Beethoven was one of the most known classical composer of all time. He began his music studies at an early age and by the time he had reached young adulthood he had already established a reputation for himself as a young piano virtuoso. He had also, composed a number of very significant compositions. A few of his most known composition includes: Fur Elise, Moonlight sonata, Symphonies no. 9, etc.
Beethoven's life and works are generally divided into three periods.
In the early period, until the first years of the 1800s, his music
was still very much in the classical tradition of Haydn and Mozart even
though Beethoven's original stamp was already very much in evidence. He
wrote the six String Quartets Op.18, the first ten piano sonatas (through
Op.14), the first three piano concertos, and the first two symphonies.
The middle years, until approximately 1815, are characterized by works
of greater scope, increasing power and intensity. Symphonies Nos.3 to 8,
the incidental music to Goethe's drama Egmont, the Coriolan overture,
the opera Fidelio, the last two piano concertos,the Violin Concerto,
the Quartets Opp.59 (the Rasumovsky), 74, and 95, and the Piano Sonatas
through Op.90.
In the late period, Beethoven's works achieve even greater depth and
complexity. Beethoven endured considerable emotional suffering in his
personal life and could also be difficult and demanding. His loss of
hearing, a condition that began in his early 30s, would have certainly
contributed to his personal pain. His output was substantial. Among his
important major works, 10 sonatas for violin and piano, 5 for cello and
piano, and 32 solo piano sonatas. All are, without exception, magnificent
works.
Beethoven composed ten piano sonatas in the five years between 1800 and 1805. Among them are Op. 26 in Ab, with the funeral march, and Op. 27, Nos. 1 and 2, each designated as "quasi una fantasia"; the second is popularly known as the Moonlight Sonata. In Op.31, No.2 in D minor, the whole opening section of the first movement, with its rushing passages and sharp punctuation, has the character of a recitativo obbligato, anticipating that of the Ninth Symphony (Quoted from Concise History of Western Music by Barbara Russano Hanning).
Beethoven was born in Bonn, German. His grandfather emigrated to Bonn and they were of Flemish stock. His father was a Court Singer to the Elector. He was a coarse, drunken man, hopeful of exploiting his second child, Ludwig's musical talents. Beethoven's early musical education came from his father and several mediocre teachers. In 1792, Haydn visited Bonn. He saw some of Beethoven's early compositions and invited him to study with him in Vienna. Lessons with Haydn proved to be unsatisfactory and Beethoven went for theory to schenk and later to Albrechtsberger and Salieri. Apart from occasional visits to the countryside, Beethoven passed the rest of his life in Vienna. His music may have sometimes been misunderstood but it was never neglected in his lifetime. However, his personal eccentricities and unpredictability were to grow, principally because of his discovery in 1798 that he was going deaf. Perhaps this is also why he never married, though he loved several women, and one in particular, the still unidentified "Immortal Beloved" (many theory about her identity exist). When he died, his funeral at Wahring was a natural occasion. His grave is now in the Central Friedhof, Vienna.