The Childhood of Beethoven

Most of Ludwig van Beethoven’s life is an inspiring, yet odd tale — including his birth. Beethoven himself argued that he was born in 1772, despite official records of the Holy Roman Empire stating that he was born in 1770 in Bonn, Germany. Beethoven’s family consisted of many musicians, though none quite as talented as himself.

He began to study music between the ages of four and six with extreme vigor and had quit proper schooling by the age of ten. At one point in his youth, he had said: “music comes to me more readily than words”. With his intense early music education, Beethoven’s father arranged for his son’s first public music recital when he was only seven.

The goal of this recital was to gain the attention of Mozart, in order to drive his son to fame. Sadly, the recital didn’t gain much attention. Ludwig wouldn’t gain notoriety in the world of music till later in his life.

In 1787 Beethoven traveled to Vienna. Here he allegedly had a meeting with Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. The engraving from the late 19th Century show this meeting is but not historically proven. Wood engraving, published in 1882.

For More Info: A Glimpse into the Life of Ludwig van Beethoven