LudwigvanBeethovenHewasbornintheGermantownofBonnonthe16thofDecember1770
HisgrandfatherLudwigandhisfatherJohannwerebothmusicians
JohannwastoactaslittleLudwig'sfirstmusicteacher,butLudwigsoonchangedtothecourtorganistC
Passingelevenyearsofage,LudwigdeputizedforNeefe,andattwelvehadhisfirstmusicpublished
HethenstayedasNeefe'sassistantuntil1787,whenatseventeen,hetookoffforVienna
EventhoughViennawastobehishomefortherestofhislife,thisfirstvisitwasshort
Onhearingthathismotherwasdying,hequicklyreturnedtoBonn
FiveyearslaterhefinallymovedtoViennatoliveandwork
Afterarrivingin1792hestudiedcompositionandcounterpointunderHaydn,Schenk,SalieriandAlbrechtsberger
Atthesametime,hetriedtoestablishhimselfaspianistandcomposer
Hisgoodrelationswiththetownsaristocracysoonledtoasecuredincome
In1809,withthesol