Ludwig van Beethoven was born in Bonn in a family of musicians, both his grandfather and his father made their living from music. Young Beethoven was talented, started his education in music around age six. First he practised with his father, later with family friends and other musicians from Bonn. Beethoven as a boy, despite being brilliant, was not a child prodigy, a Wunderkind.
|Related: Was Beethoven a child prodigy, a Wunderkind
Beethoven started to work on his first composition around the age of 10, while studying with Christian Gottlob Neefe. His first published music was a variations, called Nine Variations on a march by Ernst Christoph Dressler for piano (C minor) WoO 63. Dressler was a German tenor, violinist and composer. Young Beethoven based his first published composition on his piano piece.
It is not a surprise that the boy’s first composition was a variation! In the 18th century variation technique was essential part of musical education.
|Related: Musical theme and variations
Beethoven’s first composition, the Nine Variations on a march WoO 63 was published in 1782 (or latest early 1783) by Johann Michael Götz, in Mannheim. The boy was 11 years old at the time.
