Thanks for concise intro; more on life of Ludwig van Beethoven (

Ludwig van Beethoven wrote: "My music is to release people from the misery they carry-aroundw ith them." and "True art has its own mind- it cannot be pushed into flattering forms." Even with the modern criteria, the great composer probably held the highest ethic standards! In view of his life story, no one should be surprised.

Beethoven was born on December 16th, 1770 in Bonn as the son of a court musician. By age 14, this highly talented boy became a paid member of the Bonn court orchestra and was in charge of orchestra rehearsals.

In 1792, Beethoven was sponsored to travel to the music metropolis of Vienna where he learned composition from many great composers including Haydn. Soon Beethoven became a protege of the Viennese aristocracy. However, the life is not always fair. This great composer began to suffer from hearing loss in 1798 and was gradually worsening to such a degree that he could hardly make himself understood from 1819 onwards.

The composer was unfortunately suffering not only from physical disability, but also from financial hardship. During the time he spent in Vienna, this unsettled bachelor lived in more than 30 different, small aprtments and rooms. This probabhly reminds many of us who came to the States in 1980s with only $40.00 living upon the research/teaching assistantship, which however, was hardly comparable to the story of the greatest composer in history!

In his later years of life, Beethoven suffered from other severe illness causing jaudice, probably from hepatobilliary or pancreatic diseases (from author's). He died from "dropsy" (liver failure-cirrhosis, probably from alcohol abuse, author's diagnosis).