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    Beethoven

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    Key people in Beethoven's music and life

    Taught by Haydn, inspired by Mozart, encouraged by princes, Beethoven's music was shaped by some very influenical and important people

    1. Mozart and Beethoven

      1. Wolfgang Mozart (1756-91)

      From his earliest days as a prodigy in Bonn, Ludwig van Beethoven's great ambition had been to travel to Vienna to meet - and take lessons with - the man he knew was the greatest living composer, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart...

    2. joseph haydn portrait

      2. Joseph Haydn (1732-1809)

      The young Beethoven - just over a week past his 20th birthday - first met the renowned Joseph Haydn on 26 December 1790 in Bonn, when Haydn and the impresario Johann Peter Salomon stopped off on their way to London where Haydn was to perform...

    3. Hofburg palace, Vienna

      3. Prince Lobkowitz (1772-1816)

      Prince Lobkowitz, a native of Bohemia, was a leading patron of the arts in Vienna - a great music-lover and enthusiastic and capable violinist...

    4. Prince Karl Lichnowsky (1756-1814)

      4. Prince Karl Lichnowsky (1756-1814)

      When Beethoven arrived in Vienna in November 1792, he had a letter of introduction from Count Waldstein to Prince Karl Lichnowsky, one of Vienna's foremost patrons of the arts...

    5. Marie Antoinette

      5. Maximilian Franz (1756 - 1801)

      Brother of Marie Antoinette (pictured), son of the Holy Roman Emperor, as the youngest son of the Imperial royal family Maximilian Franz was dispatched to an outpost of the Empire, Bonn in Germany, seat of the Elector of Cologne and Archbishop of Münster - to both of which titles he was appointed...

    6. Double bass

      6. Domenico Dragonetti (1763 - 1846)

      The Italian Domenico Dragonetti was Europe's greatest - and possibly only - double bass virtuoso. He regularly toured abroad, performing the limited double bass repertoire...

    7. George Bridgetower, patron of Beethoven

      7. George Bridgetower (1779 - 1860)

      George Bridgetower, the celebrated English violin virtuoso, came to Vienna in 1803 and met Beethoven. They played together and Beethoven was impressed...

    8. Kreutzer Sonata, Beethoven

      8. Rudolphe Kreutzer (1766-1831)

      Rudolphe Kreutzer and Beethoven may never have been great friends, but the celebrated violinist clearly made an impression on the composer as he dedicated his greatest Violin Sonata to him... Picture: Getty

    9. Johann von Goethe

      9. Johann von Goethe (1749-1832)

      Beethoven greatly admired German Johann von Goethe's works and set some of the great writer's works to music, including his tragedy, Count Egmont... Picture: PA Photo

    10. Sheet music

      10. Count Oppersdorff (1778 - 1818)

      Count Oppersdorff was a wealthy music-lover with an orchestra of his own, was the money behind Beethoven's Fourth and Fifth Symphonies... Picture: Thinkstock

    11. Beethoven's house, Pasqualatihaus

      11. Baron Pasqualati (1777 - 1830)

      Beethoven rented in wealthy patron of the arts Baron Johann Pasqualati's Vienna apartment for over a decade and wrote many of his most important works within its four walls... Picture: John Suchet

    12. Razumovsky Palace

      12. Prince Razumovsky (1752 - 1836)

      Prince Razumovsky was Russian ambassador in Vienna, as well as great patron of the arts who commissioned three String Quartets, known today as the Razumovsky Quartets, Opus 59... Picture: Getty

    13. Archduke Rudolph (1788-1831)

      13. Archduke Rudolph (1788-1831)

      Archduke Rudolph, youngest son of Emperor Leopold II and youngest brother of Emperor Franz, was Beethoven's greatest patron... Picture: Getty

    14. Daniel Steibelt (1765 - 1823)

      14. Daniel Steibelt (1765 - 1823)

      A native of Berlin, Daniel Steibelt was one of Europe's most renowned piano virtuosos. He was a typical Prussian - formal, correct, proper. In 1800 he came to Vienna, no doubt with the aim of advancing his musical reputation... Picture: Getty

    15. Baron van Swieten

      15. Baron van Swieten (1733 - 1803)

      Baron Gottfried van Swieten was a good friend of Mozart and great patron of the arts who Beethoven dedicated his First Symphony to... Picture: Getty

    16. 19th century Vienna

      16. Count Waldstein (1762 - 1823)

      Count Ferdinand Ernst Gabriel von Waldstein was the young Beethoven's first great patron in Bonn - and his name will live for ever as the dedicatee of Beethoven's Waldstein Sonata opus 53... Picture: Getty

    17. Beethoven and Schubert

      17. Franz Schubert (1797-1828): Beethoven's biggest fan?

      Once a stern critic of German music, Franz Schubert became passionate devotee of Beethoven later in life, so much so that he asked on his deathbed to be buried with his idol...

    Beethoven latest

    See more Beethoven latest

    The Aurora Orchestra performing in Printworks London

    Beethoven’s Symphony No.5 fills Printworks in Aurora Orchestra’s thrilling immersive concert

    The Stumpff Lock in a laboratory at the Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History, Germany.

    Scientific analysis of Beethoven’s DNA reveals he had Hepatitis B and high risk of liver disease

    20 of the greatest piano concertos of all time. Pictured (L-R): Arsha Kaviani, Mitsuko Uchida, Yuja Wang.

    The 20 best piano concertos of all time

    Discover Music

    Ludwig van Beethoven deafness

    If Beethoven was completely deaf, how did he compose music?

    McDonald's in Wrexham to play Beethoven after 5pm to deter loiterers

    McDonald’s restaurant in Wales to play Beethoven to tackle late-night antisocial behaviour

    A smaller, but still immense, 5,000 strong choir in Japan sing Beethoven’s ‘Ode to Joy’

    Listen to this 10,000-strong Japanese megachoir sing Beethoven’s ‘Ode to Joy’

    LeBron James listens to Beethoven before a basketball game

    LeBron James reveals he listens to Beethoven to ‘calm down’ before games

    Orchestra’s outer space Beethoven performance leaves legendary conductor in tears

    Orchestra’s outer space Beethoven performance leaves legendary conductor in tears

    Seiji Ozawa

    Beethoven's great choral anthem is based on a poem by Friedrich Schiller

    What are the lyrics to ‘Ode to Joy’, Beethoven’s triumphant choral anthem?

    Daniel Barenboim, Anne-Sophie Mutter and Yo-Yo Ma

    When Daniel Barenboim, Yo-Yo Ma and Anne-Sophie Mutter combined to gift us achingly beautiful Beethoven

    Daniel Barenboim

    Best classical music

    See more Best classical music

    The 15 most famous tunes in classical music

    The 15 most famous tunes in classical music

    Discover Music

    Best symphonies: Ludwig van Beethoven, Antonin Dvorak and Florence Price

    The 15 greatest symphonies of all time

    Discover Music

    4 eras of classical music

    The 4 eras of classical music: a quick guide

    Discover Music

    Women composers gallery

    21 of the greatest women composers in classical music

    Discover Music

    Best pianists of all time

    The 25 best pianists of all time

    Discover Music

    Most romantic opera duets (Stacey Alleaume as Violetta and Liparit Avertisyan as Alfredo in Verdi's La Traviata in Sydney, 2022)

    The 10 most romantic opera duets of all time

    Discover Music

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    Man plays ‘world’s largest flutes’, creating the perfect eerie soundtrack for The Whale movie

    Videos

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    What was a castrato? And what did they sound like? Inside their sinister history...

    Discover Music

    Classic FM’s Rising Stars: 30 brilliant musicians under the age of 30 we’re celebrating in 2023.

    Classic FM’s Rising Stars: 30 sensational musicians performing in 2023

    Discover Music

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    Listen to new ‘Classical Dreams’ podcast episodes on World Sleep Day

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    Pachelbel’s Canon… honked out by hundreds of train horns in a hilarious medley

    The 292-year-old Guarneri violin known as the ‘Baltic’

    Centuries-old Italian violin breaks auction records after selling at £7.71 million

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    The 20 best video game soundtracks of all time

    Discover Music

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    Met Opera ordered to pay Anna Netrebko $200,000 for cancellations over Putin ties

    New York Metropolitan Opera

    This week’s on-air highlights – including Album of the Week and Drive Discovery.

    This week’s Classic FM radio highlights – including Album of the Week and Drive Discovery

    Arsha Kaviani plays Rachmaninov

    Virtuoso pianist plays mind-bending solo piano arrangement of Rachmaninov’s Piano Concerto No. 2

    Rachmaninov

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