Ludwig van Beethoven [ n 1 ] baptised 17 December β 26 March was a German composer and pianist. He is one of the most revered figures in the history of Western music; his works rank among the most performed of the classical music repertoire and span the transition from the Classical period to the Romantic era in classical music. His early period, during which he forged his craft, is typically considered to have lasted until From to around , his middle period showed an individual development from the styles of Joseph Haydn and Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart , and is sometimes characterised as heroic.
During this time, Beethoven began to grow increasingly deaf. In his late period, from to , he extended his innovations in musical form and expression. Born in Bonn , Beethoven displayed his musical talent at a young age. He was initially taught intensively by his father, Johann van Beethoven , and later by Christian Gottlob Neefe. Under Neefe's tutelage in , he published his first work, a set of keyboard variations. He found relief from a dysfunctional home life with the family of Helene von Breuning , whose children he loved, befriended, and taught piano.
At age 21, he moved to Vienna , which subsequently became his base, and studied composition with Haydn. Beethoven then gained a reputation as a virtuoso pianist, and was soon patronised by Karl Alois, Prince Lichnowsky for compositions, which resulted in his three Opus 1 piano trios the earliest works to which he accorded an opus number in Beethoven's first major orchestral work, the First Symphony , premiered in , and his first set of string quartets was published in Despite his advancing deafness during this period, he continued to conduct, premiering his Third and Fifth Symphonies in and , respectively.
His Violin Concerto appeared in His last piano concerto No. He was almost completely deaf by , and he then gave up performing and appearing in public. He described his problems with health and his unfulfilled personal life in two letters, his Heiligenstadt Testament to his brothers and his unsent love letter to an unknown " Immortal Beloved " After , increasingly less socially involved as his hearing loss worsened, Beethoven composed many of his most admired works, including later symphonies, mature chamber music and the late piano sonatas.
His only opera, Fidelio , first performed in , was revised to its final version in He composed Missa solemnis between and and his final Symphony, No. Written in his last years, his late string quartets , including the Grosse Fuge , of β are among his final achievements. After several months of illness, which left him bedridden, he died on 26 March at the age of Beethoven was the grandson of Ludwig van Beethoven , [ n 2 ] a musician from the town of Mechelen in the Austrian Duchy of Brabant in what is now the Flemish region of Belgium , who moved to Bonn at the age of The portrait he commissioned of himself toward the end of his life remained displayed in his grandson's rooms as a talisman of his musical heritage.
