BEETHOVEN Ludwig van (baptised 1770–1827) was born in the city of Bonn (now Germany). Beethoven's first music teacher was his father. and in In 1780 or 1781, Beethoven began his studies with his most important teacher in Bonn, Christian Gottlob Neefe. However, Beethoven would never meet Mozart, since he was soon recalled to Bonn to be at the side of his dying mother. At age 21, he moved to Vienna, which subsequently became his base, and studied composition with Haydn.
Unlike Haydn and Mozart, however, times had changed in Vienna. Aristocrats and nobility were less likely to keep a composer on staff full time because the expense had become unbearable for many. Instead, Beethoven found himself working privately, composing pieces freelance for various individuals who wanted to purchase his work. In doing so, Beethoven soon became quite famous throughout the city and was sought out by many for his talents.
A threat to these talents had emerged by the time that Beethoven was in his twenties. A horrible ear ache kept getting worse, and soon doctors told him that he would lose his hearing. By 1814 he was deaf, which for any other composer would have been the end of his career. However, Beethoven was not any other composer and he kept producing more work.
The deafness took a heavy toil of Beethoven, who admitted to having thoughts of suicide since he could no longer enjoy music himself. However, he said that he still had more music in his head to write, and could not rob the world of that. Ultimately, Beethoven died in 1827.
