Beethoven is famous for writing big, loud, boundary-breaking music, from the string-breaking fury of his late piano sonatas to the glorious dramatics of his ninth symphony for chorus and orchestra. But the heart and soul of Beethoven’s art are found

Ludwig van Beethoven has gone down in classical music history as a great, defiant, wild-haired composer genius. However, being a genius doesn’t always pay the bills. So throughout his life, Beethoven often took on piano students to supplement his income…at

Over a period of about 22 years, Ludwig van Beethoven composed a total of eleven overtures for a variety of occasions and under different circumstances. Overtures had traditionally served as openings for stage or larger vocal works for centuries. Although

For the re-opening of the Josefstadt Theatre in Vienna, a new work was commissioned from Beethoven. The theatre was founded in 1788 and had a remodel and rebuild in 1822, which is when they contacted Beethoven for a work. Die

Johann Baptist Malfatti, Elder von Monteregio was an Italian/Austrian doctor famous for being one of Beethoven’s physicians. Beethoven first made his acquaintance in 1809 and seemed to have consulted him several times in 1810. Early in 1810 he also met

The powerful start to Beethoven’s Fifth Symphony has meant various things over the centuries. During his time, according to his assistant, the music was taken to signal Fate knocking at the door. During the second world war, it was a

During his teenage years in Bonn, Ludwig van Beethoven sketched an incomplete draft for a passionate symphonic movement in C minor. Dating from between 1790 and 1792, the draft was never brought to fruition, and it took Beethoven almost another

A biographer reports, “A violent thunderstorm struck Vienna in the afternoon of 26 March 1827. At 5:45 pm, a sudden flash of lightning was reported, and the dying man suddenly raised his head, stretched out his own right arm majestically—like