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    Beethoven

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    Beethoven's friends

    Beethoven maintained several firm friendships throughout his life amongst them women, most notably, Antonie Brentano, who had a direct influence on his music

    1. Antonie Brentano

      1. Antonie Brentano (1780 - 1869)

      Antonie Brentano was almost certainly the Eternally Beloved, the only woman as far as we know ever to return Beethoven's love...

    2. Gerhard von Breuning

      2. Gerhard von Breuning (1813 - 1892)

      Son of Beethoven's lifelong friend, Stephan von Breuning, Gerhard first met Beethoven as a child with his father. He was Stephan's son by his father's second marriage...

    3. Josephine Brunsvik

      3. Josephine Brunsvik (1779-1821)

      Beethoven first met Josephine and her sister Therese when the two visited Vienna with their mother in 1799. Later that year Josephine married Count Joseph Deym, but was widowed five years later...

    4. Stephan von Breuning

      4. Stephan von Breuning (1774-1827)

      Son of Beethoven's lifelong friend, Stephan von Breuning, Gerhard first met Beethoven as a child with his father. He was Stephan's son by his father's second marriage...

    5. Beethoven's friend Carl Czerny

      5. Carl Czerny (1791-1857)

      Czerny was brought as a boy by his father to meet Beethoven, and Beethoven was impressed by his prodigious talent...

    6. Beethoven's birthplace, Bonn

      6. Eleonore von Breuning (1771 - 1841)

      Eleonore was the sister of Stephan von Breuning, and a member of the family in Bonn that did so much to help the young musician...

    7. Ignaz Gleichenstein

      7. Ignaz Gleichenstein (1778-1828)

      A native of Staufen near Freiburg in Germany, Baron Gleichenstein took over the running of Beethoven's affairs some time after Ferdinand Ries left Vienna in 1805...

    8. Franz Grillparzer

      8. Franz Grillparzer (1791-1872)

      Grillparzer was 17 years of age when he first met Beethoven in Heiligenstadt, where he was staying with his mother in the same house as Beethoven... Picture: Getty

    9. Bust of Giulietta Guicciardi

      9. Giulietta Guicciardi (1784-1856)

      Beethoven took Countess Giulietta Guicciardi on as a pupil in around 1801 and soon fell in love with her. His Sonata Op. 27 no. 2, 'Moonlight Sonata' is dedicated to her...Picture: John Suchet

    10. Ignaz Moscheles, friend of Beethoven

      10. Ignaz Moscheles (1794-1870)

      After moving to Vienna, Ignaz Moscheles became good friends with Beethoven, even making piano arrangements of many of his compositions, including Fidelio. Picture: Getty

    11. Beethoven's teacher Gottlob Neefe

      11. Gottlob Neefe (1748-1798)

      Gottlob Neefe was Beethoven's first full-time teacher, but he would never know of his pupil's great fame and success. Picture: Getty

    12. Ferdinand Ries

      12. Ferdinand Ries (1784-1838)

      Ferdinand Ries was a former pupil of Beethoven's who went on to become indispensable to the composer as his hearing worsened... Picture: Getty

    13. Franz Ries

      13. Franz Ries (1755-1846)

      Franz Ries, the father of Beethoven's friend and assistant, Ferdinand Ries, helped to foster young Ludwig's musical talent and ensured his protege wasn't left out of pocket by his careless father...

    14. Beethoven by Anton Schindler

      14. Anton Schindler (1795-1864)

      All Beethoven scholars have reason to be grateful to Schindler - and angry with him - in equal measure...

    15. Ignaz Schuppanzigh

      15. Ignaz Schuppanzigh (1776-1830)

      A renowned violinist and leader of Prince Lichnowsky's String Quartet, Ignaz Schuppanzigh was one of Beethoven's few lifelong friends... Picture: Getty

    16. Amalie Sebald

      16. Amalie Sebald (1787-1846)

      Beethoven met singer Amalie Sebald in the spa town of teplitz and they quickly formed a firm friendship. Was it Amalie who inspired Eternally Beloved?.. Picture: Getty

    17. Johann Andreas Streicher

      17. Johann Andreas (1761-1833) and Nanette Streicher (1769-1833): Beethoven's surrogate parents

      Acclaimed piano builder Johann Andreas Streicher's wife Nanette, a great pianist herself, was like a surrogate mother to Beethoven in his early days in Vienna... Picture: Getty

    18. Bonn, Germany

      18. Franz Wegeler (1765-1848)

      Franz Wegeler, whom Beethoven met when they were both boys growing up in Bonn, was the first person he could call a friend... Picture: Getty

    19. Belvedere Palace in Vienna, Austria

      19. Nikolaus Zmeskall (1759-1833)

      One of Beethoven's few close personal friends in Vienna, Nikolaus Zmeskall was an official in the Hungarian Chancellery... Picture: Thinkstock

    20. Metronome

      20. Johann Nepomuk Maelzel (1772-1838)

      The inventor of the metronome, Johann Nepomuk Maelzel persuaded Beethoven to write Wellington's Victory (Battle Symphony), but their friendship wasn't to last. Picture: Getty

    21. Manuscript music Beethoven

      21. Therese Malfatti (1792-1851)

      Like Giulietta Guicciardi, Therese Malfatti was a pupil of Beethoven's, and - as with Giulietta - he fell in love with her and decided to propose marriage to her. His plans came to naught, probably because of an extremely embarrassing incident. Picture: Getty

    Beethoven News

    See more Beethoven News

    Classical music cues cleaning in Taiwan

    Beethoven’s ‘Für Elise’ alerts Taiwanese residents to take out their trash

    Bad Beethoven t-shirt reviews

    Musicians are leaving savage reviews of this incorrect Beethoven Fifth t-shirt

    Discover Music

    Beethoven in 250 words.

    Beethoven at 250: famous figures share what his music means to them, in 250 words

    Beethoven Music

    See more Beethoven Music

    Beethoven art

    10 works of Beethoven that actually changed the world

    Beethoven Moonlight Sonata

    Beethoven’s ‘Moonlight’ Sonata: discover the 1801 piano masterpiece

    Beethoven - Symphony No. 9 in D minor ('Choral')

    The remarkable story of Beethoven’s ‘Choral’ Symphony No. 9 and the ‘Ode to Joy’

    Beethoven Pictures

    See more Beethoven Pictures

    San Quentin Prison interior

    10 of the greatest composers who broke the law

    Beethoven composer letters

    Letters of the great composers: 14 moving, funny and inspiring quotations from the documents they left behind

    Discover Music

    Anna-Maria Mozart mother

    Famous composers' mothers

    Discover Music

    Beethoven Album Reviews

    See more Beethoven Album Reviews

    new releases 30th july

    New releases: Irnberger and the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra play Beethoven and Rachmaninov with Martin Jones

    new releases 1st may

    New releases: Beethoven with the Royal Northern Sinfonia & Lars Vogt and 'Strauss in St Petersburg'

    new releases 10th april

    New releases: Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra plays Brahms and Beethoven with the London Philharmonic Orchestra

    Beethoven Guides

    See more Beethoven Guides

    Ludwig van Beethoven and Nannette Streicher

    Meet Nannette Streicher, ‘the woman who built Beethoven’s pianos’

    Ludwig van Beethoven

    So if Beethoven was completely deaf, how did he compose?

    A step-by-step guide to Beethoven’s nine symphonie

    A step-by-step guide to Beethoven’s nine symphonies

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