Music Career Tips Learned from Ludwig Van Beethoven's Life

One of the greatest musician who ever lived in this planet is Ludwig Van Beethoven. He is also my most favourite composer. His works are considered as the one of the finest in classical music, his masterpiece like Symphony #9, Moonlight Sonata, Fur Elise, just to name a few, still shines in the modern world of music and even in film (countless of Beethoven works are used in movies).

This is to say, he is not only a great musician by skill and works but as “success” is concerned, no other musician reach this level of success except Beethoven.

If you have read and understand Beethoven life, it is not as smooth as it seems to be. Your life now may be more enjoyable, alive, beautiful, loving, fulfilling and peaceful than Beethoven's life.

I purposely dedicated this short article to all those independent and committed musicians who are experiencing difficulties in their life in either both personal and financial aspect.

The following are one of Beethoven's greatest life challenges (which he faced bravely yet still succeed in becoming one of the greatest musicians who ever lived):

1.) He started composing at age of 15 to 20's. But his sense of hearing starts to degrade at his early twenties.
2.) He is completely deaf by the age of 40.
3.) Beethoven has no lifelong compassionate partner to share with his music. No documentation exists that Beethoven is a married guy.
4.) Beethoven life is mostly solitary.
5.) Beethoven takes care of his brothers after their parents died.
6.) At age 17 or 18, he is now responsible of his two other brothers after her mother died and his father succumb to alcoholism.
7.) His father beat him when he was a child and even forced him to play piano.
8.) When he is completely deaf, he cannot hear piano notes, instead tap his legs to the piano to feel the vibrations in order to get a feel of the low notes.
9.) Beethoven became broke when he spend his entire savings to cure his brothers illness.
10.) Beethoven failed to secure a concert which otherwise would have earned him a lot of money.
11.) Girls he like turned him down and does not accept him as a lover because he is just a commoner.
12.) Beethoven planned to end his career by a suicide because of his inability to hear.

However, he survived:

1.) Beethoven greatest work is Symphony #9 which was written when he was completely deaf. He just play all the notes in his head.
2.) He does not commit suicide because he thinks he love music more than his illness so he move on to write his greatest works.
3.) He express of all his sadness and happiness in his music, that makes his music expressive.
4.) He love what he was forced to do, this is acceptance. When he was child, he was forced to play piano by his father, yet Beethoven never abandoned piano and even became a great pianist.
5.) He observed techniques from great composers like Mozart. Mozart is extremely popular in his time. But Beethoven never stops innovating and he ends up getting more attention than other composers in his time after a hundred of years later.
6.) Beethoven wrote only 9 symphonies. Mozart and Bach wrote more than a hundred. It is because Beethoven is a perfectionist and rewrite his piece a lot of times until it sounds “perfect”. This also made a difference a hundred of years later. His symphonies are also considered to be the finest.

Most important lesson: Do not let life problems, situations, weaknesses or even people opinion influences you to stop creating and innovating great music.

My most favorite Beethoven piece:
a.) Beethoven Symphony #9 in D Minor, Op.125, Choral 3. Adagio Molto E Cantabile
b.) Beethoven Symphony #9 in D Minor, Op.125, Choral 4. Presto
c.) Beethoven Symphony #9 in D Minor, Op.125, Choral 2. Molto Vivace
d.) Moonlight Sonata 1st and 3rd movement.
e.) Fur Elise
f.) Symphony Number 4 and 5.