Beethoven, The Most Influential Composers In Western Classical Music

Born in December 1770 in Bonn, Germany, Beethoven was a great composer and pianist. Considered to be one of the most influential composers in Western Classical Music, he wrote nine symphonies, nine concerti and a variety of orchestral work, overtures and incidental music and other occasional work.

Beethoven started learning music at a very young age from renowned musicians of those times. With his extraordinary talent, he captured the attention of several famous musicians and made his first public appearance at Vienna in 1795 where he was to play his own work. This was followed by a tour to Prague, Dresden, Leipzig and Berlin. He had debuted with a piano concerto in the same year in Budapest. Till then he had established himself as a piano virtuoso.

Beethoven Piano Concertos

Beethoven Piano Concertos were admired throughout the world and are still known as masterwork. He wrote several concertos out of which seven are very famous. These include Piano Concerto No. 1 in 1796-97, Piano Concerto No. 2 in 1795, Piano Concerto No. 3 in 1800-01, Triple Concerto for violin, cello and piano in 1805, Piano Concerto No.4 in 1805-06, Piano Concerto No. 5 in 1809-10 and an unpublished Piano Concerto in 1815. The last one was performing version and was incomplete. It was later on completed by Nicholas Cook. Along with this, he had also written Violin Concerto in 1806 and Romance in E minor for three soloists and orchestra.

Beethoven Sonatas

Beethoven Sonatas constitute a great treasure that have been researched and studied by numerous pianists and musicologists. He had written thirty-two piano sonatas creating a new and impressive form of art. He played an important role in transforming and evolving of the sonata form. He had imposed his personality and joys and sorrows of his own life on the sonatas.

Beethoven Symphonies

Beethoven had also composed nine symphonies including Symphony No. 1 in 1799-1800, Symphony No. 2 in 1801-02, Symphony No. 3 in 1803-04, Symphony No. 4 in 1806, Symphony No. 5 in 1804-08, Symphony No. 6 in 1804-08, Symphony No. 7 in 1811-12, Symphony No. 8 in 1812 and Symphony No.9 in 1817-24. He also intended to write the tenth symphony but because of his ill health, he could not do so.

Other Works

His other works include five orchestral works, around ten overtures and incidental music composition, chamber music including string trios, piano trios, sonatas for violin, works with wind instruments and cello with piano. String quarters, string quintets and trio for piano, flute and Bassoon, and so on are some other noticeable works of Beethoven.

In 1801, Beethoven confessed to his worry of becoming deaf but he carried on with his music compositions and explored many other musical domains. His handicap was getting worse day by day and in later years he stopped talking to people. It was during this time that he wrote exceptional sonatas and symphonies for piano music, his greatest work. He also wrote one opera, Fidelio.

Beethoven was bedridden during last of months of his life and died on March 26, 1827 during a thunderstorm. His funeral was attended by around 30,000 people.