In December 1770, Ludwig van Beethoven was born in Bonn, Germany. His true birth date is unknown. ¹⁾

Beethoven's father, a failing singer, pressed his own expectations on his son by forcing him to rehearse for hours on end every day. In fact, when he played the erroneous notes, his father would frequently beat him. ²⁾

Beethoven had to drop out of school at the age of 11 to help support his family. As a result, he never learned to multiply or divide. ³⁾

Beethoven learned to play the violin as a child and preferred musical improvisation over playing from a score. “I can't tolerate it - scratch by note, else your scratching won't amount to anything!” his father once stated. ⁴⁾

Beethoven had six siblings, four of whom died before he was born. ⁵⁾

Beethoven's father was an alcoholic, a condition Beethoven subsequently inherited. ⁶⁾

Beethoven's first piece was published when he was 12 years old, which is impressive. ⁷⁾

Following Mozart's death in 1791, the Viennese Count Waldstein promised the young Beethoven that if he studied hard enough, he would get “Mozart's soul Through Haydn's hands”. ⁸⁾

Beethoven kept a diary of his everyday activities in Vienna beginning in 1792, providing us with insights into his daily life, from choosing a new wig-maker to locating a location to buy a piano. ⁹⁾

Beethoven, unfortunately, was prone to illness and spent the majority of his life afflicted with colitis, rheumatism, rheumatic fever, typhus, skin disorders, abscesses, a series of infections, ophthalmia, inflammatory degeneration of the arteries, jaundice, chronic hepatitis, and cirrhosis of the liver. ¹⁰⁾

When Beethoven arrived to Vienna in his early twenties, he studied with Joseph Haydn, another important and influential composer. ¹¹⁾

Beethoven despised providing piano lessons unless his students were attractive women or exceptionally gifted. ¹²⁾

By 1793, at the age of 22, Beethoven was frequently playing the piano in the salons of the Viennese nobility, swiftly establishing himself as a piano virtuoso, performing preludes and fugues from Bach's Well Tempered Clavier. ¹³⁾

During a retreat to Heiligenstadt outside of Vienna in 1802 during a period of sorrow, Beethoven wrote, “I would have terminated my life - it was only my work that kept me back.” Oh, it seemed impossible for me to leave the world until I had brought forth everything that I felt was inside me.“ The Heiligenstadt Testament, as it is currently called, was published in 1828. ¹⁴⁾

Beethoven's early phase is thought to have concluded in 1802, following the Heiligenstadt Testament, and includes his first and second symphonies, a series of six string quartets, piano concertos no. 1 and 2, and perhaps a dozen piano sonatas, including the 'Pathétique' sonata. ¹⁵⁾

Like anything else in the musician-life, composer's there are several hypotheses as to why he went deaf. The widely accepted explanation is that he became deaf as a result of experiencing smallpox and typhus sickness as a child. Beethoven, on the other hand, stated in a letter that falling over as a toddler caused delayed, irreversible impairment to his hearing. ¹⁶⁾

For the film Saturday Night Fever, Walter Murphy created a disco version of the tune titled “A Fifth of Beethoven.” In the film, the 'fifth' in the title referred to a whiskey bottle sold with a fifth gallon. ¹⁷⁾

Despite his distrust of authority, Beethoven admired Napoleon Bonaparte. During the French Revolution, he looked up to him as someone who embodied the ideas of an anti-monarchical and democratic government. Beethoven admired Bonaparte so much that he wrote the Eroica, or Third Symphony, for him in the beginning.¹⁸⁾

When Beethoven knew he would never be able to hear again, he penned the Heiligenstadt Testament. The series of letters, written in 1802, was sent to Beethoven's younger brothers, and discussed the musician's acceptance of his affliction as well as his ambition to overcome it. Unfortunately, he never got the chance to mail it to his brothers, and the letter was discovered in his study after he died. ¹⁹⁾

He continued to make music, with his pals frequently dropping over to express their support. Until his death in 1827, they connected via writing in conversation books. ²⁰⁾

Beethoven never married during his career because he frequently fell for ladies who could never be his. For one thing, he had Josephine Brunswick as a pupil in 1799. Beethoven's letter, 'Immortal Beloved,' was allegedly intended to his loving student. ²¹⁾

If you happened to walk into his room at the time, you'd discover leftover food and other rubbish strewn about among his documents. There would also be an unemptied porta-potty under his piano. On top of that, he had a pockmarked and stubby face. ²²⁾

He noted in his letter in the “Heiligenstadt Testament” that as the day progressed, he became increasingly angry and short-tempered. The formerly joyful composer has become a grumpy guy. He said it was because his hearing was deteriorating day by day. When his brother died, he was appointed as his nephew's legal guardian. Because of Beethoven's extreme strictness most of the time, his nephew committed suicide in order to escape Beethoven's clutches. ²³⁾

Beethoven had such a profound effect on the music scene of his day that the Viennese Classicism Era ended with him. Beethoven, who pioneered the Romanticism Era in music, achieved several firsts, such as composing a choir accompaniment for his Symphony No. 9. ²⁴⁾

His renowned Fifth Symphony demonstrated his mastery of dramatic compositions, employing short themes that were simpler to recognize rather than extended ones. ²⁵⁾

Beethoven, as a composer and musician, could not tolerate works that were less than faultless. After completing a sheet of musical score or composition, he would modify and rework it several times until it met his standards. ²⁶⁾

Fidelio was written as a commission for Peter Freiherr von Braun by Beethoven. Despite receiving a lot of attention at a stage performance in 1805, Beethoven's composition received a lot of criticism. As a result, he altered the score until he had a fourth version. The opera, which was most likely one of his life's work, took ten years to complete.²⁷⁾

Beethoven's ability to write while being entirely deaf is one of the most remarkable Beethoven facts. He could picture harmony and music in his thoughts without even hearing the instrument because of his absolute pitch. One of the more unusual ways he used was to put a wooden spoon between his teeth while playing so he could feel the vibrations of the piano.²⁸⁾

Ernesto Cortázar II, a Mexican arranger, composer, and pianist, wrote Beethoven's Silence in 1999. The composition was intended to depict the composer's life when deafness took over his profession. Unfortunately, the work has not been included in any of Beethoven's autobiographies. ²⁹⁾

Beethoven had a number of contentious love affairs despite the fact that he never married. Beethoven reportedly wrote the Moonlight Sonata for his student Julie Guicciardi.³⁰⁾