Ludwig van Beethoven is one of the most important people in all of classical music. His influence made an impression on nearly every composer who lived after him. He should be one of the greatest of all time.
He was born in 1770 in Germany. His grandpa and dad were professional singers, so his whole family was musicians. He started learning the piano when he was around 4 years old, who was taught by his dad. It was one of his hobbies, and got good quickly. Later on he became an organist, and also played the viola for an . He loved playing it, and thrived in the musical environment. Because of his piano playing skills, Beethoven was surrounded by people and interested Viennese social elite from early on in his career, which included most of the famous musicians of that time.
However, in his late 20s, he started to lose his hearing, and experienced a loud ringing in his ears. Since Beethoven lived for music, his deafness devastated him a lot. He even thought a lot about suicide. After a lot of internal struggle, he decided it was worth it to keep going. When he was 30, he premiered Septet, one of his most popular pieces in his lifetime. He was now starting to become well known as a composer, not just a pianist.
Beethoven became more grumpy and irritable and started dressing untidily. He also became ruder towards other people and would start to care less and less about his appearance. In 1809 Beethoven a lifetime annuity, but it was only only if he stayed in Vienna, so he agreed and settled there for the rest of his life. But payments made his income not stable. He became very sick during the last few years of his life, and began to sketch out a Tenth Symphony while on his deathbed, but he never got to complete it.