Rainy days with Ludwig Van Beethoven

There is nothing more enjoyable than listening to Beethoven's Pathétique (Piano Sonata No.8) or Pastoral on Houston's rainy days. Please enjoy a little introduction to Beethoven written by our new HIMC PR manager, Alex Wang.

Ludwig Van Beethoven is one of the most renowned music composers to ever live and left behind a legacy very few could surpass. Beethoven was estimated to be born around December 1770 in Bonn, Germany. Beethoven’s father had rigorously pushed him to succeed in the music world. He even had his first piano concert at the age of seven and composed his first piano variation at the age of 12. After the death of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, an influential composer during the time, Beethoven moved to Vienna where he was taught by many famous musicians. A few years later, his compositions were a huge success and was even referred to as “Mozart’s Successor.”

However, during his 30s, Beethoven started to lose his hearing and things went downhill afterwards. Beethoven had family and personal issues which caused his musical work to slow down. Beethoven became completely deaf around 1819, but it was actually during this period of his life when he composed a lot of his most distinguished pieces. Some of Beethoven’s most successful compositions include Symphony no. 9, Symphony no. 5 in C Minor, Fur Elise, String Quartets, and his only opera- Fidelio. Beethoven died on March 26, 1867 at the age 56. His musical journey was spectacular and inspired many others to succeed like him.

#himc #beethoven #rainy #houston #himc #pathetique #pastoral #introduction