Ludwig van Beethoven biography at QuotationFun

A Short Biography of Ludwig van Beethoven

Author Name:

Ludwig van Beethoven

Born As:

Ludwig van Beethoven

Other Names:

Born:

16 Dec 1770

Died:

26 Mar 1827




author picture
Composer                          
Selected Works:

Symphonies:

Opus 21: Symphony No. 1 in C major - composed 1799-1800, premièred 1800
Opus 36: Symphony No. 2 in D major - composed 1801-02, premièred 1803
Opus 55: Symphony No. 3 in E-flat major - "Eroica" - - composed 1803, premièred 1804
Opus 60: Symphony No. 4 in B-flat major - composed 1806, premièred 1807
Opus 67: Symphony No. 5 in C minor - "Fate" - composed 1805-08, premièred 1808
Opus 68: Symphony No. 6 in F major - "Pastoral" - composed 1805-08, premièred 1808
Opus 92: Symphony No. 7 in A major - composed 1811-12, premièred 1813
Opus 93: Symphony No. 8 in F major - composed 1811-12, premièred 1814
Opus 125: Symphony No. 9 in D minor - "Choral" - composed 1817-24, premièred 1824               

Concertos:

WoO 4: Piano Concerto No. 0 - Beethoven in E-flat major - 1784
Opus 15: Piano Concerto No. 1 in C major - 1795
Opus 19: Piano Concerto No. 2 in B-flat major - Before 1793
Opus 37: Piano Concerto No. 3 in C minor - 1803
Opus 56: Triple Concerto for violin, cello, and piano in C major - 1805
Opus 58: Piano Concerto No. 4 in G major - 1807
Opus 61: Violin Concerto in D major - 1806
Opus 61a: Beethoven's arrangement of Opus 61 for piano, sometimes called Piano Concerto No. 6
Opus 73: Piano Concerto No. 5 in E-flat major - "Emperor" - 1809

Other works for soloist and orchestra:

WoO 6: Rondo for Piano and Orchestra in B flat major - 1793
Opus 40: Romance for Violin and Orchestra No. 1 in G major - 1802
Opus 50: Romance for Violin and Orchestra No. 2 in F major - 1798
Opus 80: "Choral Fantasy" - Fantasia in C minor for piano, chorus, and orchestra - 1808

Overtures and occasional music:

Opus 43: The Creatures of Prometheus, overture and ballet music - 1801
Opus 62: Coriolan Overture - 1807
Overtures composed for Beethoven's opera Fidelio:
Opus 72: Fidelio Overture - 1814
Opus 72a: Leonore Overture "No. 2" - 1805
Opus 72b: Leonore Overture "No. 3" - 1806
Opus 138: Leonore Overture "No. 1" - 1807
Opus 84: Egmont, overture and incidental Music - 1810
Opus 91: Wellington's Victory - "Battle Symphony" - 1813
Opus 113: Die Ruinen von Athen - The ruins of Athens, overture and incidental music - 1811
Opus 117: König Stephan - King Stephen, overture and incidental music - 1811
Opus 115: Zur Namensfeier Overture - Feastday - 1815
Opus 124: Die Weihe des Hauses Overture - Consecration of the House - 1822

Chamber music:

Beethoven's string quartets are nearly as famous as his symphonies. He also wrote chamber music for several other types of ensembles, including piano trios, string trios, and sonatas for violin and cello with piano, as well as works with wind instruments.

String quartets:

Early - 

Opus 18: Six String Quartets
No. 1: String Quartet No. 1 in F major - 1799
No. 2: String Quartet No. 2 in G major - 1800
No. 3: String Quartet No. 3 in D major - 1798
No. 4: String Quartet No. 4 in C minor - 1801
No. 5: String Quartet No. 5 in A major - 1801
No. 6: String Quartet No. 6 in B-flat major - 1801

Middle - 

Opus 59: Three String Quartets - "Rasumovsky" - 1806
No. 1: String Quartet No. 7 in F major
No. 2: String Quartet No. 8 in E minor
No. 3: String Quartet No. 9 in C major

Opus 74: String Quartet No. 10 in E-flat major - "Harp" - 1809
Opus 95: String Quartet No. 11 in F minor - "Serioso" - 1810

Late - 
Main article: String Quartets Nos. 12 - 16 and Grosse Fuge, Opus 127, 130 - 135 - Beethoven
Works listed in order of composition:
Opus 127: String Quartet No. 12 in E-flat major - 1823-1825
Opus 132: String Quartet No. 15 in A minor - 1824-1825
Opus 130: String Quartet No. 13 in B-flat major - 1825
Opus 133: Große Fuge in B-flat major — originally finale of Opus 130 - 1825
Opus 134: Beethoven's arrangement of the Große Fuge, Opus 133, for piano duet - four-hands - 1826
Opus 131: String Quartet No. 14 in C-sharp minor - 1826
Opus 135: String Quartet No. 16 in F major - 1826

String quintets - 
Opus 4: String Quintet in E flat major - 1795
Opus 29: String Quintet in C major - 1801
Opus 104: String Quintet in C minor - 1817
Opus 137: Fugue for String Quintet in D major - 1817

Trios:

Piano trios - 
Opus 1: Three Piano Trios - 1795
Piano Trio No. 1 in E-flat major
Piano Trio No. 2 in G major
Piano Trio No. 3 in C minor

Opus 11: Piano Trio No. 4 in B-flat major - "Gassenhauer" - 

1797 - version with violin

Opus 70: Two Piano Trios - 1808
Piano Trio No. 5 in D major, "Ghost"
Piano Trio No. 6 in E-flat major
Opus 97: Piano Trio No.7 in B-flat Major - "Archduke" - 1811

String trios -
Opus 3: String Trio No. 1 in E-flat major - 1794
Opus 8: String Trio No. 2 - Serenade in D major - 1797

Opus 9: Three String Trios - 1798 - 
String Trio No. 3 in G major
String Trio No. 4 in D major
String Trio No. 5 in C minor.

Chamber music with winds - 
Opus 11: Piano Trio No. 4 in B-flat major - "Gassenhauer" - 1797 - version with clarinet
Opus 16: Quintet for piano and winds in E-flat major - 1796
Opus 20: Septet for clarinet, horn, bassoon, violin, viola, cello and contrabass in E-flat major - 1799
Opus 71: Sextet for clarinets, horns, and bassoons in E-flat major - 1796
Opus 87: Trio for two oboes and English horn in C major - 1795
Opus 103: Octet for oboes, clarinets, horns, and bassoons in E-flat major - 1792
Opus 105: Six sets of variations for Piano and Flute - 1819
Opus 107: Ten sets of variations for Piano and Flute - 1820

Sonatas for solo instrument and piano:

Violin sonatas - 
Opus 12: Three Violin Sonatas - 1798
No. 1: Violin Sonata No. 1 in D major
No. 2: Violin Sonata No. 2 in A major
No. 3: Violin Sonata No. 3 in E-flat major 

Opus 23: Violin Sonata No. 4 in A minor - 1801
Opus 24: Violin Sonata No. 5 in F major - "Spring" - 1801

Opus 30: Three Violin Sonatas - 1803
No. 1: Violin Sonata No. 6 in A major
No. 2: Violin Sonata No. 7 in C minor
No. 3: Violin Sonata No. 8 in G major

Opus 47: Violin Sonata No. 9 in A major - "Kreutzer" - 1803
Opus 96: Violin Sonata No. 10 in G major - 1812

Cello sonatas - 
Opus 5: Two Cello Sonatas - 1796
Cello Sonata No. 1 in F major
Cello Sonata No. 2 in G minor.

Opus 69: Cello Sonata No. 3 in A major - 1808

Opus 102: Two Cello Sonatas - 1815
Cello Sonata No. 4 in C major
Cello Sonata No. 5 in D major

Horn sonatas - 
Opus 17: Horn Sonata in F major - 1800

Solo piano music - 
In addition to the 32 celebrated sonatas, Beethoven's work for solo piano includes many one-movement pieces, notably the sets of variations, and the bagatelles.

Piano sonatas - 
Opus 2: Three Piano Sonatas - 1796
No. 1: Piano Sonata No. 1 in F minor
No. 2: Piano Sonata No. 2 in A major
No. 3: Piano Sonata No. 3 in C major

Opus 7: Piano Sonata No. 4 in E-flat major - 1797

Opus 10: Three Piano Sonatas - 1798
No. 1: Piano Sonata No. 5 in C minor
No. 2: Piano Sonata No. 6 in F major
No. 3: Piano Sonata No. 7 in D major
Opus 13: Piano Sonata No. 8 in C minor - "Pathétique" - 1798
Opus 14: Two Piano Sonatas - 1799
No. 1: Piano Sonata No. 9 in E major
No. 2: Piano Sonata No. 10 in G major

Opus 22: Piano Sonata No. 11 in B-flat major - 1800
Opus 26: Piano Sonata No. 12 in A-flat major - "Funeral March" - 1801

Opus 27: Two Piano Sonatas - 1801
No. 1: Piano Sonata No. 13 in E-flat major
No. 2: Piano Sonata No. 14 in C-sharp minor 'Sonata quasi una fantasia' - "Moonlight"

Opus 28: Piano Sonata No. 15 in D major - "Pastoral" - 1801

Opus 31: Three Piano Sonatas - 1802
No. 1: Piano Sonata No. 16 in G major
No. 2: Piano Sonata No. 17 in D minor - "Tempest"
No. 3: Piano Sonata No. 18 in E-flat major - "The Hunt"

Opus 49: Two Piano Sonatas - 1792
No. 1: Piano Sonata No. 19 in G minor
No. 2: Piano Sonata No. 20 in G major

Opus 53: Piano Sonata No. 21 in C major - "Waldstein" - 1803
WoO 57: Andante Favori - Original middle movement of the "Waldstein" sonata - 1804
Opus 54: Piano Sonata No. 22 in F major - 1804
Opus 57: Piano Sonata No. 23 in F minor - "Appassionata" - 1805
Opus 78: Piano Sonata No. 24 in F-sharp major - "A Thérèse" - 1809
Opus 79: Piano Sonata No. 25 in G major - "Cuckoo" - 1809
Opus 81a: Piano Sonata No. 26 in E-flat major - "Les adieux/Lebewohl" - 1810
Opus 90: Piano Sonata No. 27 in E minor - 1814
Opus 101: Piano Sonata No. 28 in A major - 1816
Opus 106: Piano Sonata No. 29 in B-flat major - "Hammerklavier" - 1819
Opus 109: Piano Sonata No. 30 in E major - 1820
Opus 110: Piano Sonata No. 31 in A-flat major - 1821
Opus 111: Piano Sonata No. 32 in C minor - 1822

Variations - 
Opus 34: Six variations on an original theme in F major - 1802
Opus 35: Fifteen variations and a fugue on an original theme in E-flat major - "Eroica Variations" - 1802
Opus 76: Six variations on an original theme in D major - 1809
Opus 120: Thirty-three variations on a waltz by Diabelli in C major - "Diabelli Variations" - 1823
WoO 80: Thirty-two variations on an original theme in C minor - 1806

Bagatelles - 
Opus 33: Seven Bagatelles - 1802
Opus 119: Eleven new Bagatelles - 1822
Opus 126: Six Bagatelles - 1823
WoO 52: Presto - Bagatelle for piano in C minor - 1795, rev. 1798 and 1822
WoO 53: Allegretto - Bagatelle for piano in C minor - 1796-97.
WoO 54: Lustig-Traurig - Bagatelle for piano in C major - 1802
WoO 56: Allegretto - Bagatelle for piano in C major - 1803, rev. 1822
WoO 59: Poco moto - Bagatelle in A minor, "Für Elise" - c. 1810
WoO 60: Ziemlich lebhaft - Bagatelle for piano in B-flat major - 1818

Vocal music - 
While he completed only one opera, Beethoven wrote vocal music throughout his life, including two Mass settings, other works for chorus and orchestra - in addition to the Ninth Symphony, arias, duets, art songs - lieder, and one of the first true song cycles.

Opera - 
Opus 72: Leonore - 1805 The first version in three acts
Opus 72: Leonore - 1806 The second version in two acts
Opus 72: Fidelio - 1814 The final version in two acts

Choral - 
Opus 80: Choral Fantasy for solo piano, chorus, and orchestra - 1808
Opus 85: Christus am Ölberge - Christ on the Mount of Olives — oratorio - 1803
Opus 86: Mass in C major - 1807
Opus 112: Meeresstille und glückliche Fahrt - Calm Sea and Prosperous Voyage, for chorus and orchestra - 1815
Opus 123: Missa Solemnis in D major - 1822

Song - 
Opus 46: "Adelaide" — song - 1794-1795
Opus 48: "Gellert Songs" -- song set - 1802
Opus 98: An die ferne Geliebte — song cycle - 1816
Opus 108: Twenty-five Scottish Songs.                          
Mother Maria Magdalena Keverich
Father Johann van Beethoven