Franz Gerhard Wegeler (22 August 1765 – 7 May 1848) was a childhood friend of Beethoven, someone important to him all his life. Despite their geographical distance and significant gaps in their intimate correspondence, Wegeler always remained a confidant and a reminder of their shared values learned in their youth, in Bonn. It is safe to say, Franz Wegeler was …
This is a biography of Ludwig van Beethoven the elder, grandfather of the famous composer, who was named after his grandpa. Both were talented musicians, but the grandchild is the one, who became a wonder of the World. The first documented Ludwig van Beethoven was born in 1712 in the town of Malines, or Mechelen, duchy of Brabant. This is …
Did Beethoven drink coffee? What is Viennese-style coffee house? How and when all this coffee madness started? Continue reading this article and find out! History of Viennese coffee house culture Although Vienna was not the first city in Europe to have a coffee house, yet Viennese coffee culture was outstanding and very influential. North-Africa and the Middle-East already had …
Beethoven’s only opera is called Leonore. Or Fidelio. Now, which one? Beethoven started working on a French libretto in 1803 that was around in Europe since the 1790s. This opera had been set by three different composers before Beethoven. The libretto was Leonore, ou l’amour conjugal (Leonore, or marital love), written by J.-N. Bouilly. The German version was adopted by …
We continue our series of articles in which we learn about Beethoven’s deafness. We have already seen in an earlier piece that Beethoven was not born deaf, but later became one. This article investigates if he was deaf in both ears or just one. Beethoven was not born deaf, but lost his hearing continuously from about the age of 27, …
Unfortunate for us, we do not have a photograph of the famous composer. He just missed out on this wonderful invention. We must be content with the paintings that were made of him. The most famous of them all is the one by Joseph Karl Stieler. This article discovers the origin and fate of this famous portrait. Joseph Karl …