DICTIONARY OF

MUSICIANSV O L U M E 1

A A L T - C O N E

Beethoven, Ludwig van, great German com-poser whose unsurpassed genius, expressed with su-preme mastery in his syms., chamber music, concertos,

with his brother's widow over the guardianship ofBeethoven's nephew Karl, he argued before the Viennamagistrate that as a nobleman he should be givenpreference over his sister-in-law, a commoner, but thecourt rejected his contention on the ground that "van"lacked the elevated connotation of its German counter-part, "von." Beethoven could never provide a weightierclaim of noble descent. In private, he even toleratedwithout forceful denial the fantastic rumor that he wasa natural son of royalty, a love child of FriedrichWilhelm II, or even of Frederick the Great.

Beethoven's father gave him rudimentary instruc-tion in music; he learned to play both the violin and thepiano; Tobias Friedrich Pfeiffer, a local musician, gavehim formal piano lessons; the court organist in Bonn,Gilles van Eeden, instructed him in keyboard playingand in music theory; Franz Rovantini gave him violinlessons; another violinist who taught Beethoven wasFranz Ries. Beethoven also learned to play the horn,under the guidance of the professional musician Ni-kolaus Simrock. Beethoven's academic training wasmeager; he was, however, briefly enrolled at the Univ. ofBonn in 1789. His first important teacher of compositionwas Christian Gottlob Neefe, a thorough musician whoseemed to understand his pupil's great potential even inhis early youth. He guided Beethoven in the study ofBach and encouraged him in keyboard improvisation.At the age of 12, in 1782, Beethoven composed NineVariations for Piano on a March of Dressier, his first workto be publ. In 1783 he played the cembalo in the CourtOrch. in Bonn; in 1784 the Elector Maximilian Franzofficially appointed him to the post of deputy courtorganist, a position he retained until 1792; from 1788 to1792 Beethoven also served as a violist in theater orchs.In 1787 the Elector sent him to Vienna, where he stayedfor a short time; the report that he played for Mozartand that Mozart pronounced him a future great com-poser seems to be a figment of somebody's eagerimagination. After a few weeks in Vienna Beethovenwent to Bonn when he received news that his mother

BEETHOVEN

was gravely ill; she died on July 17, 1787. He wasobliged to provide sustenance for his two youngerbrothers; his father, who took to drink in excess, couldnot meet his obligations. Beethoven earned some moneyby giving piano lessons to the children of Helene vonBreuning, the widow of a court councillor. He also metimportant wealthy admirers, among them Count Ferdi-nand von Waldstein, who was to be immortalized byBeethoven's dedication to him of a piano sonata bearinghis name. Beethoven continued to compose; some of hisworks of the period were written in homage to royalty,as a cantata on the death of the Emperor Joseph II andanother on the accession of Emperor Leopold II; otherpieces were designed for performance at aristocraticgatherings.

In 1790 an event of importance took place___inBeethoven's life when Haydn was honored in Bonn bythe Elector on his way to London; it is likely thatBeethoven was introduced to him, and that HaydnEncouraged him to~come to Vienna to study wTthhim.However that might be, Beethoven went to Vienna inNov. 1792, and began his studies with Haydn. Not veryprudently, Beethoven approached the notable teacherJohann Schenk to help him write the mandatory exer-cises prior to delivering them to Haydn for final ap-praisal. In the meantime, Haydn had to go to Londonagain, and Beethoven's lessons with him were discon-tinued. Instead, Beethoven began a formal study ofcounterpoint with Johann Georg Albrechtsberger, alearned musician and knowledgeable pedagogue; thesestudies continued for about a year, until 1795. Further-more, Beethoven took lessons in vocal composition withthe illustrious Italian composer Salieri, who served asImperial Kapellmeister at the Austrian court. Beethovenwas fortunate to find a generous benefactor in PrinceKarl Lichnowsky, who awarded him, beginning about1800, an annual stipend of 600 florins; he was amplyrepaid for this bounty by entering the pantheon ofmusic history through Beethoven's dedication to him ofthe Sonate pathetique and other works, as well as his firstopus number, a set of three piano trios. Among otheraristocrats of Vienna who were introduced into thegates of permanence through Beethoven's dedicationswas Prince Franz Joseph Lobkowitz, whose nameadorns the title pages of the six String Quartets, op. 18;the Eroica Symphony (after Beethoven unsuccessfullytried to dedicate it to Napoleon); the Triple Concerto,op. 56; and (in conjunction with Prince Razumovsky) thefifth and sixth syms. — a glorious florilegium of greatmusic. Prince Razumovsky, the Russian ambassador toVienna, played an important role in Beethoven's life.From 1808 to 1816 he maintained in his residence astring quartet in which he himself played the secondviolin (the leader was Beethoven's friend Schuppan-zigh). It was to Razumovsky that Beethoven dedicatedhis three string quartets that became known as theRazumovsky quartets, in which Beethoven made use ofauthentic Russian folk themes. Razumovsky also sharedwith Lobkowitz the dedications of Beethoven's fifth andsixth syms. Another Russian patron was PrinceGolitzyn, for whom Beethoven wrote his great stringquartets opp. 127, 130, and 132.

261