Ludwig van Beethoven (1770-1827) was born in Bonn, Germany. His father, a court musician named Johann, wanted to turn Beethoven into a famous child prodigy. He was hard man, though, and beat his son whenever he felt prodigy-hood was too slow in coming. Despite this harsh treatment, Ludwig became an excellent pianist.
As a young man he was taught by Mozart and Haydn and his virtuoso performances on the piano attracted aristocratic patrons in Vienna, the musical center of Europe. Both Beethoven and his music were fiery, impulsive, and impetuous; people loved to watch and listen as he played his passionate piano compositions. Offstage, however, his fiery personality got him into fights with his landlords and girlfriends. Beethoven wasn’t a long-term kind of guy, either in apartments or relationships.
When he was 31, however, something happened that changed Beethoven forever. He began to realize that he was losing his hearing. Of course this is one of the worst things that can happen to a musician, especially for someone like Beethoven who felt everything so deeply. Consequently, deafness had a deeply disturbing effect on him. The music Beethoven composed during this period (middle years of his life) bears the mark of a man desperate to be the master of his own fate. But it was in expressing his pain, that he single-handedly took music from the Classical style into the Romantic period, where the most important element in music was the expression of feelings.
Ludwig van Beethoven never married. Any thoughts he had of marrying always came to nothing. After his death in 1827, however, a letter written in three sections was found in a drawer. It was addressed to "Immortal Beloved" but appears to have never been sent. Though scholars generally agree it was probably written in either 1811 or 1812, nobody really knows who "Immortal Beloved" was. It is such a moving letter and yet all rather sad because it was never sent; I wonder why it wasn't.
The third part of this letter is written below:
Good morning, on July 7th
Even when I am in bed my thoughts rush to you, my eternally beloved, now and then joyfully, then again sadly, waiting to know whether Fate will hear our prayer--To face life I must live altogether with you or never see you. Yes, I am resolved to be a wanderer abroad until I can fly to your arms and say that I have found my true home with you and enfolded in your arms can let my soul be wafted to the realm of blessed spirits--alas, unfortunately it must be so--You will become composed, the more so you know that I am faithful to you; no other woman can ever possess my heart--never--never--Oh God, why must one be separated from her who is so dear. Yet my life in V[ienna] at present is a miserable life--Your love has made me both the happiest and the unhappiest of mortals--At my age I now need stability and regularity in my life--can this coexist with our relationship?--Angel, I have just heard that the post goes every day--and therefore I must close, so that you may receive the letter immediately--Be calm; for only by calmly considering our lives can we achieve our purpose to live together--Be calm--love me--Today--yesterday--what tearful longing for you--for you--you--my life--my all--all good wishes to you--Oh, do continue to love me--never misjudge your lover's most faithful heart.
ever yours
ever mine
ever ours.
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