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Ludwig van Beethoven (1770-1827)

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Year of birth1770
Year of death1827
NationalityGermany
PeriodRomantic
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German composer whose forceful creative personality has made him perhaps the most universally admired and recognised figure in classical music history.

Born the son of a musician at the Electoral court in Bonn, he showed early talent as a pianist and composer, and after an encounter with Haydn in 1792 was invited to study with him in Vienna. There he made his name at first as a virtuoso pianist noted for his bold improvisations, and by the end of the century had composed two piano concertos, and several piano sonatas and chamber works involving piano. His First Symphony appeared in 1800, and in 1801 he published his first set of six string quartets (Op.18).

It was around this time that his progress as a composer was threatened by hearing problems, and although it would be more than a decade before he suffered total deafness, the crisis reached an emotional peak in 1802 when he expressed in a letter known as the ‘Heiligenstadt Testament’ his thoughts of suicide. Having decided to carry on, his personal victory over adversity was seemingly mapped in the outline of his Third Symphony of 1804 (the Eroica, or ‘Heroic’), a powerful journey through darkness to light that would be undertaken again in works such as the ‘Appassionata’ Piano Sonata (1805), the opera Leonore (1806, revised as Fidelio in 1814), and the Fifth Symphony (1808).

Yet Beethoven’s music was not always about heroic struggle. It could show bluff humour (as in the Eighth Symphony or the Piano Sonata, Op. 31 No. 3), calm serenity (the slow movement of the ‘Hammerklavier’ Piano Sonata, Op. 106), exuberant energy (the finale of the String Quartet, Op. 59 No. 3) or the warm affection of friendship (the Piano Sonata.Op. 81a, ‘Les Adieux’). The Sixth Symphony (the ‘Pastoral’) expresses a Romantic love of nature, while works such as Fidelio and the Ninth Symphony (1824) articulate a burning belief in personal freedom and brotherhood.

Beethoven’s deafness made him increasingly isolated in his last decade, and his work became more introspective, first in his last three piano sonatas (Opp. 109-111), and then in his last five string quartets (Opp. 127, 130, 131, 132 and 135), in which we encounter a new composure, a sense of being at peace and achieving an understanding of the nature of things reflected in music of cosmic stillness and depth. Beethoven’s achievements as a composer include taking the High Classical style inherited from his two great predecessors, Mozart and Haydn, and stretching it to new formal limits, in instrumental music especially. But it is his expressive ambition, and his triumphant realisation of it, that have won him a place among the greatest of all creative artists.

Profile © Lindsay Kemp 2025

List of works
10 Variations for piano on "La stessa, la stessissima", WoO 7311 Mödlinger Tänze, WoO 1712 Variations on Ein Mädchen oder Weibchen, Op.6612 Variations on a theme by Handel from Judas Maccabaeus, WoO 4515 Variations and fugue for piano in E flat major "Eroica Variations", Op.3532 Variations on an original theme in C minor for piano, WoO 8033 Variations for piano in C major "Diabelli Variations", Op.1206 Bagatelles for piano, Op.1266 Variations on an original theme for piano in F major, Op.347 Bagatelles for piano, Op.337 Variations for cello and piano on "Bei Männern, welche Liebe fühlen", WoO 46Adagio HammerklavierAh! perfido, Op.65An die ferne Geliebte, Op.98Andante Favori in F major, WoO 57Aria "Prüfung des Küssens", WoO 89Bagatelle for piano in A minor "Für Elise", WoO 59Bagatelle for piano, Op.119 no.10Cantata "on the Death of Emperor Joseph II", WoO 87Cello Sonata no. 2 in G minor, Op.5 no.2Cello Sonata no. 3 in A major, Op.69Cello Sonata no. 5 in D major, Op.102 no.2Coriolan Overture, Op.62Duo for viola and cello "mit zwei obligaten Augengläsern", WoO 32Egmont (overture and incidental music to Goethe's tragedy), Op.84Egmont, Op.84: OvertureFantasia in C minor for piano, chorus, and orchestra "Choral Fantasy", Op.80FidelioFidelio, Op.72: In des Lebens FrühlingstagenFidelio, Op.72: OvertureFugue for String Quintet in D major, Op.137Grosse Fuge - fugue for string quartet in B flat major, Op.133Grosse Fuge arranged for piano (4 hands), Op.134Horn Sonata in F major, Op.17Incidental Music "to Leonore Prohaska", WoO 96Kakadu Variations, Op.121aKönig Stephan (King Stephen), Op.117: OvertureLeonore Overture no. 1, Op.138Leonore Overture no. 2, Op.72aLeonore Overture no. 3, Op.72bLieder: selectionMass in C major, Op.86Mass in D major, “Missa solemnis”, Op.123Meeresstille und glückliche Fahrt (Calm Sea and Prosperous Voyage) for chorus, Op.112Oratorio "Christus am Ölberge" (Christ on the Mount of Olives), Op.85Piano Concerto no. 1 in C major, Op.15Piano Concerto no. 2 in B flat major, Op.19Piano Concerto no. 3 in C minor, Op.37Piano Concerto no. 4 in G major, Op.58Piano Concerto no. 5 in E flat major "Emperor", Op.73Piano Fantasia in G minor, Op.77Piano Sonata no. 1 in F minor, Op.2 no.1Piano Sonata no. 10 in G major, Op.14 no.2Piano Sonata no. 11 in B flat major, Op.22Piano Sonata no. 12 in A flat major, Op.26Piano Sonata no. 13 in E flat major "quasi una fantasia", Op.27 no.1Piano Sonata no. 14 in C sharp minor "Moonlight", Op.27 no.2Piano Sonata no. 14 in C sharp minor "Moonlight", Op.27 no.2: Adagio sostenutoPiano Sonata no. 15 in D major "Pastoral”, Op.28Piano Sonata no. 16 in G major, Op.31 no.1Piano Sonata no. 17 in D minor "Tempest", Op.31 no.2Piano Sonata no. 18 in E flat major "Hunt", Op.31 no.3Piano Sonata no. 19 in G minor, Op.49 no.1Piano Sonata no. 2 in A major, Op.2 no.2Piano Sonata no. 20 in G major, Op.49 no.2Piano Sonata no. 21 in C major "Waldstein", Op.53Piano Sonata no. 22 in F major, Op.54Piano Sonata no. 23 in F minor "Appassionata", Op.57Piano Sonata no. 26 in E flat major "Les Adieux", Op.81aPiano Sonata no. 27 in E minor, Op.90Piano Sonata no. 28 in A major, Op.101Piano Sonata no. 29 in B flat major "Hammerklavier", Op.106Piano Sonata no. 3 in C major, Op.2 no.3Piano Sonata no. 30 in E major, Op.109Piano Sonata no. 31 in A flat major, Op.110Piano Sonata no. 32 in C minor, Op.111Piano Sonata no. 5 in C minor, Op.10 no.1Piano Sonata no. 6 in F major, Op.10 no. 2Piano Sonata no. 7 in D major, Op.10 no.3Piano Sonata no. 8 in C minor "Pathétique", Op.13Piano Sonata no. 9 in E major, Op.14 no.1Piano Trio no. 1 in E flat major, Op.1 no.1Piano Trio no. 2 in G major, Op.1 no.2Piano Trio no. 3 in C minor, Op.1 no.3Piano Trio no. 5 in D major "Ghost", Op.70 no.1Piano Trio no. 6 in E flat major, Op.70 no.2Piano Trio no. 7 in B flat major "Archduke", Op.97Quintet for Piano and Winds in E flat major, Op.16Quintet in E flat major for 3 horns, oboe and bassoon, Op.71Romance for Violin and Orchestra no. 1 in G major, Op.40Romance for Violin and Orchestra no. 2 in F major, Op.50Rondino in E flat major, WoO 25Rondo Capriccio for piano in G major "Rage over a lost penny", Op.129Septet in E flat major, Op.20Sextet in E flat major for 2 horns, 2 clarinets and 2 bassoons, Op.71Sextet in E flat major, Op.81bString Quartet no. 1 in F major, Op.18 no.1String Quartet no. 10 in E flat major, "Harp", Op.74String Quartet no. 11 in F minor, "Serioso", Op.95String Quartet no. 12 in E flat major, Op.127String Quartet no. 13 in B flat major, Op.130String Quartet no. 13 in B flat major, Op.130: CavatinaString Quartet no. 14 in C sharp minor, Op.131String Quartet no. 15 in A minor, Op.132String Quartet no. 16 in F major, Op.135String Quartet no. 2 in G major, Op.18 no.2String Quartet no. 3 in D major, Op.18 no.3String Quartet no. 4 in C minor, Op.18 no.4String Quartet no. 5 in A major, Op.18 no.5String Quartet no. 6 in B flat major, Op.18 no.6String Quartet no. 7 in F major, "Razumovsky", Op.59 no.1String Quartet no. 8 in E minor, "Razumovsky", Op.59 no.2String Quartet no. 9 in C major, "Razumovsky", Op.59 no.3String Quartet, Op.130 with Grosse Fuge, Op.133String Quintet in C major, Op.29String Trio in C minor, Op.9 no.3Symphony no. 1 in C major, Op.21Symphony no. 2 in D major, Op.36Symphony no. 3 in E flat major "Eroica", Op.55Symphony no. 4 in B flat major, Op.60Symphony no. 5 in C minor, Op.67Symphony no. 6 in F major "Pastoral", Op.68Symphony no. 7 in A major, Op.92Symphony no. 8 in F major, Op.93Symphony no. 9 in D minor "Choral", Op.125The Creatures of Prometheus, Op.43: OvertureTrio for Clarinet (or Violin), Cello and Piano, “Gassenhauer”, Op.11Trio in E flat major, Op.38Triple Concerto for Violin, Cello, and Piano in C major, Op.56Variations in C major on "Là ci darem la mano" from Mozart's Don Giovanni, WoO 28Variations in E flat major on an Original Theme Op.44Violin Concerto in D major, Op.61Violin Concerto movement in C major, WoO 5Violin Sonata No. 4 in A minor, Op.23Violin Sonata no. 10 in G major, Op.96Violin Sonata no. 3 in E flat major, Op.12 no.3Violin Sonata no. 5 in F major "Fruhling (Spring)", Op.24Violin Sonata no. 6 in A major, Op.30 no.1Violin Sonata no. 7 in C minor, Op.30 no.2Violin Sonata no. 8 in G major, Op.30 no.3Violin Sonata no. 9 in A major "Kreutzer", Op.47Wind Octet in E flat major, Op.103Zur Namensfeier Overture, Op.115