Beethoven for Kids: His Life and Music with 21 Activities
Ludwig van Beethoven Library of Congress LC USZ62 13745 INTRODUCTION I am resolved to rise superior to every obstacle LUDWIG VAN BEETHOVEN from a letter dated June 1 1801 CAN YOU IMAGINE needing and wanting to listen to some thing you cannot hear Is it possible for someone who cannot hear to compose music How would a deaf composer cope with such a handicap How would it affect his life Would his music
be appreciated by those who listened to it Can a deaf composer make an impact on the world Ludwig van Beethoven faced and overcame many obstacles in his lifetime Early on he had to deal with poverty illness and an alcoholic father His unhappy childhood was filled with loneli ness and fear As a teenager he realized that he had to take on the responsibility of supporting his mother and younger siblings He also began to suffer from poor health that would plague him for the remainder of his life Living in a time of upheaval revolution and change in European society greatly influenced Beethoven's thoughts He forced himself onto the musical stage employing his enormous talents and strong personality His music provided him with an entrance into the great palaces and concert halls of the era his ideals and character caused him to stand up for his own rights and the civil liberties of all mankind Beethoven was 27 years old when he began to lose his hear ing In Beethoven's day there were no technological solutions and no effective medical treatments for his hearing loss Sign language was just starting to be developed and was not yet an established method of communication for the deaf Amplifying ones called ear trumpets were available but they were of lim ited use Beethoven used ear trumpets to assist him until he was completely deaf and the ear trumpets could no longer transmit any sounds to his ear However he was able to sense the vibra tions of his instruments as he played them which he found to be helpful But nothing the composer tried was able to reverse halt the progress of or even manage his condition Beethoven was from an early age onward a difficult and com plex person with a very intense personality Scholars attribute some of his behavior to his hearing loss a process that worsened over a 20 year period His hearing loss added to his insecurities and fears especially during the many years he spent trying to hide the fact that he was having trouble hearing sounds Beethoven's sense about what was right and his high moral ideals dictated many of his actions Social situations were
uncomfortable for Beethoven although he liked being with peo ple In addition he had a hard time with the exaggerated elegant manners of his day Beethoven spent many years trying to keep his friends and audiences from learning that he was suffering from many physi cal ailments in addition to his increasing deafness This conceal ment often made his actions appear odd and unusual to those who had no knowledge of his medical condition Once his hear ing loss was complete Beethoven withdrew from most social settings This increased his feeling of isolation and caused him to be suspicious and distrustful Being deaf makes it hard to communicate with others Helen Keller who lost both her hearing and her sight stated that blind ness separates people from things but deafness separates people from people Beethoven lost more than his hearing the lost his ability to connect to other people Yet this disability may have actually helped Beethoven as a composer because he had to be able to hear the music he created inside himself without the dis tractions of the outside world Beethoven's works are true masterpieces many of his pieces were groundbreaking and set the standards for all to follow He was a fantastic architect of music always seeking perfection Some of his greatest music shocked and surprised the audiences of his day The works were far too complex and forward thinking for 19th century listeners musicians and critics to fully under stand Beethoven understood this fact and stated that these works are not for you but for a later age His creations con tinue to inspire and uplift people all over the world This is a true story about one of the most famous composers of all time one who overcame many obstacles that caused him pain and suf fering but could not stop
TIME LINE 1770 Ludwig van Beethoven is baptized on December 17 in Bonn born to Johann van Beethoven and Maria Magdalena Keverich 1774 Brother Caspar Carl baptized 1776 Brother Nikolaus Johann baptized 1778 Beethoven's first concert March 26 1780 Beethoven becomes a pupil of Christian Gottlob Neefe organist at the Court of Bonn and director of the National Theater 1783 Variations on Dressler's March in C Minor is pub lished 1787 Ludwig travels to Vienna and meets Mozart Maria Magdalena van Beethoven Ludwig's moth er dies on July 17 1789 The storming of Bastille in Paris Beethoven supports his family becomes a violist in the court orchestra
