Ludwig van Beethoven

Many people believe Beethoven was the single greatest composer of all time. He is undoubtedly one of the best known and most loved. His most famous works include his 5th Symphony, 9th Symphony, Für Elise, Pathètique Sonata and the Moonlight Sonata.

Biography

Beethoven was born in Bonn, Holy Roman Empire (present-day Germany). His mother was Magdalena Keverich[?] and his father was Johann Beethoven[?]. They named their son after his grandfather. Beethoven's musical talent manifested itself early, and his father attempted, unsuccessfully, to exploit the boy as a prodigy.

Beethoven moved to Vienna when he was 22, where he studied under Franz Joseph Haydn. In Vienna he earned a reputation as a piano virtuoso and improvisor, and began publishing his own compositions soon after. By the early 1800s he had established his reputation as a great and daring composer.

Beethoven began to lose his hearing at least by 1801. He continued composing nonetheless, and his 9th Symphony, amongst many other works, was composed after he had become totally deaf. The cause of his deafness is not known for certain, but has been attributed to syphilis, lead poisoning[?], a chill he caught in 1796 which lead to a disease believed to be typhus, or possibly even his habit of immersing his head in cold water to stay awake.

Musical Style and Innovations

Beethoven is viewed as a transitional figure between the Classical and Romantic eras of musical history. He continued a trend towards larger orchestras that has persisted through the history of classical music. In his 5th Symphony he introduced a striking motif in the very opening bar, which he echoed in various forms in all four movements of the symphony. He also ran the third movement into the fourth without interruption. Both features were innovations. His 9th Symphony included a chorus in the 4th movement for the first time.

He wrote one opera, Fidelio. It has been said that he wrote beautiful choral music without regard for the limitations of human singers, treating the voice as if it were a symphonic instrument.

In contrast to Mozart, he labored visibly over his work, leaving intermediate drafts that provide considerable insight into his creative process. Early drafts of his 9th Symphony used rough vertical marks on the score in place of actual notes, to indicate the structure he had in mind for the melody.

Personal Beliefs and their Musical Influence

Beethoven was much taken by the ideals of the Enlightenment. He initially dedicated his third symphony, the Eroica, to Napoleon in the belief that the general would sustain the democratic ideals of the French Revolution, but later crossed out the dedication as Napoleon's imperial ambitions became clear. The fourth movement of his Ninth Symphony is a setting of Schiller's poem Ode to Joy, an optimistic hymn championing the brotherhood of humanity.

List of works with opus numbers

Beethoven's greatest works are the 32 piano sonatas, the nine symphonies, the five piano concertos, the violin concerto, the triple concerto and the late string quartets.

The opus numbers of Beethoven's pieces were assigned by his publishers, and follow the order in which his works were published, rather than the order they were written. This is why, for example, the Wind Octet of 1792 can be Opus 103, when Opus 102 and Opus 104 were written in 1815 and 1817 respectively. Everything on this list up to Opus 135 was published in Beethoven's lifetime. The remaining items were published posthumously.

• Opus 1 no 1 (1795) Piano Trio No. 1 in E flat major
• Opus 1 no 2 (1795) Piano Trio No. 2 in G major
• Opus 1 no 3 (1795) Piano Trio No. 3 in C minor
• Opus 2 no 1 (1796) Piano Sonata No. 1 in F minor
• Opus 2 no 2 (1796) Piano Sonata No. 2 in A major
• Opus 2 no 3 (1796) Piano Sonata No. 3 in C major
• Opus 3 (1794) String Trio No. 1 in E flat major
• Opus 4 (1795) String Quintet in E flat major
• Opus 5 no 1 (1796) Sonata for Piano and Violincello No. 1 in F major
• Opus 5 no 2 (1796) Sonata for Piano and Violincello No. 2 in G minor
• Opus 6 (1797) Piano Sonata for four hands
• Opus 7 (1797) Piano Sonata No. 4 in E flat major
• Opus 8 (1797) Serenade in D major for string trio
• Opus 9 no 1 (1798) String Trio No. 2 in G major
• Opus 9 no 2 (1798) String Trio No. 3 in D major
• Opus 9 no 3 (1798) String Trio No. 4 in C minor
• Opus 10 no 1 (1798) Piano Sonata No. 5 in C minor
• Opus 10 no 2 (1798) Piano Sonata No. 6 in F major
• Opus 10 no 3 (1798) Piano Sonata No. 7 in D major
• Opus 11 (1798) Piano Trio No. 4 in B flat major
• Opus 12 no 1 (1798) Violin Sonata No. 1 in D major
• Opus 12 no 2 (1798) Violin Sonata No. 2 in A major
• Opus 12 no 3 (1798) Violin Sonata No. 3 in E flat major
• Opus 13 (1799) Piano Sonata No. 8 in C minor "Pathetique"
• Opus 14 no 1 (1799) Piano Sonata No. 9 in E major
• Opus 14 no 2 (1799) Piano Sonata No. 10 in G major
• Opus 15 (1795) Piano Concerto No. 1 in C major
• Opus 16 (1796) Quintet for Piano and Wind
• Opus 17 (1800) Horn Sonata in F major
• Opus 18 no 1 (1800) String Quartet No. 1 in F major
• Opus 18 no 2 (1800) String Quartet No. 2 in G major
• Opus 18 no 3 (1800) String Quartet No. 3 in D major
• Opus 18 no 4 (1800) String Quartet No. 4 in C minor
• Opus 18 no 5 (1800) String Quartet No. 5 in A major
• Opus 18 no 6 (1800) String Quartet No. 6 in B flat major
• Opus 19 (1795) Piano Concerto No. 2 in B flat major
• Opus 20 (1799) Septet in E flat major
• Opus 21 (1800) Symphony No. 1 in C major
• Opus 22 (1800) Piano Sonata No. 11 in B flat major
• Opus 23 (1801) Violin Sonata No. 4 in A minor
• Opus 24 (1801) Violin Sonata No. 5 in F major "Spring"
• Opus 25 (1801) Serenade in D major for Flute, Violin and Viola
• Opus 26 (1801) Piano Sonata No. 12 in A flat major
• Opus 27 no 1 (1801) Piano Sonata No. 13 in E flat major
• Opus 27 no 2 (1801) Piano Sonata No. 14 in C sharp minor "Moonlight"
• Opus 28 (1801) Piano Sonata No. 15 in D major
• Opus 29 (1801) String Quintet in C major
• Opus 30 no 1 (1803) Violin Sonata No. 6 in A major
• Opus 30 no 2 (1803) Violin Sonata No. 7 in C minor
• Opus 30 no 3 (1803) Violin Sonata No. 8 in G major
• Opus 31 no 1 (1802) Piano Sonata No. 16 in G major
• Opus 31 no 2 (1802) Piano Sonata No. 17 in D minor "Tempest"
• Opus 31 no 3 (1802) Piano Sonata No. 18 in E flat major
• Opus 32 (1805) Song - An die Hoffnung
• Opus 33 (1802) Seven Bagatelles for piano
• Opus 34 (1802) Six variations for piano on an original theme, F major
• Opus 35 (1802) Fifteen variations and a fugue for piano on an original theme, E flat major "Eroica"
• Opus 36 (1803) Symphony No. 2 in D major
• Opus 37 (1803) Piano Concerto No. 3 in C minor
• Opus 38 (1803) Piano Trio No. 8 (Arrangement of the Septet Opus 20)
• Opus 39 (1789) Two Preludes through all twelve major keys for piano
• Opus 40 (1802) Romance for Violin in G major
• Opus 41 (1803) Serenade for Paino and Flute or Violin in D major
• Opus 42 (1803) Notturno for Viola and Piano in D major
• Opus 43 (1801) The Creatures of Prometheus* Overture and Ballet music
• Opus 44 (1792) Piano Trio No. 10 (Variations on an original theme in E flat major)
• Opus 45 (1803) 3 Marches for Piano, 4 hands
• Opus 46 (1795) Song - Adelaide
• Opus 47 (1802) Violin Sonata No. 9 in A major "Kreutzer"
• Opus 48 no 1 (1802) Song - Bitten
• Opus 48 no 2 (1802) Song - Die Liebe des Nächsten
• Opus 48 no 3 (1802) Song - Vom Tode
• Opus 48 no 4 (1802) Song - Die Ehre Gottes aus der Natur
• Opus 48 no 5 (1802) Song - Gottes Macht und Vorsehung
• Opus 48 no 6 (1802) Song - Bußlied
• Opus 49 no 1 (1792) Piano Sonata No. 19 in G minor
• Opus 49 no 2 (1792) Piano Sonata No. 20 in G major
• Opus 50 (1798) Romance for Violin in F major
• Opus 51 no 1 (1797) Rondo in C major for piano
• Opus 51 no 2 (1798) Rondo in G major for piano
• Opus 52 no 1 (1805) Song - Urians Reise um die Welt
• Opus 52 no 2 (1805) Song - Feuerfab
• Opus 52 no 3 (1805) Song - Das Liedchen von der Ruhe
• Opus 52 no 4 (1805) Song - Maigesang
• Opus 52 no 5 (1805) Song - Mollys Abschied
• Opus 52 no 6 (1805) Song - Die Liebe
• Opus 52 no 7 (1805) Song - Marmotte
• Opus 52 no 8 (1805) Song - Das Blümchen Wunderhold
• Opus 53 (1803) Piano Sonata No. 21 in C major "Waldstein"
• Opus 54 (1804) Piano Sonata No. 22 in F major
• Opus 55 (1805) Symphony No. 3 in E flat major "Eroica"
• Opus 56 (1805) Triple Concerto in C major
• Opus 57 (1805) Piano Sonata No. 23 in F minor "Appassionata"
• Opus 58 (1807) Piano Concerto No. 4 in G major
• Opus 59 no 1 (1806) String Quartet No. 7 in F major "Rasumovsky 1"
• Opus 59 no 2 (1806) String Quartet No. 8 in E minor "Rasumovsky 2"
• Opus 59 no 3 (1806) String Quartet No. 9 in C major "Rasumovsky 3"
• Opus 60 (1807) Symphony No. 4 in B flat major
• Opus 61 (1808) Concerto for Violin and Orchestra in D major
• Opus 62 (1807) Overture - Coriolan
• Opus 63 (1806) Arrangement of String Quintet ( Opus 4) for Piano Trio
• Opus 64 (1807) Arrangement of Piano Trio ( Opus 3) for Piano and Cello
• Opus 65 (1796) Aria - Ah perfido!
• Opus 66 (1796) Variations for Cello on Mozart's `Ein Mädchen oder Weibchen'
• Opus 67 (1808) Symphony No. 5 in C minor
• Opus 68 (1808) Symphony No. 6 in F major "Pastoral"
• Opus 69 (1808) Sonata for Piano and Violincello No. 3 in A major
• Opus 70 no 1 (1808) Piano Trio No. 5 in D major "Ghost"
• Opus 70 no 2 (1808) Piano Trio No. 6 in E flat major
• Opus 71 (1796) Wind sextet in E flat
• Opus 72a (1805) Opera - Leonore[?] (with Overture Leonore No. 2)
• Opus 72b (1806) Opera - Leonore (with Overture Leonore No. 3)
• Opus 72c (1814) Opera - Fidelio
• Opus 73 (1809) Piano Concerto No. 5 in E flat major "Emperor"
• Opus 74 (1809) String Quartet No. 10 in E flat major "Harp"
• Opus 75 no 1 (1809) Song - Mignon
• Opus 75 no 2 (1809) Song - Neue Liebe, neues Leben
• Opus 75 no 3 (1809) Song - Aus Goethes Faust* Es war einmal ein König
• Opus 75 no 4 (1809) Song - Gretels Warnung
• Opus 75 no 5 (1809) Song - An die fernen Geliebten
• Opus 75 no 6 (1809) Song - Der Zufriedene
• Opus 76 (1809) Six variations for piano on an original theme, D major
• Opus 77 (1809) Piano Fantasia
• Opus 78 (1809) Piano Sonata No. 24 in F sharp major
• Opus 79 (1809) Piano Sonata No. 25 in G major
• Opus 80 (1808) Choral Fantasia
• Opus 81a (1809) Piano Sonata No. 26 in E flat major "Les Adieux"
• Opus 81b (1795) Sextet in E flat
• Opus 82 no 1 (1809) Song - Hoffnung
• Opus 82 no 2 (1809) Song - Liebes-Klage
• Opus 82 no 3 (1809) Duet - L'amante impatiente
• Opus 82 no 4 (1809) Song - L'amante impatiente
• Opus 82 no 5 (1809) Song - Lebens-Genuß
• Opus 83 no 1 (1810) Song - Wonne der Wehmut
• Opus 83 no 2 (1810) Song - Sehnsucht
• Opus 83 no 3 (1810) Song - Mit einem gemalten Band
• Opus 84 (1810) Egmont (Overture and Incidental Music)
• Opus 85 (1804) Christus am Ölberge
• Opus 86 (1807) Mass in C major
• Opus 87 (1795) Trio for two Oboes and English Horn in C major
• Opus 88 (1803) Song - Das Gluck der Freundschaft
• Opus 89 (1814) Polonaise in C major
• Opus 90 (1814) Piano Sonata No. 27 in E minor
• Opus 91 (1813) Wellington's Victory ("Battle" Symphony)
• Opus 92 (1813) Symphony No. 7 in A major
• Opus 93 (1814) Symphony No. 8 in F major
• Opus 94 (1815) Song - An die Hoffnung
• Opus 95 (1810) String Quartet No. 11 in F minor "Serioso"
• Opus 96 (1812) Violin Sonata No. 10 in G major
• Opus 97 (1811) Piano Trio No. 7 in B flat major "Archduke"
• Opus 98 (1816) Song Cycle - An die ferne Geliebte
• Opus 99 (1816) Song - Der Mann von Wort
• Opus 100 (1814) Song - Merkenstein
• Opus 101 (1816) Piano Sonata No. 28 in A major
• Opus 102no 1 (1815) Sonata for Piano and Violincello No. 4 in C major
• Opus 102no 2 (1815) Sonata for Piano and Violincello No. 5 in D minor
• Opus 103 (1792) Wind octet in E flat
• Opus 104 (1817) String Quintet (arrangement of Piano Trio No. 3)
• Opus 105 (1819) Six sets of variations for Piano and Flute
• Opus 106 (1818) Piano Sonata No. 29 in B flat major "Hammerklavier"
• Opus 107 (1820) Ten sets of variations for Piano and Flute
• Opus 108 (1818) Twenty-Five Scottish Songs
• Opus 109 (1822) Piano Sonata No. 30 in E major
• Opus 110 (1822) Piano Sonata No. 31 in A flat major
• Opus 111 (1822) Piano Sonata No. 32 in C minor
• Opus 112 (1815) Meeresstille und glückliche Fahrt (for chorus and orchestra)
• Opus 113 (1811) Singspiel - Die Ruinen von Athen (The ruins of Athens)
• Opus 114 (1822) March and Chorus - Die Weihe des Hauses
• Opus 115 (1815) Overture - Zur Namensfeier
• Opus 116 (1802) Vocal Trio with Orchestra - Tramte, empi tremate
• Opus 117 (1811) Singspiel - King Stephen
• Opus 118 (1814) Eligischer Gesang (for chorus and orchestra)
• Opus 119 (1822) Eleven new Bagatelles for piano
• Opus 120 (1823) Thirty-three variations for piano on a waltz by Diabelli, C major (Diabelli Variations)
• Opus 121a (1803) Piano Trio No. 11 (Variations on `Ich bin der Schneider Kakadu')
• Opus 121b (1822) Opferlied (for chorus and orchestra)
• Opus 122 (1824) Bundeslied (for chorus and orchestra)
• Opus 123 (1822) Mass in D major (Missa Solemnis)
• Opus 124 (1822) Overture - Die Weihe des Hauses
• Opus 125 (1824) Symphony No. 9 in D minor "Choral"
• Opus 126 (1824) Six Bagatelles for piano
• Opus 127 (1825) String Quartet No. 12 in E flat major
• Opus 128 (1822) Song - Der Kuss
• Opus 129 (1795) Rondo Capriccio for piano in G major (Rage over a lost penny)
• Opus 130 (1825) String Quartet No. 13 in B flat major
• Opus 131 (1826) String Quartet No. 14 in C sharp minor
• Opus 132 (1825) String Quartet No. 15 in A minor
• Opus 133 (1826) Große Fuge in B flat major
• Opus 134 (1826) Piano arrangement (4 hands) of Große Fuge
• Opus 135 (1826) String Quartet No. 16 in F major
• Opus 136 (1814) Cantata - Der glorreiche Augenblick
• Opus 137 (1817) String Quintet (fugue) in D major
• Opus 138 (1807) Overture - Leonore 1