Take a showman and inventor, add a grumpy genius composer, shake it well and see what happens! Read on to discover this friendship and the achievements they realized together! Who was Johann Maelzel? Maelzel (sometimes Mälzel, August 15, 1772 – July 21, 1838) was a German inventor, born in Regensburg. His father was an organ builder who made sure …
In this article, find all the most frequently asked questions and answers about the musical metronome! What is a musical metronome? A metronome is a device that makes a click or some other sound at regular intervals. This interval can be set by the person using a metronome. These intervals are measured in beats per minute (BPM). Most mechanical …
Ear trumpets had helped people with hearing difficulty for centuries. It helped Beethoven, too! What is this aid and how it works? Beethoven loosing his hearing Beethoven first experienced troubles in his ears in 1798, at the age of 27. Until that point he had perfect hearing, something a musician should have! Initially, he kept his problems a secret …
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 …
Compared to contemporary Viennese master like Haydn or Mozart, Beethoven was not very prolific in composing symphonies. Haydn, the Father of Symphony, wrote 108 symphonies (one is lost and one is symphonie concertante) and Mozart composed some 50 pieces. Ludwig van Beethoven composed 9 symphonies. This may be a lower number, but not so in quality! Most Beethoven symphonies are …
This is the story of Baron de Trémont, a French diplomat in Vienna, who approached Beethoven and against all odds managed to tame the bear. Who was Baron de Trémont? Louis-Philippe-Joseph Girod de Vienney, Baron de Trémont (born 2 October 1799, died 1 July, 1852) was a French officer and diplomat. For us, more importantly he was a musical …