op. 31-2) and "Sonata in F minor" (Op. 57) When asked about the content, Beethoven's reply was: "Please read Shakespeare's "The Tempest"." Therefore, the former was called "The Tempest Sonata", while the latter was added by the Hamburg music publisher Krantz (1789-1870). "Passionate Sonata" title. (Another theory is that the title "Passionate" was added by the German pianist, violinist, composer and conductor Reinecke (1824-1910), which seems to be unfounded.) The title "Passionate" does not have the same meaning as Bedo. Fen's approval, but it is quite appropriate for this heroic and majestic work. Lenin, the mentor of the proletarian revolution, once heard the Russian composer and conductor Doblovin (1894-1953) perform this sonata in Moscow and said: "I don't know anything better than the "Appassionata Sonata". I would like to listen to it every day. This is wonderful, unprecedented music. I always think with perhaps childish boast: What miracles can people create!" Paris during the Franco-Prussian War on October 30, 1870. It had been surrounded by Prussian troops for more than three months. In the headquarters of Prussian King William in Versailles, Iron Prime Minister Bismarck was negotiating the terms of the armistice with Thiers, the head of the French bourgeois government. That evening, Gertel, who had served as the German ambassador to Italy, played the "Passionate Sonata" for Bismarck on a dilapidated piano owned by Verhan. After listening to the last movement, Bismarck said: "This is the howl of the struggle of an entire generation." He understood Beethoven's "enthusiasm" from the standpoint of a bloodthirsty careerist. He once said: "If I can listen to this piece of music often, my courage will not be exhausted" because "Beethoven is the most suitable for my nerves." Beethoven said on June 29, 1801: "My art is used to improve the lot of poor people." If Beethoven was known underground and heard that his music was used by Bismarck, he would definitely die without knowing it. .

5. Metronome·Friendship·Canon

Beethoven’s friend Meltzer (1772-1838) is famous for inventing and manufacturing mechanical musical instruments. In the autumn of 1813, Beethoven wrote a war symphony for the universal piano (mechanical orchestra) invented by Meltzer, titled "Wellington's Victory" or "The Battle of Victoria", describing the British war on June 21 of the same year. Scene of Wellington's defeat of Napoleon in the northern Spanish city of Vitoria. Meltzer once created today's universal metronome based on the invention of Winkel (1776-1826). Beethoven was the first to use it and mark the speed of his works according to the number of beats per minute. Beethoven's hearing aid was also made for him by Meltzel around 1810. Once, when Beethoven was sending Meltzel on a trip, he wrote the richest man Yu Yu's funny Canon to praise the creator of the metronome. This canon, which symbolizes the friendship between Beethoven and Meltzel, was later selected by Beethoven into his Eighth Symphony (Op. 93) and became the theme of the second movement. 6. The Seventh Symphony on the Ballet Stage Wagner called Beethoven's "Seventh Symphony" (Op. 92) "the ultimate form of dance", "the highest form of dance", "the most wonderful movement of the body according to the ideal form". manifestation”. It is said that he once imagined using dance to perform the Seventh Symphony with Liszt's piano accompaniment. Wagner's ideal was later realized by Russian dance drama director Massin. In 1938, he arranged this symphony into a ballet to express an allegorical storyline - the creation and destruction of the world:

First movement: Creation - guided by the creative spirit Below, the chaotic world becomes an orderly abode for plants and animals. Men and women appeared, as well as dangerous snakes. Second Movement: Earth - Hatred and rape appear on the earth. A group of men and women mourn the murdered teenager. The third movement: the sky - the gods and goddesses in the sky are indifferent to the turmoil on the earth and still enjoy themselves. The fourth movement: wine and destruction - people indulge in wine and sex. God saw them badly imitating the joys of the upper world, and in anger destroyed the world with fire. In May 1938, this dance drama was performed for the first time in Monte Carlo, Monaco by Basil's Russian Ballet Company.

7. Ode to Joy and Choral Symphony

In January 1793, Fischenich, a friend of the German poet Schiller and a law professor at the University of Bonn, wrote to Schiller’s wife Charlotte Di said: "There was a young man... who had a great and lofty ambition to compose Schiller's "Ode to Joy" into music verse by verse." This young man was Beethoven. At that time, he lived in Bonn and was only 23 years old. age. Beethoven drafted the music for "Ode to Joy" in 1798 and 1812. The "Ode to Joy" theme, written in 1812, was later used in the "Nameday Festive Overture in C major" (Op. 115) completed in October 1814. Beethoven's song "Mutual Love" composed for Bürger's poem around 1795 and the theme of "Ode to Joy" in the last movement of "Choral Symphony" are closely related in tone. It can be said that it is "Ode to Joy". Theme's predecessor. Later, Beethoven borrowed this tune as the theme in his 1808 "Fantasia for Piano Chorus in C minor" (Op. 80), singing Kuffner's poem praising the charm of music. The chorus part of "Piano Chorus Fantasy" is an attempt to write the finale of "Choral Symphony". In March 1824, Beethoven wrote to Probst: "The finale of the Choral Symphony is written in the style of the Piano Choral Fantasy, but the scale is much larger. "It can be seen from this that Beethoven's intention of composing the music for "Ode to Joy" began in 1793 and took 30 years of thinking before finally being completed in the "Choral Symphony". "Choral Symphony" was completed during the reactionary period after the Carlsbad Resolution when all free thought and democratic movements were brutally suppressed. When it was first performed at Vienna's Clenennator Theater in May 1824, the response from the audience was unprecedentedly enthusiastic. When Beethoven came on stage, he was applauded five times by the audience, so much so that the police had to intervene.

But Beethoven, who was standing in the band with his back to the audience, could not hear anything. Fortunately, contralto singer Onger held his hand and turned around, and then he "saw" the audience's cheers. The extraordinary emotions aroused by the first performance can be seen from the profound practical significance of singing joy, that is, singing freedom, at that time. [The Realm of Music and Saints]

1. Forgetting to eat happily

One day, Beethoven came to a restaurant to have a meal. After ordering, he suddenly had an inspiration, so he picked up the recipe on the table and composed music on the back of it. After a while, he was completely immersed in the beautiful melody. When the waiter saw Beethoven's very engaged look, he didn't dare to disturb him, but planned to wait for a while before serving him food. About an hour later, the waiter finally came to Beethoven and said, "Sir, will the food be served?" Beethoven immediately paid for the meal as if he had just woken up from a dream. The waiter, like a monk, was confused: "Sir, you haven't eaten yet!" "No! I'm sure I've already eaten." Beethoven couldn't listen to the waiter's repeated explanations, and he paid according to the price on the menu. After that, he grabbed the menu filled with musical notes and rushed out of the restaurant.

2. Days are coming

In his later years, Beethoven once heard a friend playing his "Thirty-two Variations in C minor". After listening for a while, he asked: "Whose work is this?"

"Yours." The friend replied.

"Mine? Could I have written such a clumsy piece?" Then he added: "Ah, Beethoven was such a fool back then!" Goethe's words about Schiller are completely applicable to Beethoven Fin: "He is changing and growing every week. Every time I see him, I always feel that his knowledge, knowledge and insights have improved compared to the last time." At one time, Beethoven even wanted to destroy the work he had done in his youth. The songs "Adelaide" and "Septet in E flat major" (Op. 20). This is by no means accidental. Like Beethoven, it can really be said that "at fifty, he knew what was wrong in forty-nine."