LUDWIG VAN BEETHOVEN COMPOSER OF THE CLASSICAL AND ROMANTIC ERAS CHAPTER ONE 4 ONE OF MUSIC’S GREATEST COMPOSERS Ludwig van Beethoven was a composer or somebody who writes music He is often consid ered the greatest composer who ever lived He created new ways of playing CLASSICAL MUSIC For Ludwig van Beethoven wrote music that expressed his feelings
5 ONE OF MUSIC’S GREATEST COMPOSERS example he created longer pieces that did more than just entertain listeners Beethoven’s music also expressed important ideas and deep feelings His music expressed great energy and spirit Beethoven’s new form of clas sical music affected how other composers made music and how people valued music His Career In the late 1700s Beethoven became pop ular as a highly skilled piano player Wealthy people in Europe enjoyed his music CLASSICAL MUSIC refers to a type of art music that was first played in Europe during the Middle Ages It is more complex and serious than popular and folk music Vocabulary Beethoven once said the feelings in his music came to him as tones that sound roar and storm about me until I have written them down in notes Quick Fact
6 LUDWIG VAN BEETHOVEN COMPOSER OF THE CLASSICAL AND ROMANTIC ERAS Because of Beethoven more people respected classical music Beethoven helped establish music as an important area of the arts Loss of Hearing In the late 1790s Beethoven began to lose his hearing By 1819 Beethoven had become totally deaf He continued to create MASTERPIECES however His works are still performed nearly two centuries after his death Works done with great skill especially ones that express great ideas or artistic achievement are considered MASTERPIECES Vocabulary Beethoven wrote many musical works for the piano
RIGHT RUNNING HEAD 7 CHAPTER TWO Beethoven wrote nine SYMPHONIES one OPERA and many pieces for small groups and for piano and other instruments At a young age Beethoven showed that he had a talent for music With his fam ily’s help as well as years of education and hard work Beethoven developed his talent A YOUNG BOY WITH TALENT SYMPHONIES are long pieces of music for many musicians to play together in an orchestra An OPERA is a play in which usually the entire text is sung along to music played by an orchestra Vocabulary