Why did Ludwig van Beethoven choose to be a musician? Beethoven - interesting facts from life

Ludwig van Beethoven comes from a musical family. As a child, the future composer was introduced to playing musical instruments such as organ, harpsichord, violin, flute.

Composer Christian Gottlob Nefe is Beethoven's first teacher. At the age of 12, Beethoven became assistant organist at court. In addition to studying music, Ludwig was engaged in the study of languages, reading such authors as Homer, Plutarch, Shakespeare, while simultaneously trying to compose music.

Beethoven loses his mother early and takes on all the expenses of the family.

After moving to Vienna, Beethoven took music lessons from such composers as Haydn, Albrechtsberger, Salieri. Haydn notes the gloomy manner of performance of the future genius of music, but despite this virtuoso.

Famous works of the composer appeared in Vienna: the Moonlight Sonata, and the Pathetic Sonata,

Beethoven loses his hearing due to a middle ear disease and settles in the city of Heiligenstadt. The peak of the composer's popularity is coming. A painful illness only helps Beethoven to work with even greater enthusiasm on his compositions.

Ludwig van Beethoven dies of liver disease in 1827. More than 20 thousand fans of the composer's work came to the composer's funeral.

Ludwig van Beethoven. Detailed biography

Ludwig van Beethoven was born on December 17, 1770 in Bonn. The boy was destined to be born into a musical family. His father was a tenor, and his grandfather was a choir leader. Johann Beethoven had high hopes for his son and wanted to develop outstanding musical abilities in him. The methods of education were very cruel, and Ludwig had to study all night long. Despite the fact that in a short time Johann was not able to make a second Mozart out of his son, the gifted boy was noticed by the composer Christian Nefe, who made a great contribution to both his musical and personal development. Due to the difficult financial situation, Beethoven began to work very early. At the age of 13, he was hired as an assistant organist and later became an accompanist at the National Theater in Bonn.

The turning point in Ludwig's biography was his trip to Vienna in 1787, where he managed to meet Mozart. "One day the whole world will talk about him!" - such was the summary of the great composer after listening to Beethoven's improvisations. The young man dreamed of continuing his studies with his idol, but due to a serious illness of his mother, he was forced to return to Bonn. Since then, he had to take custody of his younger brothers, and the issue of lack of money has become even more acute. During this period, Ludwig finds support in the Breuning family of aristocrats. The circle of his acquaintances is expanding, the young man finds himself in a university environment. He is actively working on large-scale musical works, such as sonatas and cantatas, and also writes songs for amateur performance, including Groundhog, Free Man, Sacrificial Song.

In 1792 Beethoven moved to live in Vienna. There he takes lessons from Y. Gaydan, and later goes to A. Salieri. Then he becomes known as a virtuoso pianist. Many influential people appear among Ludwig's admirers, but the composer was remembered by his contemporaries as a proud and independent person. He said: "What I am, I owe to myself." In the "Viennese" period of 1792 - 1802. Beethoven wrote 3 concertos and several dozen sonatas for piano, works for violin and cello, the oratorio Christ on the Mount of Olives and the overture to the ballet Creations of Prometheus. At the same time, Sonata No. 8 or "Pathetic" was created, as well as Sonata No. 14, better known as "Moonlight". The first part of the work, which Beethoven dedicated to his beloved, who took music lessons from him, received the name "Moonlight Sonata" from the critic L. Relshtab after the death of the composer.

Beethoven meets the beginning of the 19th century with symphonies. In 1800 he completed the First Symphony, and in 1802 the Second was written. Then comes the hardest period in the life of the composer. Signs of developing deafness intensify and lead Ludwig into a state of deep mental crisis. In 1802, Beethoven writes the Heiligenstadt Testament, in which he addresses people and shares his experiences. Despite everything, the composer once again managed to find a way out of a difficult situation, learned to create with his serious illness, although he emphasized that he was very close to suicide.

Period 1802-1812 - the heyday of Beethoven's career. The victory over oneself and the events of the French Revolution are reflected in the Third Symphony, called the "Heroic", Symphony No. 5, and the "Appassionata". The Fourth and "Pastoral" symphonies are filled with light and harmony. For the Congress of Vienna, the composer wrote the cantatas "The Battle of Vittoria" and "Happy Moment", which brought him a resounding success.

Beethoven was an innovator and a seeker. In 1814, his first and only opera, Fidelio, saw the light of day for the first time, and a year later he created the first vocal cycle called To a Distant Beloved. And fate, meanwhile, continues to challenge him. After the death of his brother, Ludwig takes his nephew to his upbringing. The young man turned out to be a gambler and even attempted suicide. Worries about his nephew seriously undermined Ludwig's health.

Meanwhile, the deafness of the composer increased. For everyday communication, Ludwig started "conversational notebooks", and to create music, he had to capture the vibration of the instrument with a wooden stick: Beethoven held one tip in his teeth, and applied the other to the instrument. Fate tested the genius and took from him the most precious thing - the opportunity to create. But Beethoven again defeats circumstances and opens a new stage in his work, which became an epilogue. In the period from 1817 to 1826, the composer wrote fugues, 5 sonatas and the same number of quartets. In 1823, Beethoven completed work on the Solemn Mass, which he treated with particular trepidation. Symphony No. 9, performed in 1824, caused real delight among the listeners. The hall greeted the composer standing up, but he maestro could only see a standing ovation when one of the singers turned him to the stage.

In 1826, Ludwig van Beethoven fell ill with pneumonia. The condition was complicated by pain in the stomach and other concomitant diseases, with which he was never able to cope. Beethoven died in Vienna on March 26, 1827. It is believed that the death of the composer was the result of poisoning with a drug containing lead. More than 20 thousand people came to say goodbye to the genius.

Ludwig van Beethoven wrote his most famous works during the most difficult periods of his life. Scientists have established that the rhythm of a composer's work is the frequency of his heartbeats. The great genius gave his heart and life to music so that it could penetrate our hearts.

Option 3

There is probably not a single person in the world who has not heard the name of the greatest composer of all time, the last of the representatives of the “Viennese classical school”, Ludwig van Beethoven.

Beethoven is one of the most talented figures in the history of music. He wrote music in all genres, including operas and choral compositions. Beethoven's symphonies are still popular today: many musicians record cover versions in various styles. You need to get acquainted with the biography of the composer.

Childhood.

It is not known exactly when Ludwig was born. Rather, it happened on December 16, 1770, since it is known for sure that his christening fell on December 17 of the same year. Ludwig's father wanted to make his son a talented musician. The first serious teacher of little Beethovin was Christian Gottlob Nef, who immediately saw the boy's musical talent and began to acquaint him with the works of Mozart, Bach and Handel. At the age of 12, Beethoven wrote his first work, Variations on Dressler's March.

As a seventeen-year-old youth, Ludwig first visited Vienna, where Mozart listened to improvisation and appreciated it. At the same age, Beethoven loses his mother, she dies. Ludwig had to take on the leadership of the family and responsibility for his younger brothers.

Career flourish.

In 1789, Beethoven decides to go to Vienna and study with Haydn. Soon, thanks to the works of Ludwig, the composer receives his first fame. He writes the Moonlight and Pathetic Sonatas, and then the First and Second Symphonies and the Creation of Prometheus. Unfortunately, the great composer is overcome by an ear disease. But even with complete deafness, Beethoven continued to compose.

Last years.

At the beginning of the 19th century, Beethoven wrote with particular enthusiasm. In 1802-1812 the Ninth Symphony and the Solemn Mass were composed. In those years, Beethoven enjoyed popularity and universal recognition, but due to the guardianship of his nephew, which the composer took over, he immediately grew old. In the spring of 1827, Ludwig died of liver disease.

Despite the fact that the composer lived for a relatively short time, he is recognized as the greatest musician of all time. His memory lives on today and will always live on.

“Music is higher than all revelations of wisdom and philosophy,” said Ludwig van Beethoven. This conviction helped the composer get through all the misfortunes that befell him, and at the same time make a grandiose contribution to the history of music.

Beethoven was born in Bonn in the family of a court musician. The future composer grew up in poverty. My father drank away his meager salary; he taught his son to play the violin and piano in the hope that he would become the new Mozart and provide for his family. Over time, the father's salary was increased based on the future of his gifted and hardworking son. The father was very strict with little Ludwig, who "often was in tears behind the instrument."

The court organist Christian-Gotlob Nefe played a much greater role in the development of the future great composer. He became a second father to Ludwig and not only instructed him in music, but was also his friend.

It was Nefe who saw the potential of the young musician. It was he who helped Beethoven in 1787 (at the age of 17) to go to Vienna, to Mozart.

It is not known whether they actually met, but legend ascribes to Mozart the words spoken to the young Beethoven: "Pay attention to him, he will make everyone talk about himself." This was probably the first rise in Ludwig's biography. The praise of the maestro opened up serious prospects, but Beethoven was never destined to become a student of Mozart. Soon he was forced to return back to Bonn due to his mother's illness. Soon she died, and Beethoven was forced to take care of the family.

In 1792, after the death of his father, Beethoven again went to “storm” Vienna, the capital of classical music. He studied here with Haydn, Albrechtsberger and Salieri - Beethoven's last and most valued Viennese teacher.

Beethoven's first performance in Vienna took place on March 30, 1795. It was a charity event in favor of the widows and orphans of musicians. Beethoven's recognition as a composer soon came. His work develops rapidly and rapidly. In seven years he created 15 piano sonatas, 10 cycles of variations, 2 piano concertos. In Vienna, he gained fame and popularity as a brilliant performer and improviser. He became a music teacher in some of the houses of the Viennese nobles, and this gave him the means to live.

However, the rapid rise ended in a sad fall. At the age of 26, Ludwig van Beethoven began to lose his hearing, which meant the end of his career for the musician. The treatment did not provide relief, and Beethoven began to think about suicide. But with the help of will and love for music, he nevertheless overcame despair.

In the so-called "Heiligenstadt testament", written at that time to his brothers, he says: "... a little more - and I would have committed suicide, only one thing kept me - art. Ah, it seemed impossible to me to leave the world before I had accomplished all that I felt called to.” In another letter to his friend, he wrote: "... I want to grab fate by the throat."

And he succeeded. During this period, he writes the most significant works, in particular, almost all symphonies, starting with the third - "Heroic", writes the overtures "Egmont", "Coriolanus", the opera "Fidelio", many sonatas, including the sonata "Appassionata".

After the end of the Napoleonic Wars, the life of the whole of Europe changed. There is a period of political reaction. A severe Metternich regime is established in Austria. These events, to which heavy personal experiences were added - the death of his brother and illness - led Beethoven to a difficult state of mind. He actually stopped his creative activity.

In 1818, despite his increasing deafness, Beethoven felt a new upsurge of strength and enthusiastically devoted himself to creativity, writing a number of major works, among which a special place is occupied by the Ninth Symphony with Choir, the Solemn Mass and the last quartets and piano sonatas.

The Ninth Symphony was unlike any of the symphonies created up to that time. In it, he wanted to sing the wealth of millions, the brotherhood of all the people of the world, united in a single impulse of joy and freedom. The first performance of the Ninth Symphony in Vienna on May 7, 1824 turned into the composer's greatest triumph. But the composer did not hear the applause and enthusiastic cries of the public. When one of the singers turned him to face the audience, he, seeing the general admiration of the audience, fainted from excitement. By that time, Ludwig van Beethoven had completely lost his hearing.

In recent years, Beethoven struggled with a serious liver disease, effectively stopping his creative activity. On March 26, 1827, at five o'clock in the afternoon, the great composer died. The funeral took place on March 29. Huge crowds of people gathered to say goodbye to the great man, no emperor was buried with such reverence.

Beethoven's music is known to all lovers of the classics. His name is considered iconic for those who dream of becoming a real musician. How did one of the most popular composers live and work?

Beethoven: childhood and youth of a little genius

The exact birth date of Ludwig van Beethoven is not known for certain. The year of his birth is 1770. December 17 is called the day of baptism. Ludwig was born in the German city of Bonn.

The Beethoven family was directly related to music. The boy's father was a famous tenor. And his mother, Maria Magdalene Keverich, was the daughter of a chef.

The ambitious Johann Beethoven, being a strict father, wanted to make a great composer out of Ludwig. He dreamed that his son would become the second Mozart. He put in a lot of effort to achieve his goal.

At first, he himself taught the boy to play various instruments. Then he passed the training of the child to his colleagues. From childhood, Ludwig mastered two complex instruments: the organ and the violin.

When the young Beethoven was only 10 years old, the organist Christian Nefe arrived in his city. It was he who became the true mentors of the boy, as he saw in him a great ability for music.

Beethoven was taught classical music based on the works of Bach and Mozart. At the age of 12, the talented child began his career as an assistant organist. When a tragedy occurred in the family, and Ludwig's grandfather died, the finances of the venerable family were greatly reduced. Despite the fact that the young Beethoven never completed his studies at school, he managed to master Latin, Italian and French. Throughout his life, Beethoven read a lot, was curious, intelligent and erudite. He easily understood any scholarly treatises.

The youthful works of the future composer were later revised by him. The sonata "Marmot" has reached our days unchanged.

In 1787, Mozart himself gave the boy an audition. The great contemporary of Beethoven was pleased with his playing. He highly appreciated the improvisation of the young man.

Ludwig wanted to learn from Mozart himself, but fate decreed otherwise. Beethoven's mother died that year. He had to return to his hometown to take care of his brothers. In order to earn money, he got a job in a local orchestra as a violist.

In 1789, Ludwig again begins to attend classes at the university. The revolution that broke out in the French state inspires him to create the Song of a Free Man.

In the autumn of 1792, another idol of Beethoven, composer Haydn, happened to be passing through Bonn, his hometown of Beethoven. Then the young man decides to follow him to Vienna to continue his music studies.

Beethoven's mature years

The collaboration between Haydn and Beethoven in Vienna can hardly be called fruitful. An accomplished mentor considered the creations of his student beautiful, but too gloomy. Haydn later left for England. Then Ludwig van Beethoven found himself a new teacher. It turned out to be Antonio Salieri.

Thanks to Beethoven's virtuoso playing, a piano style of playing was created, where extreme registers, loud chords and the use of a pedal on the instrument became the norm.

This style of playing is fully reflected in the composer's popular Moonlight Sonata. In addition to innovation in music, Beethoven's lifestyle and character traits also deserved considerable attention. The composer practically did not look after his clothes and appearance. If in the hall during his performance someone dared to talk, Beethoven refused to play and went home.

With friends and relatives, Ludwig van Beethoven could be harsh, but he never refused them the necessary assistance to relatives. During the first decade that the young composer worked in Vienna, he managed to write 20 sonatas for classical piano, 3 full-fledged piano concertos, many sonatas for other instruments, one oratorio on a religious theme, as well as a full-fledged ballet.

The tragedy of Beethoven and his later years

The fateful year 1796 for Beethoven becomes the most difficult in life. The famous composer begins to lose his hearing. Doctors diagnose him with chronic inflammation of the inner ear canal.

Ludwig van Beethoven suffered greatly from his illness. In addition to pain, he was haunted by ringing in his ears. On the advice of doctors, he goes to live in the small and quiet town of Heiligenstadt. But the situation with his illness is not changing for the better.

Over the years, Beethoven increasingly despised the power of emperors and princes. He believed that equal human rights were the ideal good. For this reason, Beethoven decided not to dedicate one of his works to Napoleon, calling the Third Symphony simply "Heroic".

During the period of hearing loss, the composer withdraws into himself, but continues to work. He writes the opera Fidelio. Then he creates a cycle of musical works called "To a Distant Beloved".

Progressive deafness did not become an obstacle to Beethoven's sincere interest in what is happening in the world. After the defeat and exile of Napoleon, a strict police regime was introduced in the Austrian lands, but Beethoven, as before, continued to criticize the government. Perhaps he guessed that they would not dare to touch him and throw him in jail, because his fame had become really grandiose.

Little is known about Ludwig van Beethoven's personal life. It was rumored that he wanted to marry one of his students, Countess Juliette Guicciardi. For some time, the girl reciprocated the composer, but then she preferred another. His next student Teresa Brunswick was a devoted friend of Beethoven until her death, but the true context of their relationship is shrouded in mystery and is not known for certain.

When the composer's younger brother died, he took custody of his son. Beethoven tried to instill in the young man a love of art and science, but the guy was a gambler and a reveler. Once losing, he tried to commit suicide. This upset Beethoven greatly. On nervous grounds, he developed liver disease.

In 1827 the great composer died. The funeral procession included over 20,000 people. The famous musician was only 57 years old when he passed away and was buried in the Vienna cemetery.

Back in 1770, a boy was born in a family of German musicians, who was destined to become a brilliant composer. Beethoven's biography is extremely interesting and fascinating, the life path contains many ups and downs, ups and downs. The name of the greatest creator of brilliant works is known even to those who are far from the world of art and are not fans of classical music. The biography of Ludwig van Beethoven will be briefly presented in this article.

Musician's family

Beethoven's biography has gaps. So it was not possible to establish the exact date of his birth. But it is known for certain that on December 17 the sacrament of baptism was performed on him. Presumably, the boy was born the day before this ceremony.

He was lucky to be born into a family that is most directly related to music. Ludwig's grandfather was Louis Beethoven, who was the leader of the choir. At the same time, he was distinguished by a proud disposition, an enviable capacity for work and perseverance. All these qualities were passed on to his grandson through his father.

Beethoven's biography has a sad side. His father Johann van Beethoven suffered from alcohol addiction, this left a certain imprint on the character of the boy, and on his entire future fate. The family lived in poverty, the head of the family earned money only for his own pleasure, completely disregarding the needs of his children and wife.

The gifted boy was the second child in the family, but fate decreed otherwise, making him the eldest. The first-born died, having lived only one week. The circumstances of death have not been established. Later, five more children were born to Beethoven's parents, three of whom did not live to adulthood.

Childhood

Beethoven's biography is full of tragedy. Childhood was overshadowed by poverty and despotism of one of the closest people - the father. The latter caught fire with a fantastic idea - to make a second Mozart out of his own child. Having become acquainted with the actions of Pope Amadeus - Leopold, Johann seated his son at the harpsichord and made him study music for long hours. Thus, he did not try to help the boy realize his creative potential, unfortunately, he was simply looking for an additional source of income.

At the age of four, Ludwig's childhood ended. With enthusiasm and enthusiasm unusual for himself, Johann began to drill the child. To begin with, he showed him the basics of playing the piano and violin, after which, “encouraging” the boy with slaps and cracks, he forced him to work. Neither the sobs of the child, nor the entreaties of the wife could shake the stubbornness of the father. The educational process crossed the boundaries of what was permitted, the young Beethoven did not even have the right to take a walk with friends, he immediately settled in the house to continue his musical studies.

Intensive work with the instrument took away another opportunity - to get a general scientific education. The boy had only superficial knowledge, he was weak in spelling and oral calculation. A great desire to learn and learn something new helped to fill the gap. Throughout his life, Ludwig was engaged in self-education, joining the work of such great writers as Shakespeare, Plato, Homer, Sophocles, Aristotle.

All these hardships failed to stop the development of the amazing inner world of Beethoven. He was different from other children, he was not attracted to fun games and adventures, an eccentric child preferred loneliness. Having devoted himself to music, he very early realized his own talent and, in spite of everything, moved forward.

The talent has evolved. Johann noticed that the student surpassed the teacher, and entrusted classes with his son to a more experienced teacher - Pfeiffer. The teacher has changed, but the methods have remained the same. Late at night, the child was forced to get out of bed and play the piano until the early hours of the morning. To withstand such a rhythm of life, it is necessary to have truly outstanding abilities, and Ludwig had them.

Beethoven's mother: biography

A bright spot in the boy's life was his mother. Mary Magdalene Keverich had a meek and kind disposition, so she could not resist the head of the family and silently looked at the bullying of the child, unable to do anything. Beethoven's mother was unusually weak and sickly. Her biography is little known. She was the daughter of a court cook and married Johann in 1767. Her life path was short: the woman died of tuberculosis at the age of 39.

The beginning of a great journey

In 1780, the boy finally found his first true friend. The pianist and organist Christian Gottlieb Nefe became his teacher. Beethoven's biography pays a lot of attention to this person (you are now reading a summary of it). Nefe's intuition suggested that the boy was not just a good musician, but a brilliant personality capable of conquering any heights.

And the training began. The teacher creatively approached the learning process, helping the ward to develop impeccable taste. They spent hours listening to the best works of Handel, Mozart, Bach. Nefe severely criticized the boy, but the gifted child was distinguished by narcissism and self-confidence. Therefore, sometimes stumbling blocks arose, nevertheless, Beethoven later highly appreciated the teacher's contribution to the formation of his own personality.

In 1782, Nefe went on a long vacation, and he appointed eleven-year-old Ludwig as his deputy. The new position was not easy, but the responsible and intelligent boy coped well with this role. A very interesting fact is kept by Beethoven's biography. The summary tells that when Nefe returned, he discovered with what skill his protégé coped with hard work. And this contributed to the fact that the teacher left him nearby, giving him the position of his assistant.

Soon the organist had more responsibilities, and he shifted the part to the young Ludwig. Thus, the boy began to earn 150 guilders a year. Johann's dream came true, the son became a support for the family.

Significant event

A biography of Beethoven for children describes an important moment in the life of a boy, perhaps a turning point. In 1787, he met with the legendary figure - Mozart. Perhaps the extraordinary Amadeus was not in the mood, but the meeting upset the young Ludwig. He played the renowned composer on the piano, but received only dry and restrained praise in his address. Nevertheless, he said to his friends: "Pay attention to him, he will make the whole world talk about himself."

But the boy did not have time to be upset about this, because the news of a terrible event came: his mother was dying. This is the first real tragedy that Beethoven's biography speaks of. For children, the death of a mother is a terrible blow. The weakened woman found the strength to wait for her beloved son and died shortly after his arrival.

Great loss and heartbreak

The grief that befell the musician was immeasurable. The joyless life of his mother passed before his eyes, and then he witnessed her suffering and painful death. For the boy, she was the closest person, but fate so happened that he did not have time for sadness and longing, he had to support his family. In order to abstract from all troubles, you need an iron will and nerves of steel. And he had it all.

Further, the biography of Ludwig van Beethoven briefly reports on his inner struggle and mental anguish. An irresistible force drew him forward, an active nature demanded changes, feelings, emotions, fame, but because of the need to provide for relatives, he had to part with dreams and ambitions and get involved in daily exhausting work for the sake of earning money. He became short-tempered, aggressive and irritable. After the death of Mary Magdalene, the father sank even more, the younger brothers did not have to count on him to become a support and support.

But it was the trials that befell the composer that made his works so penetrating, deep and allowing one to feel the unimaginable suffering that the author had to endure. The biography of Ludwig Van Beethoven is replete with similar events, but the main test of strength is yet to come.

Creation

The work of the German composer is considered the greatest value of world culture. He is one of those who participated in the formation of European classical music. The invaluable contribution is determined by symphonic works. The biography of Ludwig van Beethoven puts additional emphasis on the time he worked. It was restless, the Great French Revolution was going on, bloodthirsty and cruel. All this could not but affect the music. During the period of residence in Bonn (hometown), the composer's activity can hardly be called fruitful.

A short biography of Beethoven talks about his contribution to music. His works have become the precious property of all mankind. They are played everywhere and loved in any country. He wrote nine concertos and nine symphonies, as well as countless other symphonic works. The most important works can be distinguished:

• Sonata No. 14 "Lunar".
• Symphony No. 5.
• Sonata No. 23 "Appassionata".
• Piano piece "To Elise".

In total it was written:

• 9 symphonies,
• 11 overtures,
• 5 concerts,
• 6 youth sonatas for piano,
• 32 sonatas for piano,
• 10 sonatas for violin and piano,
• 9 concerts,
• opera "Fidelio"
• ballet "The Creation of Prometheus".

great deaf

A brief biography of Beethoven cannot but touch upon the catastrophe that happened to him. Fate was extraordinarily generous for difficult trials. At the age of 28, the composer had health problems, there were a huge number of them, but they all paled in comparison with the fact that he began to develop deafness. It is impossible to put into words what a blow it was for him. In his letters, Beethoven reported suffering and that he would humbly accept such a share if it were not for the profession, which implies the presence of perfect hearing. Ears buzzed day and night, life turned into torture, and each new day was given with great difficulty.

Development of events

The biography of Ludwig Beethoven reports that for several years he managed to hide his own flaw from society. It is not surprising that he sought to keep this a secret, because the very concept of a "deaf composer" is contrary to common sense. But as you know, sooner or later everything secret becomes clear. Ludwig turned into a hermit, others considered him a misanthrope, but this was far from the truth. The composer lost confidence in himself and became gloomier every day.

But it was a great personality, one fine day he decided not to give up, but to resist the evil fate. Perhaps the composer's rise in life is the merit of a woman.

Personal life

The inspiration was Countess Juliette Guicciardi. She was his charming student. The fine spiritual organization of the composer demanded the greatest and ardent love, but his personal life was not destined to take shape. The girl gave her preference to a count named Wenzel Gallenberg.

A short biography of Beethoven for children contains few facts about this event. It is only known that he sought her location in every possible way and wanted to marry her. There is an assumption that the parents of the countess opposed the marriage of their beloved daughter with a deaf musician, and she listened to their opinion. This version sounds plausible enough.

1. The most outstanding masterpiece - the 9th symphony - was created when the composer was already completely deaf.
2. Before composing another immortal masterpiece, Ludwig dipped his head in ice water. It is not known where this strange habit came from, but it may have provoked hearing loss.
3. With his appearance and behavior, Beethoven challenged society, but he, of course, did not set himself such a goal. Once he was giving a concert in a public place and heard that one of the spectators started a conversation with a lady. Then he stopped the game and left the hall with the words: "I will not play with such pigs."
4. One of his best students was the famous Franz Liszt. The Hungarian boy inherited his teacher's unique playing style.

"Music should strike fire from the human soul"

This statement belongs to a virtuoso composer, his music was just like that, touching the most delicate strings of the soul and making hearts burn with fire. A brief biography of Ludwig Beethoven also mentions his death. In 1827, on March 26, he died. At the age of 57, the rich life of the recognized genius ended. But the years have not been lived in vain, his contribution to art cannot be overestimated, he is colossal.

Give thanks wherever you can.
Above all, love freedom
And even at the royal throne
Do not renounce the truth.
Beethoven

(Leaf from an album, 1792)

He was short, stocky, powerful, almost athletic. His face was broad, of a brick-red hue - only in his declining years did the color of his skin become yellowish, sickly, especially in winter, when he sat in four walls, far from his beloved fields. The forehead is powerful, knobby. The hair, unusually thick and black, seemed to have no comb: it stuck out in all directions - "the snakes of Medusa" (5). His eyes blazed with amazing power that amazed everyone. However, many were mistaken about the color of his eyes. They sparkled with such a violent brilliance on his swarthy tragic face that they usually seemed black, but in fact they were not black, but gray-blue (6). Small, very deep-set, under the influence of anger or passion, they suddenly opened wide and threw quick glances in all directions, in which thought was reflected with wonderful fullness and truthfulness (7). Often they mournfully rushed to the sky. His nose was short, chopped off, wide - hence the resemblance to the appearance of a lion. A thinly contoured mouth, however, the lower lip protruded a little. Powerful jaws that could crush walnuts. There is a deep pit on the right side of his chin, which made his face strangely asymmetrical. “He had a kind smile,” recalls Moscheles, “and when he talked to someone, a friendly, inviting expression appeared on his face. His laughter, on the contrary, was unpleasant, harsh, labored and, moreover, jerky ”- the laughter of a person who is not used to rejoice. The usual expression on his face is sad - "incurable grief." Relshtab in 1825 admitted that he held back tears with great difficulty, seeing "his meek eyes, harboring unbearable torment." A year later, Braun von Braunthal meets him in a tavern: he sits alone in a corner, a long pipe smoking in his teeth, his eyes closed - a habit that was noticed more and more often towards the end of his life. One of his friends turns to him. He smiles sadly, takes out of his pocket a small notebook - "conversational" - and in a piercing voice, in which deaf people often speak, asks to write what he is asked about. In moments of inspiration, which truly unexpectedly dawned on him, sometimes even on the street, his face was transformed, causing amazement of passers-by. This happened sometimes when he was sitting alone at the piano. “The muscles of the face tensed, the veins swelled, the frantic gaze became truly formidable, the lips trembled, he looked like a magician who was overcome by demons he himself summoned.” A character from Shakespeare (8), "King Lear," said Julius Benedict.

Ludwig van Beethoven was born on December 16, 1770 in Bonn, near Cologne, in a beggarly little room on the mezzanine of a wretched house. His ancestors are the Flemings (9). Father, a singer, was a narrow-minded man and a drunkard. Mother - a servant, the daughter of a cook, first married a footman, but soon became a widow.

A harsh childhood, devoid of family warmth, in which a happier Mozart grew up. From the very beginning, life became a cruel and gloomy struggle for Beethoven. The father decided to take advantage of his son's musical abilities and showed the public this little miracle. From the age of four, he kept the boy for hours at the harpsichord or locked him with the violin, forcing him to play to exhaustion. It is also surprising that he did not turn his son forever away from art. It got to the point that Beethoven had to be almost forced to study music. His adolescence was overshadowed by worries about bread, the need to earn a living, too many and early responsibilities. At the age of eleven he already played in a theater orchestra, at thirteen he became an organist. In 1787, his mother, whom he adored, dies. “She was so kind to me, so worthy of love, she was my best friend! I felt happier than anyone in the world when I could pronounce this sweet word - "mother" and when she heard it ”(10).

She died of consumption, and Beethoven, already then constantly ill, believed that he was undermined by the same disease, which was also mixed with melancholy, more cruel than all his ailments (11). At the age of seventeen, he had already become the head of the family, he was responsible for the upbringing of two brothers; he had to take on the humiliating chores of arranging a pension for his father, a drunkard who was unable to support his family; the pension was given into the hands of the son, otherwise the father would have drunk everything. These sorrows left a deep imprint in the soul of the young man. But he found friendly support in one Bonn family, which forever remained close to him - it was the Broening family. Sweet "Lorchen", Eleanor Breuning, was two years younger than him. He taught her music, and she introduced him to poetry. She was his childhood companion, and perhaps they had more tender feelings for each other. Eleanor subsequently married Dr. Wegeler, who became one of Beethoven's best friends. Until the very last days, they were connected by nothing overshadowed by friendship, which is evidenced by the noble, tender letters of Wegeler and Eleanor and the letters of an old faithful friend (alter treuer Freund) to dear good Wegeler (guter lieber Wegeler). This mutual affection became all the more touching when all three grew old - old in body, but not in heart (12).

No matter how sad Beethoven's childhood was, he forever kept about him and about his native places where it flowed, a tender and sad memory. He was forced to leave Bonn and lived almost all his life in Vienna, on the dreary outskirts of this large frivolous city, but he never forgot the Rhine valley and the majestic river, powerful, paternally native (unser Vater Rhein), "our father the Rhine", as he he called her - almost humanly alive, like a kind of gigantic soul, where so many thoughts replace each other, so many powerful impulses; and, perhaps, the Rhine is especially beautiful, powerful and calm, where it washes the shady and flowering banks of the charming Bonn with gentle power. There Beethoven lived the first twenty years of his life, there the first dreams of a young heart were born, among these lawns that float lazily somewhere along with the water, and coastal poplars, among mist-shrouded willows and stunted willow and apple trees that bathe their roots in a silent and a fast stream, above which, in sleepy surprise, huddled along the banks, villages, churches and cemeteries froze; and in the distance, on the horizon, appear the bluish outlines of the Seven Mountains - the home of storms - crowned with fragile, bizarre silhouettes of dilapidated castles. His heart forever remained true to this land; Until the last minute of his life, he dreamed of seeing him again, but this dream was never given a chance to come true. “My homeland, a wonderful land where I saw the light, it is still just as beautiful for me and still stands before my eyes just as clearly as on the day I left it” (13).

The revolution broke out; it began to spread rapidly throughout Europe, it also captured the heart of Beethoven. The University of Bonn was a hotbed of new ideas. Beethoven was enrolled in the lists of students on May 14, 1789, he listened to lectures on German literature by the famous Eulogius Scheider, the future prosecutor of the Lower Rhine department. When in Bonn they learned about the taking of the Bastille, Schneider read fiery verses from the pulpit, which aroused the stormy enthusiasm of the audience (14). The following year he released a collection of revolutionary poems (15). Among the subscribers are: "Beethoven, court musician" and "the Bröning family" (16).

In November 1792, Beethoven left Bonn at the very moment when the war was already entering the city. He intended to settle in Vienna - the musical capital of Germany (17). On the way to Vienna, he had to make his way through the location of the Hessian troops sent against France. It is clear that he was seized with patriotic feelings. In 1796 and 1797 he set to music Friedberg's militant poems "The Song of Parting" and the patriotic choral "We are the great German people" ("Ein grosses deutsches Volk sind wir"). But in vain he tries to sing of the enemies of the revolution. The revolution captures everyone, it captures Beethoven too. Since 1798, despite the aggravated relations between France and Austria, Beethoven established friendly relations with the French, with some of the embassy and with General Bernadotte, who then arrived in Vienna (18). During the meetings and conversations of these years, Republican feelings were strengthened in Beethoven, the powerful development of which can be observed further throughout his life.

The portrait taken from him by Steinghauser gives a fairly faithful image of Beethoven at that time. In relation to the later images of Beethoven, this portrait is the same as Guerin's Bonaparte: a hard face, consumed by a fever of ambition - in comparison with other canonized images of Napoleon. Beethoven seems younger than his age there; he is thin, carried very straight, a tight and high tie props up his chin, his eyes are incredulous and wary. He knows his own worth, he believes in himself. In 1796, he writes in his little book: “Be bolder! Despite all bodily weaknesses, my genius will triumph... Twenty-five years! Here they come! I am twenty-five years old... In this very year, as a person, I must rise to my full height ”(19). Mrs. von Bernhard and Gelinck testify that he is extremely proud, harsh in manner and sullen, speaking with a pronounced provincial accent. But his close friends know how much wonderful kindness hides under this arrogantly clumsy manner. When he writes to Wegeler about his progress, this is the first thought that comes to his mind: “Imagine, one of my friends is in need; if my wallet is empty and I am unable to help immediately, well, I just have to sit down at the table and get to work, and pretty soon I will help him out of trouble ... You see, how wonderful it is ”(20) . And a little further on he writes: “Let my art serve the good of the poor” (“Dann soll meine Kunst sich nur zum Besten der Armen zeigen”).

But the trouble has already knocked at his door, settled with him and never left him. Between 1796 and 1800 deafness began its terrible, destructive work (21). Even at night his ears were constantly ringing; he was tormented by sharp pains in his stomach. Hearing gradually weakened. For several years he did not admit this to anyone, not even to his closest friends; he avoided appearing in public, so that somehow his defect would not be revealed; he kept this terrible secret to himself. But in 1801, he was no longer able to remain silent and, in despair, told his friends about everything - Dr. Vegeler and pastor Amenda: “My dear, kind, my heartfelt friend Amenda! .. How often I longed to see you here, near me! Your Beethoven is deeply unhappy. Know that the noblest part of me, my hearing, is very weakened. Even at the time when we were together, I felt the symptoms of the disease, and I hid them, but since then I have been getting worse and worse. Will I recover? Of course, I hope, but hope is weak: such diseases are rarely curable. What a sad life I have - to avoid everything that you love, that is dear to you, especially here, in this petty, selfish environment. It is a pitiful fate to endure your misfortunes humbly and see in this the only refuge. Of course, I was determined to be stronger than my suffering, but will I succeed? (22).

And to Wegeler: “I lead a sad existence. For two years now, I have carefully avoided all society, because I cannot say to people: “I am deaf!” It would still be possible if I had some other profession, but with my trade, nothing could be more terrible. How glad my enemies would be! But I have a lot of them! .. In the theater, I have to sit down at the orchestra itself in order to make out the words of the actors. And as soon as I sit further away, I no longer catch the high tones of instruments and voices... When they speak softly, I can hardly hear... but when they scream, it is completely unbearable for me... more than once I cursed my existence... Plutarch taught me to submit to fate. But I do not want to give up and I will not give up, if it is only possible, although there are moments when I feel myself the most unfortunate of God's creations ... Submission to fate! What a pitiful refuge! But this is the only thing left for me!” (23).

This tragic grief was reflected in some works of that time - in the Pathetique Sonata (op. 13, 1799) and even more so in the largo of the Third Piano Sonata (op. 10, 1798). It is surprising that this sadness did not affect so many other works of that time - the septet shining with joy (1800), the transparent First Symphony (C major, 1800) express youthful carelessness. This means that the soul does not immediately get used to suffering. She needs joy so much that, deprived of joy, she cannot but create it. And if the present is too unbearable, she lives in the past. Happy days of the past do not disappear from memory in an instant; for a long time their radiance does not fade, although they themselves have already sunk into eternity. Beethoven in Vienna, unhappy and lonely, goes into memories of his native country, and his creative thought at that time is permeated with them. The andante theme, with variations in the septet, is one of the Rhenish "Songs" ("Lied"); the symphony in C major is also the creation of the Rhine, a poem of youth smiling at its dreams. A cheerful, languid poem: you can hear in it the desire to win the heart of your beloved and the hope that this will come true. But in some places of the symphony, in the introduction, in the chiaroscuro of gloomy sounding basses, in the bizarre scherzo, you notice, you notice with excitement how a future genius suddenly peeps at you through your youthful appearance. These are the eyes of a bambino from Botticelli's "Holy Family", the eyes of a baby, in which you seem to already read the whole future tragedy.

The physical suffering was joined by afflictions of a completely different order. Wegeler says that he does not remember Beethoven except in a state of passionate love. His hobbies, apparently, have always been distinguished by amazing purity. There is nothing in common between passion and pleasure. And if today they still manage to confuse one with the other, it is only because the majority of people are ignorant on this score and true passion has become the greatest rarity. There was something puritanical about Beethoven's nature; free conversations and thoughts filled him with horror, love was sacred to him, and here he remained implacable. They say he could not forgive Mozart for humiliating his genius by writing Don Giovanni. Schindler, a close friend of Beethoven, assures that "he lived his life in virgin purity and he never had to reproach himself for a moment of weakness." Such people seem to be created in order to become a victim of a liar-love. And it was justified on Beethoven. He endlessly fell in love to the point of madness, endlessly indulged in dreams of happiness, then very soon disappointment set in, he experienced bitter torment.

And in these alternations - love, pride, indignation - one must look for the most fruitful sources of Beethoven's inspirations until the time when the natural storm of his feelings subsides in sad resignation to fate.

In 1801, the subject of his passion was, apparently, Giulietta Guicciardi, whom he immortalized by dedicating his famous sonata to her, known as "Lunar", op. 27 (1802). “It has become more pleasurable for me to live,” he writes to Vegeler, “I meet people more often ... This change ... it was made by the charm of one sweet girl; she loves me and I love her. The first happy moments in my life in the last two years” (24). He paid dearly for them. First of all, this love made Beethoven feel even more painfully what a misfortune his deafness is and how precarious his position is, since he does not have the opportunity to marry his beloved girl. Besides, Juliet was a coquette, childish, selfish; she caused Beethoven great suffering, and in November 1803 she married Count Gallenberg (25). Such passions empty the soul; and when the soul is already weakened by illness, as was the case with Beethoven, they can crush it completely. This is the only period of Beethoven's life when he was almost on the verge of death. He experienced moments of terrible despair, as evidenced by one of his letters. This is his "Heiligenstadt testament" to the brothers Karl and Johann with the following inscription: "Read and carry out after my death" (26). A heartbreaking cry of indignation and unbearable torment! One cannot read it without deep pity. Beethoven at that moment was ready to lay hands on himself, and only indestructible fortitude of spirit saved him (27). His last hopes for recovery were dashed. “Even the lofty courage that supported me has dried up. Oh providence, let me see at least once, for one day, one and only day, true joy! I have long been ignorant of the deep sounds of true joy. When, oh Lord, when will it be given to me to find her again ... Really never? No, that would be too cruel!

It is like a death wail - and yet Beethoven will live another twenty-five years. It was too powerful a nature to give up and fall under the burden of trials. “My physical strength is growing and coming more than ever, along with spiritual strength ... Yes, my youth is just beginning, I feel it. Every day brings me closer to the goal, I see it, although I can not determine ... Oh! if I were freed from my illness, I would embrace the whole world! .. I do not need rest! And I know no other rest than sleep; how sad that I have to give him more time than before. If I could get rid of my disease even halfway, then... No, I could not bear it. Fate must be taken by the throat. She can't bend me. ABOUT! How wonderful it would be to live a thousand lives!” (28).

This love, suffering, stubbornness of will, these alternations of despondency and pride, inner dramas - all this we find in the great works of Beethoven, written in 1802: in the sonata with a funeral march, op. 26, in the sonata "Quasi una fantasia", the so-called "Lunar", op. 27, in the Second Sonata, op. 31, with her dramatic recitatives reminiscent of a stately, mournful monologue; and in the violin sonata in C minor, dedicated to Emperor Alexander, and in the Kreutzer Sonata, op. 47; in six heroic and touching religious songs to the words of Gellert, op. 48. The second symphony, the creation of which dates back to 1803, reflects mainly his youthful love; it is felt that the will decisively takes over in him. Irresistible force sweeps away all sad thoughts. The force of life is in full swing in the finale. Beethoven wants to be happy at all costs, he does not agree to admit that his misfortune is irreparable: he longs for healing, longs for love, he is full of the brightest hopes (29).

In some of these works, the rhythms of the march and battle return with amazing energy and persistence. This is especially felt in the allegro and in the finale of the Second Symphony, and even more so in the first - the solemnly heroic part of the sonata dedicated to Emperor Alexander. The martial nature of this music is reminiscent of the era in which it was born. The revolution came to Vienna, and Beethoven was completely taken by it. “He willingly spoke out in a close circle of friends,” recalls Chevalier von Seyfried, “about political events and judged them with rare insight, clearly and correctly.” All Beethoven's sympathies attracted him to revolutionary ideas. “Republican principles were dear to him,” says Beethoven's friend Schindler, who knew the composer in the last period of his life better than anyone else. “He was a supporter of unlimited freedom and national independence ... He wanted everyone to take part in the government ... He wanted a universal suffrage for France and hoped that Bonaparte would introduce it and thereby lay the foundations for the happiness of all mankind.” A rebellious Roman, fed by Plutarch, he dreams of a heroic Republic whose founder would be the god of Victory, in other words, the first consul. And now follow one after another the "Heroic Symphony - Bonaparte" (1804) (30), this Iliad of the empire, and the finale of the symphony in C minor (1805-1808), the epic of Glory. These are the first works of truly revolutionary music, the spirit of the times lives in them with the strength and purity that a great and lonely soul endows great events with, perceiving the impressions of being on their true scale, not distorted by the little things of everyday life. The appearance of Beethoven appears in them, illuminated by the reflections of these legendary campaigns. Beethoven reflects them, perhaps even against his will, in all his works of that time: in the overture Coriolanus (1807), where storms rage; in the Fourth Quartet, op. 18, the first part of which is so akin to the overture; in the Appassionata, op. 57 (1804), about which Bismarck said: "If I listened to it more often, I would be a brave man of the brave" (31), in the score of "Egmont" and even in piano concertos, in the E-flat concerto, op. 73 (1809), where the virtuosity itself becomes heroic, where the measured tread of the troops is heard. And there is nothing surprising in this. At the time when Beethoven wrote his "Funeral March on the Death of a Hero" (in sonata, op. 26), he, of course, did not know that the hero most worthy of his hymns was more than Bonaparte, approaching the ideal image of the "Heroic Symphony ”, namely Gosh, had just died on the banks of the Rhine, where to this day, on the top of a small hill between Koblenz and Bonn, a tombstone rises to him; be that as it may, in Vienna itself, Beethoven twice had a chance to see the victorious Revolution. At the first performance of Fidelio, in November 1805, French officers are present. And none other than General Gülen, the one who took the Bastille, lives with Lobkowitz, Beethoven's friend and patron, to whom both the Heroic Symphony and the Symphony in C Minor are dedicated. And on May 10, 1809, Napoleon settles for the night in Schönbrunn (32). And soon Beethoven begins to hate the French conquerors. But this did not prevent him from keenly feeling the hectic atmosphere of the Napoleonic epic, and only by delving into Beethoven's feelings, one can truly understand his music, created during the years of campaigns and victories of the imperial armies.

Beethoven suddenly abandoned his symphony in C minor and in one spirit, without the usual preliminary sketches, wrote the Fourth Symphony. Happiness visited him. In May 1806 he became engaged to Teresa von Brunswick (33). She had loved Beethoven for a long time, ever since she had taken piano lessons from him as a little girl, during his first days in Vienna. Beethoven was friendly with her brother, Count Franz. In 1806 he visited them in Martonvashar, Hungary, and it was there that they fell in love. Memories of these happy times were preserved for us by Teresa Brunswick herself (34). “One Sunday evening after dinner,” she says, “Beethoven sat down at the piano in the moonlight. First, he ran his flat hand over the keys. Franz and I knew this habit of his. He always started like this. Then he took a few chords in the bass and slowly, with some mysterious solemnity, began to play Sebastian Bach's Aria (35): “If you want to give your heart to me, let it be a secret between us, so that our thoughts not a single soul could find out, not unravel...” My mother and our confessor dozed off, my brother thought about something and seemed not to notice me, and I, fascinated by the sounds of music and the looks of the musician, felt life in all its fullness. The next morning we met in the park. He told me: “I am writing an opera now. The main character is in me, in front of me, everywhere I go, everywhere I go. This is the first time I've climbed such peaks. Everywhere light, purity, clarity. Until now, I have been like a child from a fairy tale, who collects pebbles on the road and does not see the magnificent flower that bloomed nearby ... "In May 1806, I became the bride of Beethoven, having only the consent of my beloved brother Franz."

The fourth symphony, written in the same year, is a pure flower that keeps the fragrance of these days, the clearest days of his life. It was rightly seen as "Beethoven's efforts to reconcile, as far as possible, his genius with the music of the past in its forms in which it was accepted and loved by his contemporaries" (36). The same spirit of reconciliation, found in love, had a beneficial effect in his manner of bearing himself and in the very way of life. Ignaz von Seyfried and the poet Grilparzer remember him full of fire, lively, cheerful, witty; he is very amiable in society, patient with annoying people, dressed very elegantly; people do not notice his deafness and even claim that he is quite healthy, except for his somewhat weak eyesight (37). He appears in the same way in the romantically elegant and somewhat mannered portrait of that time by Mehler. Beethoven wants to be liked and knows that he is liked. A lion in love hides its claws. But behind all these amusements, fantasies and even the very tenderness of the B-flat symphony, one feels a formidable force, a changeable temper, angry outbursts.

This deep peace could not be lasting, but the beneficial effect of love lasted until 1810. It is to him that Beethoven owes that power over himself, which then allowed his genius to give his most perfect creations: a classical tragedy, which is a symphony in C minor, and the divine dream of a summer day, called the "Pastoral Symphony" (1808) (38). The Appassionata, inspired by Shakespeare's The Tempest (39), which Beethoven himself considered the most powerful of his sonatas, appeared in 1804 and was dedicated to Teresa's brother. And to Teresa he dedicates a dreamy, whimsical sonata, op. 78 (1809). The undated letter (40) "To the immortal beloved" no less than the "Appassionata" itself expresses the strength of his love:

“My angel, my whole being, my whole being, my heart is so overflowing that I must tell you ... Ah! wherever I am, you are with me too ... I cry when I think that until Sunday you will not hear from me. I love you the way you love me, only much more. So close and so far... All my thoughts are drawn to you, my immortal beloved (meine unsterblichte Geliebte); sometimes joyful, and then suddenly sad, they appeal to fate, whether she will hear our prayers. Oh! My God! How can I live? Without you! I can only live near you - or I don't live at all ... Never will another person own my heart. Never! Never! Oh god, why do you have to break up when you love each other? And besides, my life is now full of sorrows. Your love made me at once both the happiest and the most unhappy of people... Don't worry... don't worry - love me! Today - yesterday - what a fiery desire for you, what tears! To you... to you... to you... my life, all mine! Goodbye! Oh, don't stop loving me, don't ever renounce the heart of your beloved. Forever yours, forever you are mine, forever we belong to each other” (41).

What mysterious reason prevented the happiness of these two beings who loved each other so much? Perhaps the lack of funds, the difference in social position. Perhaps Beethoven rebelled, stung by the too long wait to which he was forced, and the humiliating need to endlessly hide his love.

Perhaps he, an impulsive, sick, unsociable person, unwittingly tortured his beloved and suffered himself. Their union was broken, but it must be that neither he nor she could ever forget this love. Until the end of her days (she died only in 1861) Teresa Brunswick loved Beethoven.

And Beethoven in 1816 said: "As soon as I remember her, my heart begins to beat with the same force as on the day when I saw her for the first time." It was in this year that six melodies "To a Distant Beloved" ("An die ferne Geliebte"), op. 98, so soulful and touching. In his notes, he writes: “My heart is torn from my chest when I admire this delightful creature - but she is not here, not near me!” Teresa gave Beethoven her portrait with the inscription: “To a rare genius, a great artist, a kind person. T. B.” (42). In the last year of Beethoven's life, a close friend found him with this portrait in his hands, he cried, kissed him and, according to his habit, said out loud: “You were so beautiful, so generous, like an angel!” The friend quietly retired; returning some time later, he saw Beethoven at the piano and said to him: "Today, my friend, there is absolutely nothing demonic in your face." Beethoven replied: "That's because my kind angel visited me today." The wound left a deep mark. “Poor Beethoven,” he said to himself, “there is no happiness for you in this world. Only there, in the land where the ideal reigns, will you find friends” (43).

He writes in his notes: “Submission, the deepest resignation to fate: you can no longer live for yourself, you must live only for others, there is no more happiness for you anywhere except in your art. Oh Lord, help me overcome myself."

So love left him. In 1810 he is alone again; but glory came, and with it the consciousness of his power. He is in his prime. He gives free rein to his indomitable, wild temper, not caring about anything else, not taking into account the world, conventions, and the opinions of others. What should he be afraid of, what to spare? No more love and no more ambition. His strength is what he has left, the joy of feeling his strength, the need to exercise it and almost abuse it. "Strength is the morality of people who are different from human mediocrity." He again ceases to care about his appearance, his manner of behaving becomes especially impudent. He knows that he has the right to say whatever he pleases, even to the great ones of this world. “I know of no other sign of superiority than kindness,” he writes on July 17, 1812 (44). Bettina Brentano, who saw him at this time, says that "no emperor, no king possessed such a consciousness of his power." She was simply bewitched by his power. “When I saw him for the first time,” she writes to Goethe, “the universe ceased to exist for me. Beethoven made me forget the whole world, and even you, my Goethe... I am sure and, in my opinion, I am not mistaken that this man was far ahead of our modern culture.” Goethe was looking for an opportunity to get acquainted with Beethoven. They met on Bohemian waters in Teplice in 1812 and did not like each other very much. Beethoven was a passionate admirer of Goethe (45), but his temper was too independent and hot: he could not adapt to Goethe and involuntarily offended him. He himself tells of one of their walks, during which the proud republican Beethoven taught a lesson in self-respect to the court adviser to the Grand Duke of Weimar, for which the poet never forgave him.

“Kings, princes can get themselves mentors, scientists and secret advisers, they can shower them with honors and orders, but they cannot create great people, such people whose spirit would rise above this great secular manure ... And when two people converge together, two like me and Goethe, let all these gentlemen feel our greatness. Yesterday, returning from a walk, we met the entire imperial family. We saw them from afar, Goethe left my hand and stood at the edge of the road. No matter how I exhorted him, no matter what I said, I could not make him take a step. Then I pulled my hat down to my very eyebrows, buttoned up my frock coat, and, clasping my hands behind my back, moved swiftly into the very thick of the high-ranking crowd. The princes and courtiers became tapestries, Duke Rudolf took off his hat to me, the Empress bowed to me first. The greats of this world know me. I had the pleasure of watching this whole procession parade past Goethe. He stood at the edge of the road, bowing low, hat in hand. And I gave him a brainwash later, I didn’t let anything go ... ”(46) Goethe could not forget this either (47).

By that time - 1812 - the Seventh and Eighth symphonies belong, written over several months in Teplice. This is a bacchanalia of rhythm and a symphony-humoresque, two works in which Beethoven showed himself with the greatest immediacy and, as he himself put it, appeared "unbuttoned" (aufgeknöpft), - here are outbursts of fun and fury, unexpected contrasts, stunning and majestic humor, titanic explosions that horrified Goethe and Zelter (48) and even gave rise to a rumor in northern Germany that the A-minor symphony was the work of a drunkard. Yes, of course, this man was drunk. But what? With its power and its genius. “I,” he said to himself, “I am Bacchus, who squeezes the sweet juice of the grape for mankind. It is I who bestow on people the divine frenzy of the spirit. I don't know if Wagner is right when he said that Beethoven wanted to depict the Dionysian festival in the finale of his symphony (49). In this exuberant fairground fun, I see his Flemish features especially clearly, just as I find traces of his origin in a daring liberty of language and manners, which is such a magnificent dissonance with the mores of a country of discipline and obedience. Symphony in A minor - the very sincerity, freedom, power. This is an insane waste of mighty, inhuman forces - waste without any intention, but for the sake of fun - the fun of a flooded river that has burst its banks and floods everything. The Eighth Symphony is not of such grandiose power, but it is even more extraordinary, even more characteristic of a man who mixes together tragedy with a joke and Herculean power with the pranks and whims of a child (50).

1814 - the pinnacle of Beethoven's fame. During the Congress of Vienna, he is greeted as a European celebrity. He takes an active part in the festivities. The crowned persons respectfully admired him, and he proudly accepted their worship, as he later boasted to Schindler.

The War of Independence inspires Beethoven. In 1813 he wrote the symphony "Wellington's Victory", and in early 1814 the militant choral song "Revival of Germany" ("Germanias Wiedergeburt"). On November 29, 1814, in the presence of crowned persons, he conducts the patriotic cantata Der glorreiche Augenblick (The Glorious Moment). In 1815 he composed a choir for the capture of Paris "It's done!" (“Es ist vollbracht!”). These works, by chance, contributed to his fame more than all the rest of his work. An engraving by Blasius Hefel from a drawing by the Frenchman Letron and a stern mask molded from his face by Franz Klein in 1812 show us a living image of Beethoven as he was at the time of the Congress of Vienna. And the dominant feature of this lion's face with clenched jaws, with folds of rage and sorrow is will - Napoleonic will. You recognize the man who said about Napoleon after Jena: “What a pity that I do not know military affairs like I know music! I would have smashed it!" But his kingdom was not of this world. “My kingdom is there, in the ether” (“Mein Reich ist in der Luft”) (51), he wrote to Franz von Brunswick.

This hour of glory is followed by the saddest, most woeful year of his life.

Beethoven never liked Vienna. Such a proud and free genius could not feel at ease in this thoroughly false city, saturated with secular mediocrity, which Wagner so cruelly branded with his insight (52). Beethoven takes every opportunity to get out of here; about 1808 he almost decided to leave Austria and settle at the court of Jerome Bonaparte, King of Westphalia (53). But in Vienna there was still more scope for music, and, it must be admitted, there were always noble amateurs who were able to feel the greatness of Beethoven and save their homeland from the shame that the loss of Beethoven would have been for Austria. In 1809, three of the richest nobles in Vienna - Archduke Rudolf, a student of Beethoven, Prince Lobkowitz and Prince Kinsky - pledged to jointly pay him an annual pension of four thousand florins, under the only condition that he remain in Austria. “Since it has been proven,” they declared, “that a man cannot devote himself entirely to art unless he is freed from all material concerns, and that only under this condition can he create great works that constitute the true glory of art, we, the undersigned, have accepted the decision to shield Ludwig van Beethoven from want and thus to remove base obstacles that might prevent his genius from soaring.

Unfortunately, these commitments remained essentially on paper. The subsidy was paid extremely inaccurately, and soon stopped altogether. By the way, the very character of Vienna changed after the Congress of Vienna in 1814. Society was distracted from art by politics, musical taste was spoiled by Italianism, fashion was commanded by Rossini, and she declared Beethoven a pedant (54). Beethoven's friends and patrons left, and some died: Prince Kinsky and 1812, Lichnowski in 1814, Lobkowitz in 1816. Razumovsky, for whom Beethoven wrote his amazing partets, op. 59, arranged his last concert in February 1815. In the same year, Beethoven quarreled with Stefan von Bröning, a childhood friend and brother of Eleanor (55). From now on he is alone (56).

“I no longer have friends, and I am alone in the world,” he writes in his notes and in 1816.

His deafness became complete (57). Beginning in the autumn of 1815, he communicated with people only through writing. The earliest of his Conversational Notebooks dates from 1816 (58). Schindler's tragic story about the performance of Fidelio in 1822 is known: “Beethoven wished to conduct himself at the dress rehearsal... Starting with the duet in the first act, it became clear that he heard absolutely nothing from what was happening on stage. He noticeably slowed down the rhythm, and while the orchestra followed his baton, the singers, not paying attention to it, went ahead. There was confusion. Umlauf, who usually conducted the orchestra, suggested that the rehearsal be suspended for a minute, without giving any reason. He then exchanged a few words with the singers and the rehearsal resumed. But the confusion began again. I had to take a break again. It was quite obvious that it was impossible to continue under Beethoven, but how to make him understand this? No one had the heart to tell him, "Go away, poor cripple, you can't conduct." Beethoven, alarmed, bewildered, turned to the right, to the left, trying to read from the expression of faces what had happened, and to understand why the hitch was happening; on all sides - silence. Suddenly he called out to me in an authoritative voice, demanding that I come up to him. When I approached, he handed me his notebook and motioned for me to write. I wrote: "I beg you, do not continue, at home I will explain why." With one jump, he found himself in the stalls, shouting to me: "Let's leave quickly!" He ran to his house and, exhausted, threw himself on the sofa, hiding his face in his hands. And so he remained until dinner. At the table I could not get a word out of him; he looked completely dead, his face was written with the deepest suffering. After dinner, when I was about to leave, he held me back, saying that he did not want to be left alone. Then, when we said goodbye, he asked me to take him to a doctor who was famous as a specialist in ear diseases ... For all the time that I later met Beethoven, I can’t remember a single day that could be compared with this fatal on a November afternoon ... Beethoven was wounded in the very heart, and the impression of this terrible scene was not erased in him until his death ”(59).

Two years later, on May 7, 1824, while conducting the "Symphony with Choirs" (or rather, as it was in the program, "participating in the management of the concert"), he did not hear at all the enthusiastic noise that rose in the hall; he only discovered this when one of the singers took him by the hand and turned her face to the audience - and then he suddenly saw that everyone had risen from their seats, waving their hats and applauding. An English traveler, a certain Russell, saw him at the piano in 1825 and says that when Beethoven switched to pianissimo, the keys did not sound at all, but in the ensuing complete silence it was impossible to tear oneself away from his face, from his tense fingers, which alone betrayed the full strength of the excitement that had seized him.

Cut off like a wall from people (60), he found consolation only in nature. “She was his only confidante,” recalls Teresa von Brunswick. Nature was his refuge. Charles Neath, who knew him in 1815, says that he never saw a man who so dearly loved flowers, clouds, nature (61), he seemed to live it. “No one in the world can love the country like I do,” writes Beethoven. “I can love a tree more than a person ...” In Vienna, he walked outside the city every day. In the village, from dawn to dusk, he wandered alone without a hat - both in the heat and in the rain. "Omnipotent! - I am happy in the forests, - I am happy in the forests, where every tree speaks of you. - My God, what splendor! - In these forests, in these valleys - there, in peace - you can serve you.

There his troubled spirit found moments of calm (62). Beethoven was constantly plagued by money worries. In 1818, he writes: "I have reached almost complete poverty and at the same time I must pretend that I do not lack anything." And again: “Sonata, op. 106, was written because of a piece of bread." Spohr says that often he was forced to stay at home because of torn shoes. He had large debts to publishers, and his works did not bring him anything. The Mass in D, for which the subscription was announced, attracted only seven subscribers (and not a single musician among them) (63). He received at most thirty or forty ducats for his marvelous sonatas, and each of them cost him three months of work. By order of Prince Golitsyn, he wrote quartets, op. 127, 130, 132; of all his works, this is perhaps the most profound, written with the blood of the heart. Golitsyn did not pay him anything for them. Beethoven was exhausted under the burden of heavy everyday worries: endless litigation due to the payment of a pension due to him, the hassle associated with the guardianship of his nephew, the son of his brother Karl, who died of consumption in 1815.

He transferred to this boy all the thirst for affection that overwhelmed his heart. But here, too, he was disappointed. It seemed that caring providence was concerned that the troubles that befell Beethoven would never dry out, so that his genius would never lack food. First, I had to fight for little Karl with his unworthy mother, who tried to take her son away from Beethoven.

“Oh my God,” he writes, “you are my stronghold and protection, my only refuge! You read in the innermost depths of my soul and you know how tormented I am, forced to inflict suffering on people who want to take away my Karl from me, my treasure! (64) Hear me, creature whose name I do not know, condescend to the fiery prayer of the most unfortunate of your creations!

"Oh my God! Help me! You see, I am abandoned by everyone because I do not want to come to terms with the untruth! Hear the prayer that I offer you, so that at least in the future I could live with my Karl! .. O cruel fate, inexorable fate! No, no, there will be no end to my misery!”

And then this much loved nephew showed himself unworthy of his uncle's trust. Beethoven's correspondence with him is full of grief and indignation, it resembles Michelangelo's correspondence with his brothers, only even more naive and touching.

“Is it possible that I have been repaid for everything again and this time with the most vile ingratitude? Well, if the bonds that bind us must be broken, then so be it! All impartial people who find out about this will turn away from you ... If the agreement that binds us weighs on you, God have mercy, may his command be done - I leave you to the will of providence; I did everything I could; I am ready to appear before the eternal judge...” (65).

“You are so spoiled that it would not harm you to try to finally become simple and truthful. My heart has suffered so much because of your hypocritical behavior with me that it’s hard for me to forget it ... God is my witness, the only thing I dream of is to be as far away as possible from you, and from this ill-fated brother, and this whole disgusting family. .. I can no longer trust you.” And he signs: "Unfortunately, your father - or, rather, not your father" (66).

But this is immediately followed by forgiveness:

“Dear son! Forget everything - come back to my arms, you will not hear a single cruel word from me ... I will accept you with the same love. We will talk amicably about everything that needs to be done for your future. Here's my word of honor to you: not a single reproach! What's the point of blaming? Believe that the most cordial care, the help of a loving soul, awaits you. Come back - come back and cling to your father's chest. - Beethoven. “Come now, as soon as you receive this letter, come back.” And on the envelope next to the address in French: "If you do not return, you will kill me for sure" (67).

“Do not lie to me,” he pleads, “be always my beloved son! What a terrible dissonance, are you really repaying me with hypocrisy, as they try to convince me of this? you from the depths of your heart to hold on to the only true path of goodness and justice. Your faithful, kind father" (68).

Beethoven cherished the most diverse dreams about the future of his nephew, a young man not without abilities, he thought of giving him a university education, but he had to come to terms with the fact that young Karl would become a businessman. Karl roamed the gambling dens, made debts.

A sad phenomenon, however, it can be observed much more often than people think - the uncle's moral greatness not only did not have a beneficial effect on his nephew, but, on the contrary, acted badly on him, hardened the young man; he rebelled viciously, as evidenced by the following terrible confession, in which this base soul laid bare herself: "I became worse because my uncle wanted to make me better." It got to the point that in the summer of 1826 he tried to shoot himself, but survived. But Beethoven almost died, he never recovered from this terrible shock (69). Karl recovered and lived, continuing to torment Beethoven, in whose death he was to some extent guilty; he was not even present at his uncle's last moments. “God never left me,” Beethoven wrote to his nephew a few years before his death. “There will still be a person who will close my eyes.” But this man was not the one whom he called his son (70).

And from the very abyss of sorrow, Beethoven decided to glorify Joy.

It was the plan of a lifetime. He carried it from 1792, still in Bonn (71). All his life Beethoven dreamed of singing Joy and crowning one of his major works with it. All his life he searched and did not find the exact form for such a hymn, pondering a work that would be suitable for this. Even in the Ninth Symphony, he has not yet finally decided. Until the very last minute, he kept thinking of postponing Ode to Joy until the Tenth or Eleventh Symphony. It should be noted that the Ninth Symphony is not called, as is often said, "Symphony with Choirs", but "Symphony with the final chorus of an ode to Joy." She could have and nearly got another ending. In July 1823, Beethoven was still thinking of giving it an instrumental finale, which then found its place in the quartet, op. 132. Czerny and Sonleitner even assure that even after the first performance (in May 1824) Beethoven had not yet abandoned this idea.

The introduction of the choir into the symphony presented very great technical difficulties, as Beethoven's notebooks show, keeping the trace of numerous attempts to introduce voices in this way, then in another way, now at this, then at another moment in the development of the work. On the margins of the draft of the second melody of the adagio (72), he wrote: “Perhaps the chorus will just have a place to enter here.” But he could not make up his mind to part with his faithful orchestra. “When a thought occurs to me,” he said, “I always hear it in the instrument, and not in the voice.” Therefore, he delays until the last possible moment the moment when the voices enter, and at first even gives the instruments not only the recitatives of the finale (73), but even the very theme of Joy.

But we must go even further back in order to find an explanation for these hesitation and delays; their cause lies deeper. This sufferer, eternally tormented by grief, constantly dreamed of singing the triumph of Joy. And from year to year he postponed his plan; again and again Beethoven was captured by a flurry of passions, torments, sadness oppressed. Only on the last day did he achieve his goal. And with what greatness!

At the moment when the theme of Joy enters for the first time, the orchestra immediately falls silent, a sudden silence reigns; this is what gives the introduction of the voice such a mysterious and heavenly-pure character. And in fact, this theme itself is a deity. Joy descends from heaven, fanned by supernatural calm; her light breath heals bad breath; her first breath is so gentle, when she is just slipping into the heart, healing him, that, like Beethoven's friend, "I want to cry when you see those meek eyes." Then, when the theme moves to the voices, it first appears in the bass, strict and somewhat constrained. But little by little Joy takes possession of the whole being. This is victory, this is war on suffering. And here is the marching march, the regiments are moving - the voice of the tenor is fiery, interrupted by excitement, all these quivering pages, from which the breath of Beethoven himself seems to come, and you hear the rhythm of his breathing and his inspired calls when he rushed through the fields, composing his symphony, seized by a demonic frenzy, like the aged King Lear during a storm. Warlike exultation gives way to religious ecstasy, then comes the sacred orgy - the madness of love. The whole human race, trembling, raises its hands to the sky, rushes to Joy, presses it to its heart.

The creation of a titan defeated the mediocrity of the public. The frivolity of Vienna was momentarily disarmed. After all, the ruler of her thoughts was Rossini, the Italian opera. Beethoven, humiliated, depressed, was going to move to London and perform his Ninth Symphony there. And for the second time, as in 1809, several noble friends turned to him with a request not to leave their homeland. “We know,” they said, “that you have written a new work of religious music (74), in which you have expressed the feelings inspired by your deep faith. That unearthly light that permeates your great soul illuminates your creations. We know, moreover, that the wreath of your great symphonies has been adorned with yet another immortal flower... Your silence over these past years has saddened all whose eyes were fixed on you (75). Everyone sadly thought that a man marked with the seal of genius, so highly exalted among mortals, remains in complete silence, while foreign music seeks to sprout on our soil and drown out the works of German art. From you alone, the nation expects new life, new laurels and a new realm of truth and beauty, in defiance of changing fashion... Give us hope to see our desires soon come true... And may the approaching spring bloom doubly thanks to your gifts - both for us and for everything peace!" (76). This noble appeal shows how great was the power of Beethoven, not only in the artistic, but also in the moral sense, over the chosen people of Austria. Wishing to glorify the genius of Beethoven, his connoisseurs first of all remember not science, not art, but faith (77).

Beethoven was deeply moved by this appeal. He stayed. On May 7, 1824, the first performance of the Mass in D and the Ninth Symphony took place in Vienna. The success was triumphant, bordering on a shock to the foundations. When Beethoven appeared, he was greeted with explosions of applause five times, while in this country of etiquette the imperial family was supposed to be greeted with only three applause. It took the intervention of the police to put an end to the applause. The symphony caused a furious delight. Many cried. Beethoven fell unconscious from the shock after the concert; he was taken to Schindler. And there he lay half-conscious, as he was, dressed, neither eating nor drinking, all night and part of the next day. But the triumph was fleeting and gave practically no results. The concert brought Beethoven nothing! There was no change in his difficult financial situation. He remained the same poor, sick (78), lonely, but a winner (79) - a winner of human mediocrity, a winner of his own destiny, a winner of his suffering. “Sacrifice for the sake of your art, always sacrifice the trifles of life. God is above all!” ("Oh Gott über alles").

So, he reached the goal that he had been striving for all his life. He has mastered Joy. Will he be able to stay on this peak of the spirit, from where he trampled the storms? Of course, there were days - and often - when the old grief again took possession of him. Of course, Beethoven's last quartets are filled with a strange darkness. And yet the victory of the Ninth Symphony, apparently, left its jubilant trace in his soul. His plans for the future: (80) Tenth Symphony (81), Bach Memory Overture, music for Grillparzer's Melusine (82), Koerner's Odyssey, Goethe's Faust (83), Saul and David, a biblical oratorio . All this testifies that his spirit is attracted by the powerful clarity of the great old German masters: Bach and Handel, and even more so by the midday light, the south of France and that Italy through which he so dreamed of wandering (84).

Dr. Spiller, who saw him in 1826, says that he became cheerful and joyful. In the year that Grillparzer speaks to him for the last time, it is Beethoven who inspires courage in the dejected poet. “Ah,” says the poet, “if only I had a thousandth of your strength and your stamina!” The times were cruel, the monarchist reaction suppresses the minds. “Censorship is choking me,” Grillparzer lamented, “you must flee to North America if you want to speak and think freely.” But no power could impose bonds on Beethoven's thought. “The words are shackled, but, fortunately, the sounds are still free,” the poet Kufner writes to him. Beethoven is a great and free voice, perhaps the only one expressing German thought at that time. And he himself felt it. And he often spoke of the duty entrusted to him to act with the forces of his art “for the sake of suffering humanity”, for the sake of “humanity of the future” (“der künftigen Menschheit”), for its good, to inspire him with courage, awaken him from hibernation, scourge his cowardice. “Our time,” he wrote to his nephew, “needs mighty minds in order to whip these miserable sluts called human souls.” Dr. Müller says in 1827 that "Beethoven always openly expressed his opinion about the government, the police, the aristocracy, even when in public places" (85). The police knew this, but they tolerated his attacks and ridicule as the harmless eccentricities of a dreamer and did not touch the man who amazed the whole world with his genius (86).

So, no power could break this indomitable spirit, a spirit that seemed to mock even suffering. The music written in these last years, despite the most painful circumstances (87) in which it was created, acquires a completely new shade of irony, it sounds some kind of heroic and jubilant arrogance. Four months before his death, in November 1826, he finished his last work - a new finale for a quartet, op. 130, very funny. But, to tell the truth, this fun is unusual fun. Either this is laughter, jerky and bilious, - Moscheles recalls it, - then it is a soul-stirring smile, in which there is so much conquered suffering! But whatever it is, he's a winner. He doesn't believe in death. And yet she was getting closer. At the end of November 1826 he caught a cold and fell ill with pleurisy. He fell ill, having returned to Vienna from a journey undertaken in the winter to arrange the affairs of his nephew (88). His friends were far away. He asked his nephew to bring a doctor. This scoundrel forgot about the order and realized it only two days later. The doctor came too late, and he treated Beethoven badly. For three months, his heroic body struggled with the disease. But on January 3, 1827, he made a will, making his beloved nephew the sole heir. He remembered his dear friends on the Rhine, he even wrote to Wegeler: “... How I would like to talk to you! But I'm too weak. I can only hug and kiss you mentally - in my heart - and you and your Lorchen. The last moments of his life would have been overshadowed by poverty, if not for the generous help from some of his English friends. He became quite meek and patient (89). Chained to his deathbed, after three operations, in anticipation of the fourth (90), on February 17, 1827, he writes with complete peace of mind: “I gain patience and think: every misfortune brings with it some good.”

This blessing was deliverance, "the end of the comedy", as he said, dying, and we will say - the tragedy of his life.

He died during a thunderstorm - a terrible snow storm - among the rolls of thunder. A strange hand closed his eyes (91) (March 26, 1827).

Dear Beethoven! Many people praised his greatness as an artist. But he is more than the first of the musicians. He is the most heroic force in contemporary art. He is the biggest, best friend of all who suffer and who struggle. When we grieve over the misfortunes of our world, he comes to us, as he once came to an unfortunate mother who lost her son, sat down at the piano and without words consoled her, crying, with a song that softened the pain. And when fatigue seizes us in our continuous, often fruitless struggle against too petty virtues and equally petty vices, what an inexpressible blessing it is to plunge into this life-giving ocean of will and faith! He infects us with valor, with that happiness of struggle (92), with that ecstasy which is given by the consciousness that God is alive in you. It seems that in his hourly, constant communication with nature (93), he, as it were, absorbed her innermost forces. Grillparzer, who worshiped Beethoven with a kind of reverent fear, says of him: "He reached that dangerous limit where art merges with the elements, wild and wayward." And Schumann writes about the symphony in C minor: “No matter how much you listen to it, every time it invariably shakes with its mighty power, like those natural phenomena that, no matter how often they are repeated, always fill us with a feeling of horror and amazement.” Schindler, with whom Beethoven was most forthright, wrote: "He has mastered the spirit of nature." Indeed, Beethoven is a force of nature; and a truly grandiose spectacle is this battle of elemental force with all the rest of nature.

His whole life is like a stormy day. At the beginning of a young, transparent morning. A barely perceptible breath of languor. But already in the motionless air some kind of hidden threat, a grave premonition, is hovering, and suddenly huge shadows are swiftly sweeping by, a menacing roar is heard, resonantly dying in a terrible, tense silence, furious gusts of wind from the Eroic Symphony and the symphony in C minor. And yet the clarity of the day did not fade. Joy is joy; there is always hope in sorrow. But here comes the tenth years - mental balance is disturbed. An ominous light spills out. The brightest thoughts are enveloped in some kind of foggy haze, it dissipates, reappears, darkening the heart with its confused and masterful play; often a musical thought seems to be drowning in this fog, it will emerge once, twice, and now it has completely disappeared, and only in the finale it suddenly breaks out in an angry storm. Even gaiety, and that takes on a caustic, frenzied character. Some kind of feverish delirium, some kind of poison is mixed with all the feelings (94). The storm is moving in as evening approaches. And now the heavy clouds, furrowed with lightning, black as night, swollen with storms - the beginning of the Ninth. Suddenly, in the midst of a hurricane, the darkness breaks, the night is swept away from the sky - and a clear day is returned to us by his will ...

What conquest can compare with this? What battle of Bonaparte, what sun of Austerlitz can compete in glory with this superhuman labor, with this victory, the most radiant of all that the spirit has ever won? A sufferer, a beggar, weak, lonely, a living embodiment of grief, he, whom the world refuses to enjoy, creates Joy himself in order to give it to the world. He forges it from his suffering, as he himself said in these proud words that convey the essence of his life and are the motto of every heroic soul:

Joy through Suffering.
Durch Leiden Freude (95).