Ludwig van Beethoven dreamed of becoming a musician ever since he could remember.  A famous German composer is exactly what he grew up to become.  He was born on December 16^th, 1770 in Bonn, Germany.  That very next day he was baptized.  He may be recognized as history’s best composer, but his difficulties achieving this were highly recognized. 

Ludwig had a very pushing father growing up.  In fact he was Ludwig’s first teacher that had fallen into an alcoholic frenzy.  His dad’s name was Johann van Beethoven.  He taught Ludwig how to play the violin and the piano and at age 11 drove him into becoming a professional musician.  Johann was a musician in the Electoral court at Bonn.  He really looked up to Mozart and his intentions with Ludwig were to make him into something similar to that.  Soon more people started to discover how talented Ludwig was and was given instruction and employment by Christian Gottlob Neefe, as well as financial sponsorship by the Prince-Elector.  He really had a passion for what he did and put all of his heart into it.

When Ludwig was 17, his mother Magdalena Keverion van Beethoven passed on.  Beethoven then had added pressure to raise his younger brothers, Johann and Karl.  His relationship wasn’t the greatest with them.

In 1792, Ludwig moved to Vienna where he went to study with Joseph Haydn, but the old man had little time for teaching and he passed Beethoven onto Johann Albrechtsberger. He quickly established a reputation as a piano virtuoso, and more slowly, as a composer.  Instead of working in a church like most composers did at his time, he was a freelancer that supported himself financially and relied on the public to help him as well.

In Ludwig’s early period, he was very optimistic with his work.  He looked up to Mozart, whom he met, and Haydn.  Some of his pieces he wrote were: first and second symphonies, the first six string quartets, the first two piano concertos, and the first twenty piano sonatas, including the famous Pathetique and Moonlight.

In his second period, that is when he started to become deaf.  Ludwig was 28 when he actually became deaf.  He had then started to have personal struggle and crisis with his life.  His pieces that he wrote include: six symphonies (Nos. 3–8), the last three piano concertos and his only violin concerto, five string quartets (Nos. 7–11), the next seven piano sonatas including the Waldstein, and Appassionata, and Beethoven's only opera, Fidelio.

Beethoven’s late period began in 1816 and went until Ludwig passed on in 1827.  A lot of people enjoyed him for his intelluctual type of art as well as the beautiful sound to it.  His pieces include: Missa Solemnis, the last five string quartets and the last five piano sonatas.

Ludwig’s struggles really got to him.  For example when he became deaf at age 28, he contemplated suicide often.  He slept around with many women but he never did marry.  Many scholars believe that the reason he did not produce as much music in the period of 1812-1816 was because of his depression state.  Bitterness with his family often made a fool of him in front of the public and he also wore around dirty clothes.  Financial problems also followed him throughout his lifetime.