What did Beethoven really look like? In this matter, one has to trust the skill of artists who happened to work with the great composer as a model. Here are attributed images of Beethoven that were made "from life" and which can be considered as a historical document.
"Genuine" portraits of Beethoven.
This silhouette was created by Joseph Neesen and is the first confirmed image of Beethoven available to us. According to his friend Franz Gerhard Wegeler, it was made in 1786 at the von Breuning family home in Bonn (where Beethoven gave music lessons and spent much time as a friend at home) on one of the two evenings when the silhouettes were made all family members.
The earliest attributed painting of Beethoven is believed to be around 1800. This is a portrait by the Austrian artist Gandolph Ernst Stainhauser von Treuberg, which was painted shortly after the composer's first great success in Vienna (the first "Academy" at the Burgtheater, 1800). The original portrait has not survived, but it served as a model for several engravings that were created in Vienna and Leipzig by order of Beethoven's publishers from 1801 to 1805.
Miniature portrait on ivory from 1803 by Danish artist Christian Horneman. Beethoven in this portrait looks like an elegant young man of the world, dressed and cut in the latest fashion. Apparently, the composer himself liked the portrait very much, because a year later Beethoven presented it to his Bonn friend Stephan von Breuning as a sign of reconciliation. It can be assumed that the artist was able to perfectly convey the lively expression and inquisitive gaze of the young Beethoven.
The Viennese amateur artist Joseph Willibrord Mähler was introduced to Beethoven by Stefan von Breuning around 1803. A year later, in 1804, Mahler painted his first portrait of the composer - in the "academic" style, in the garden of Arcadia and with a lyre in his hand. Now the portrait is kept in the Vienna Pasqualati-Haus. In the 19th century, this image gained great fame thanks to a lithograph by Josef Kriehuber based on it.
There are two versions of this portrait by the Berlin artist Isidor Neugass. The first was commissioned by one of Beethoven's main patrons, Prince Karl Lichnowsky, in 1806, the second was commissioned by the Hungarian aristocratic Brunswick family, with whom the composer also maintained close friendly relations, presumably in 1805. The versions differ mainly in the color of the clothes, as well as in one small detail: on the version belonging to the Brunswick family, one can see a lorgnette ribbon (which is often called a watch chain in the literature), on the Lichnovsky version it is absent. Neugass chose the half-length portrait format that was popular in Vienna at the time. The artist somewhat "smoothed out" Beethoven's facial features (especially on Likhnovsky's version), bringing them closer to the ideal that existed at that time.
Pencil drawing by Ludwig Ferdinand Schnorr von Carolsfeld, presumably 1808-1810. (Gleichenstein Collection) Under the drawing there is an inscription, the author of which is unknown: "From the old director Schnorr von Karolsfeld from Dresden, in 1808 or 1809 in the album of the Malfatti family in Munich. Property of Mrs. von Gleichenstein (Frau von Gleichenstein), née Malfatti in Freiburg at the Breisgau.
Probably the only absolutely objective depiction of Beethoven can be considered a lifetime mask, made in 1812 by the sculptor Franz Klein, on which many later sculptural and pictorial images are based. In 1812, Beethoven's friends, the piano maker Andreas Streicher and his wife Nanette, opened a large piano salon that also served as a concert hall. They decided to decorate it with busts of famous musicians, among which there was supposed to be a bust of Beethoven, and the most realistic one. The sculpture was commissioned to Franz Klein, who until 1805 was engaged in the manufacture of plaster copies of casts from the original for Franz Joseph Gall, M.D.
In 1814, the Viennese publisher Dominik Artaria published an engraving of Beethoven by the master Blasius Höfel. The sketch for the engraving was commissioned from a French artist named Louis-René Létronne, who worked from 1805-1817. in Vienna. However, Letronne's pencil drawing did not suit Höfel, who asked Beethoven to pose for him again. The composer agreed, and Höfel painted a new portrait, which eventually served as a sketch for the engraving. Letronne's drawing also served as a sketch for, according to at least, one anonymous etching and is now kept in private collection in Paris.
The engraved portrait was extremely liked by Beethoven, he sent copies with personal dedications to his Bonn friends Gerhard Wegeler, Johann Heinrich Crevelt and Nikolaus Simrock. The composer at that moment was at the zenith of his fame after the premiere of his compositions dedicated to the Congress of Vienna: the cantata "Der glorreiche Augenblick" Op. 136 and the battle symphonic piece "Wellingtons Sieg oder Schlacht bei Vittoria") Op. 91, as well as the successful revival of Fidelio.
Engraving quickly became popular in Vienna, and the following year the portrait was re-engraved by Karl Riedel (Karl Traugott Riedel) in Leipzig. In 1817, this engraving was published in the Leipzig "Allgemeine Musikalische Zeitung" and thus received wide distribution.
Interestingly, it was this image (more precisely, Höfel's version) that served as one of the grounds for the theory of Beethoven's African roots, which has become widespread on the Internet.
A picturesque portrait by an unknown master, probably painted from an engraving by Höfel or a drawing by Letronne, is kept at the Teatro alla Scala.
Russian German Gustav Fomich Gippius (Gustav Adolf Hippius) studied painting abroad and in 1814-1816. lived in Vienna. It is not known whether Beethoven posed for him, in any case his pencil portrait of the composer (56×40 cm), presumably dating from 1815, is not a copy of any of the known images. Now the drawing is stored in the Beethoven-Haus in Bonn.
Around 1815, Joseph Willibrord Mähler painted a series of portraits of contemporary Viennese composers, which included a portrait of Beethoven. Several versions of this portrait were created, one of which Mahler kept for himself and kept throughout his life.
Portrait by Johann Christoph Heckel, 1815. The portrait is now in the Library of Congress in Washington DC. On the website of the Beethoven-haus museum you can also see an anonymous copy of the painting (oil on canvas) and a lithograph by A. Hatzfeld.
Ferdinand Schimon painted several portraits of musicians, including Spohr, Carl Maria von Weber and Beethoven. The history of this portrait of Beethoven, created in 1818, is known from the words of Anton Schindler, who, as he himself writes, was the initiator of this work of Shimon. Since Beethoven did not like to pose, Shimon worked on the portrait right in the composer's apartment when he was composing. However, it was not possible to complete the portrait in this way, and some time later, Beethoven invited the artist to make the necessary improvements, which were especially needed in the area around the eyes. As a result, the composer was "quite satisfied" with the portrait obtained in such an intricate way.
In contrast to many other idealized depictions of Beethoven, Klobert's pencil drawing, created in the summer of 1818 in Mödling, conveys well the direct and immediate perception of the composer's appearance (Beethoven did not pose for this portrait). According to Klobert's memoirs, Beethoven himself believed that nature was successfully captured in this sketch, and that his hairstyle turned out especially well.
Klaubert created two more portraits of Beethoven based on this drawing. One of them, oil on canvas, is now considered lost. On it, Beethoven was depicted together with his nephew Karl in the bosom of nature. However, a drawing in charcoal and chalk, created a few years later and depicting Beethoven in a much more idealized form, has survived. There were two more versions of this drawing, but they have not survived.
Since the 40s of the 19th century, the Berlin lithographers Theodor Neu and Carl Fischer created several lithographs based on charcoal and chalk drawings - under the direct supervision of the artist, as evidenced by the inscriptions on some prints. Thanks to the wide distribution of these lithographs, which were copied by many artists of the 19th century, this image of Beethoven became especially popular. Claubert's pencil drawing did not attract much attention until the 20th century.
The portrait of Beethoven by Joseph Karl Stieler, created in the spring of 1820, is perhaps the most popular image of the composer. Stieler's portrait shaped the general public's view of Beethoven's personality and appearance for two centuries. In the eyes of subsequent generations, in his idealized image, the artist recorded the creative genius of the great composer. The portrait was commissioned by Franz and Antonie Brentano, who had been Beethoven's friends since about 1810. "Conversation notebooks" give a fairly detailed idea of the origin of the portrait. The composer posed for this portrait 4 times - an unusually large number, since, according to Beethoven himself, he was not able to sit still for a long time.
In 1823, Ferdinand Waldmüller (Ferdinand Georg Waldmüller) received an order from the Leipzig publishing house Breitkopf & Härtel for a portrait of Beethoven. As can be seen from several letters and notes in "conversational notebooks", the composer posed for this portrait only once. Moreover, the session was interrupted ahead of time and there was no continuation. Therefore, it is assumed that Waldmüller managed to write only the composer's face, and the clothes and, possibly, part of the hair were added later.
An 1823 portrait by Johann Stephan Decker. This is the last known portrait of Beethoven, now it is kept in the City Historical Museum Vienna (Hisctorisches Museum der Stadt Wien).
Bibliography:
Comini, Alessandra. The changing image of Beethoven: a study in mythmaking. New York: Rizzoli, 1987.
"Ludwig Van Beethoven, Bicentennial Edition 1770-1970", LOC 70-100925, Deutsche Grammophon Gesellschaft mbH, Hamburg, 1970.
Robert Bory. Ludwig van Beethoven: His Life and His Work in Pictures. Atlantis Books, Zurich, 1960.
http://www.mozartportraits.com/index.php?p=3&CatID=1
« Moonlight Sonata” was actually dedicated not to the moon, but to an 18-year-old girl, and the author’s title of this composition is “Piano Sonata No. 14 in C-sharp minor”. This is known only to connoisseurs of music history - as, probably, that the exact date of birth of Ludwig van Beethoven is still a mystery. Nevertheless, this will not prevent all music lovers and Fashion-concert readers from celebrating the birth of the great “gloomy” genius of music on December 16th.
Beethoven said a new word in culture, bringing music from the stage of the entertainment genre to the heights of art. He not only made the piano the main instrument, which had a more powerful, “orchestral” sound compared to the harpsichord that was in vogue, but also became the founder of romanticism, with its bright emotional storms as opposed to refined classicism.
Equally revolutionary for his contemporaries were the appearance and character of the German composer, and perhaps best of all they were able to capture the artist Josef Stieler. The portrait, created in the spring of 1820, is the most replicated image of Beethoven. And no wonder - in this picture the abyss of unique details.
Firstly, the famous naughty whirlwinds of the composer are shown here: acquaintances often reproached him for the lack of a “decent” hairstyle, but Ludwig Beethoven did not want to change it to please the tastes of the public. Such behavior was very characteristic of him, often he openly went against social principles. Take, for example, the case in Teplice, which has become a byword and a plot for caricature drawings. Legend has it that Beethoven and Goethe once met Emperor Franz surrounded by his retinue while walking together. Goethe, stepping aside, made a deep bow to the highest person, while Beethoven passed through the crowd of courtiers, barely touching his hat.
Secondly, the facial expression, burning cheeks and the focused gaze of the person being portrayed vividly convey the strong character and rebellious spirit of the creator. This, of course, can be attributed to the conditions in which the artist worked with the composer. It is known that Beethoven posed for this portrait four times - an unusually many, since, according to the composer himself, he was not able to sit still for a long time. He considered meetings with Stieler a punishment and agreed to pose for him only at the request of friends. However, he still ran out of patience ahead of time, and Stieler wrote Beethoven's hands from memory.
Thirdly, Beethoven is depicted in the process of work, at the most intimate moment of creativity, which also meets the ideals of romanticism. The composer assured that he communicates with God while composing music and spared no time and effort, wanting to achieve perfection. Once one of the violinists complained to him about a very uncomfortable passage in one of his compositions. “When I wrote this, the Lord Almighty guided me,” Beethoven answered. “Do you really think that I could think of your little party when He spoke to me?”
The portrait is kept in the Beethovenhaus Museum in Bonn, hometown German genius. Interestingly, this already textbook picture was overtaken by a second wave of popularity thanks to Andy Warhol, who in 1967 took it as the basis for his images of Beethoven.
I looked at the portrait with you
As a composer, it consists in the fact that he raised to the highest degree the ability to express instrumental music when conveying spiritual moods and greatly expanded its forms. Based on the works of Haydn and Mozart in the first period of his work, Beethoven then began to give the instruments characteristic of each of them expressiveness, so much so that they, both independently (especially the piano) and in the orchestra, received the ability to express the highest ideas and the deepest moods. human soul. The difference between Beethoven and Haydn and Mozart, who also brought the language of instruments to a high degree of development, lies in the fact that he modified the forms of instrumental music received from them, and added a deep inner content to the impeccable beauty of the form. Under his hands the minuet expands into a meaningful scherzo; the finale, which in most cases was a lively, cheerful and unpretentious part of his predecessors, becomes for him the culminating point in the development of the whole work and often surpasses the first part in the breadth and grandeur of its concept. In contrast to the balance of voices that give Mozart's music the character of dispassionate objectivity, Beethoven often gives precedence to the first voice, which gives his compositions a subjective shade that makes it possible to connect all parts of the composition with a unity of mood and idea. What he indicated in some works, such as in the Heroic or Pastoral symphonies, with appropriate inscriptions, is observed in most of his instrumental compositions: the emotional moods expressed poetically in them are in close relationship with each other, and therefore these works fully deserve the name of poems.
Portrait of Ludwig van Beethoven. Artist J. K. Stieler, 1820
The number of Beethoven's compositions, not counting works without an opus designation, is 138. These include 9 symphonies (the last with a finale for choir and orchestra on Schiller's ode to Joy), 7 concertos, 1 septet, 2 sextets, 3 quintets, 16 strings quartets, 36 piano sonatas, 16 piano sonatas with other instruments, 8 piano trios, 1 opera, 2 cantatas, 1 oratorio, 2 grand masses, several overtures, music for Egmont, Ruins of Athens, etc., and numerous works for piano and for single and polyphonic singing.
Ludwig van Beethoven. The best works
By their nature, these writings clearly outline three periods with a preparatory period ending in 1795. The first period embraces the years from 1795 to 1803 (until the 29th work). In the compositions of this time, the influence of Haydn and Mozart is still clearly visible, but (especially in the piano works, both in the form of a concerto, and in the sonata and variations), a desire for independence is already noticeable - and not only from the technical side. The second period begins in 1803 and ends in 1816 (up to the 58th work). Here is a brilliant composer in the full and rich flowering of a mature artistic individuality. The works of this period, opening up a whole world of the richest life sensations, at the same time can serve as an example of a wonderful and complete harmony between content and form. The third period includes compositions with a grandiose content, in which, due to Beethoven's renunciation due to complete deafness from outside world thoughts become even deeper, more exciting, often more immediate than before, but the unity of thought and form is less perfect in them and is often sacrificed to the subjectivity of mood.
Beethoven was born presumably on December 16 (only the date of his baptism is precisely known - December 17) 1770 in the city of Bonn in musical family. From childhood, they began to teach him to play the organ, harpsichord, violin, flute.
For the first time, the composer Christian Gottlob Nefe became seriously involved with Ludwig. Already at the age of 12, Beethoven's biography was replenished with the first work of a musical orientation - an assistant organist at court. Beethoven studied several languages, tried to compose music.
The beginning of the creative path
After his mother's death in 1787, he took over the financial responsibilities of the family. Ludwig Beethoven began to play in the orchestra, listen to university lectures. Having accidentally encountered Haydn in Bonn, Beethoven decides to take lessons from him. For this, he moves to Vienna. Already at this stage, after listening to one of Beethoven's improvisations, the great Mozart said: "He will make everyone talk about himself!" After some attempts, Haydn sends Beethoven to study with Albrechtsberger. Then Antonio Salieri became Beethoven's teacher and mentor.
The heyday of a musical career
Haydn briefly noted that Beethoven's music was dark and strange. However, in those years, virtuoso piano playing brought Ludwig first glory. Beethoven's works differ from classical harpsichord playing. In the same place, in Vienna, well-known compositions were written in the future: Beethoven's Moonlight Sonata, Pathétic Sonata.
Rude, proud in public, the composer was very open, friendly towards friends. Beethoven's work of the following years is filled with new works: the First, Second Symphonies, "The Creation of Prometheus", "Christ on the Mount of Olives". However, Beethoven's later life and work were complicated by the development of an ear disease - tinitis.
The composer retires to the city of Heiligenstadt. There he works on the Third - Heroic Symphony. Complete deafness separates Ludwig from the outside world. However, even this event cannot make him stop composing. According to critics, Beethoven's Third Symphony fully reveals his greatest talent. Opera "Fidelio" is staged in Vienna, Prague, Berlin.
Last years
In the years 1802-1812, Beethoven wrote sonatas with a special desire and zeal. Then a whole series of works for piano, cello, the famous Ninth Symphony, Solemn Mass were created.
Note that the biography of Ludwig Beethoven of those years was filled with fame, popularity and recognition. Even the authorities, despite his frank thoughts, did not dare to touch the musician. However, strong feelings for his nephew, whom Beethoven took under guardianship, quickly aged the composer. And on March 26, 1827, Beethoven died of liver disease.
Many works by Ludwig van Beethoven have become classics not only for adults, but also for children.
About a hundred monuments around the world have been erected to the great composer.
The play-bagatelle "Fur Elise" is one of the most famous works of Ludwig van Beethoven. All novice musicians must learn it when mastering playing the piano. Despite the popularity of the play, the history of its creation remains a real mystery, just as its addressee remains a mystery.
Ludwig van Beethoven showed a talent for music from childhood, his first teachers were his father Johann, who served as a tenor in the court chapel, and the composer Christian Gottlob Nefe. A key role in the development of Ludwig's talent was also played by his grandfather, who held the position of bandmaster. It was he who first noticed his grandson's craving for music and insisted on the need to educate the boy.
At the age of 21, Ludwig goes to Vienna to take lessons from the famous Austrian composer Joseph Haydn, who speaks with approval of his student. Beethoven quickly masters the skill of playing the piano and willingly improvises. Intuitively, he finds new ways, playing techniques, combinations that will determine the development of music in the 18th century.
By the age of 30, Ludwig's hearing began to deteriorate sharply. For a musician, such a diagnosis was worse than death, because the opportunity to play music was under threat. As best he could, he tried to hide the disease from others, but gradually closed in on himself and became unsociable. Despite the fact that over the years Beethoven became completely deaf, he still continued to write music, many of his most famous works created at the end of life.
Researchers who work with the archives of Ludwig Beethoven note that the composer had a completely illegible handwriting, eyewitnesses noted that he also had difficulties with pronunciation. All this gave reason to assume that, perhaps, the great composer suffered from dyslexia (poor mastery of writing and reading skills with a general ability to learn). It was because of the fuzzy handwriting that the work known today as the play Für Elise was published under that title.
It is worth noting that the bagatelle play was published 40 years after the death of the composer, it was discovered by the musician Ludwig Nohl. Interestingly, the manuscript was accidentally found in 1865, published in 1867, but soon lost without a trace. To date, only a copy of Zero has survived, where the original is located is unknown. Therefore, the information that we have today is how Zero was able to decipher Beethoven's recordings. It was almost certain that the original was quite difficult to read, so Zero focused on translating the notes correctly. It is unlikely that it was fundamentally important for him to preserve the correct name of the addressee.
Considering that the dedication of the play "To Elise", long years it was believed that its addressee was Elizaveta Alekseevna, the wife of the Russian Emperor Alexander I.
However, researcher Max Unger disagreed with this statement. In his opinion, it is logical to assume that the addressee could be Teresa Malfatti, a student of Beethoven and his close friend. It is known that the great composer was in love with Teresa and even made her a marriage proposal in 1810 (the manuscript of the play was supposedly dated exactly this year). However, Teresa refused.
There is a third version, according to which the play could have been written for the singer Elisabeth Röckel and given to her as a farewell gift before her departure from Vienna. However, it is known for certain that the manuscript was at the disposal of Teresa Malfatti, and if the addressee was Röckel, it is not possible to explain this circumstance.
Ludwig Beethoven lived difficult life, never married, had no children. As a legacy to humanity, he left his musical masterpieces and went down in history genius composer who did not hear a sound
Ludwig van Beethoven - a brilliant composer who did not hear a sound
Ludwig van Beethoven is a great German composer.
Many considered his music to be gloomy and gloomy, because it did not fit in with the trends that were fashionable at that time. But no one could dispute the genius of the composer. Moreover, Beethoven was so talented that he composed his works even when he was completely deaf.
Ludwig van Beethoven, circa 1783
When the future composer was three years old, because of pranks and disobedience, his father locked him in a room with a harpsichord. However, Beethoven did not beat the instrument in protest, but sat down at it and enthusiastically improvised with both hands. One day, the father noticed this and decided that little Ludwig could become the second Mozart. This was followed by diligent lessons in playing the violin and harpsichord.
Portrait of Ludwig van Beethoven. Christian Horneman, 1809.
Due to the difficult situation in the family (his father suffered from alcoholism), Ludwig van Beethoven had to leave school and go to work. This fact is associated with his inability to add and multiply numbers. Many contemporaries laughed at the composer for this. But Beethoven could not be called an ignoramus. He read all kinds of literature, loved Schiller and Goethe, knew several languages. Perhaps the genius was just a humanitarian mindset.
Beethoven at work. Carl Schloesser, circa 1890
Ludwig van Beethoven quickly achieves fame and recognition. Despite his disheveled and gloomy appearance, unbearable character, his contemporaries could not help but note his talent. But in 1796, the worst thing that can happen to a composer happens to Beethoven - he hears a ringing in his ears and begins to go deaf. He develops inflammation of the inner ear - tinitis. Doctors attribute this illness to Beethoven's habit of dipping his head in ice water every time he sat down to write. At the insistence of the doctors, the composer moves to the quiet town of Heiligenstadt, but this does not make him feel better.
It was then that the most brilliant works of the composer appeared. Beethoven himself would call this period "heroic" in his work. In 1824, his famous Ninth Symphony was performed. The delighted audience applauded the composer for a long time, but he stood, turning away, and did not hear anything. Then one of the artists turned Beethoven to the audience, and then he saw how they waved their hands, headscarves, hats to him. The crowd greeted the composer for such a long time that the police officers standing nearby began to appease the audience, since such a storm of applause could only be shown to the emperor.
Beethoven composed even when he was deaf.
Being in his deafness, Beethoven, however, was aware of all political and musical events. When friends came to him, communication took place with the help of "conversational notebooks". The interlocutors wrote questions, and the composer answered them orally or in writing. All musical works Beethoven evaluated by reading their scores (music notes).
On the day of the composer's death, March 26, an unprecedented storm broke out on the street with snow and lightning. The weakened composer suddenly got up from his bed, shook his fist at heaven and died.
Beethoven's genius was so great that his works are still considered the most performed among the classics.
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