ABRSM
Composer Childhood Series - Beethoven
Difficult Family, Harsh Father
Beethoven was born in Bonn in 1770. Beethoven’s parents were Johann van Beethoven (1740 in Bonn–1792) and Maria Magdalena Keverich. Of the seven children born to Johann Beethoven, only second-born Ludwig and two younger brothers survived infancy. Beethoven was baptized on 17 December 1770.
Beethoven’s first music teacher was his father, who was a tenor in the service of the court at Bonn. He was reportedly a harsh instructor. Johann later engaged a friend, Tobias Pfeiffer, to preside over his son’s musical training, and it is said Johann and his friend would at times come home late from a night of drinking to pull young Ludwig out of bed to practice until morning.
Beethoven’s talent was recognized at a very early age, and by 1778 he was studying the organ and viola in addition to the piano. His most important teacher in Bonn was Christian Gottlob Neefe, who was the Court’s Organist. Neefe helped Beethoven publish his first composition: a set of keyboard variations.
In 1787, Beethoven travel to Vienna for the first time, in hopes of studying with Mozart. Nevertheless, the declining health of Beethoven’s mother, dying of tuberculosis, forced him to return home after only about two weeks in Vienna. Beethoven’s mother died on 17 July 1787, when Beethoven was 16.
Due to his father’s worsening alcohol addiction, Beethoven became responsible for raising his two younger brothers. In 1792, Beethoven moved to Vienna, where he studied for a time with Joseph Haydn. Beethoven received additional instruction from Johann Georg Albrechtsberger and Antonio Salieri. By 1793, Beethoven established a reputation in Vienna as a piano virtuoso.