Beethoven was born in Bonn, Germany, 1770. Both his mom and dad were musicians so music was in the family. He started to play the piano at 4, and he excelled at it. He moved to Vienna when he was 22 to study with Haydn, the famous composer. Because he was so good at playing the piano, lot’s of crowds surrounded him when he was playing the piano. He established himself as a famous piano player, but he wasn’t known for his compositions yet. In his late 20s, he started to become deaf, and experience a loud ringing in his ears. Since Beethoven really liked music, he was horrified that he was becoming deaf, and thought of committing suicide. Then, he thought about the things he would miss out if he died, so he kept going with it. When he was 39, he performed the famous Septet, one of his most popular pieces in his lifetime. Another one of his great pieces is his third symphony, also known as Eroica. Beethoven became more grumpy and started to dress scruffily and untidily and was more rude towards people. In 1809 lots of people gave Beethoven a lifetime annuity, but only if he agrees to stay in Vienna. He agreed and took the money. Beethoven wrote more symphonies, string quartets, operas. The final years of Beethoven’s life were bad. By 1815, he was almost deaf, and he had very poor manners. He really wanted to live with his nephew, Karl. He spent most of his money battling with Karl’s mom and he eventually lost. He later composed a symphony called Ode to Joy. He also composed his last string quartets at this point. He became ill at the last years of his life, with gout, rheumatic fever, and a bunch of other illnesses. He tried to make a Tenth Symphony while suffering on his deathbed, but he never got to complete it. He could not sleep at night, and he could barely move or drink. Ludwig van Beethoven died in March 1827, after four surgeries on a stomach wound which eventually got infected. Twenty thousand people lined Vienna’s streets at the musician’s funeral.
