Ludwig van Beethoven

Ludwig van Beethoven (1770–1827) was a German composer, born in Bonn, whose works carried music from the Classical style toward the Romantic. After early training in Bonn, he moved to Vienna in 1792 and studied under Haydn. A virtuoso pianist, he won noble patrons; his First Symphony premiered in 1800.

By 1798 his hearing had begun to fail, and in 1802 at Heiligenstadt he wrote an unsent letter to his brothers admitting thoughts of suicide and resolving to live for his art. He first titled the Third Symphony, the Eroica, after Bonaparte, then scratched out the name when Napoleon made himself emperor in 1804.

In 1824 his Ninth Symphony, the first major choral symphony, was performed to great acclaim, with the nearly deaf composer beside the conductor. He died in Vienna on 26 March 1827, and ten thousand people followed his funeral procession, with Franz Schubert among the torchbearers.