Beethoven was named after his grandfather, Ludwig van Beethoven, who lived from 1712-73. The elder Ludwig was Flemish. He was born in Mechelen, which is in present-day Belgium. The name Beethoven means beet garden and was a common last name in that area at the time. The elder Ludwig was a bass vocalist and keyboard player. By age 20, he was a singer in St. Lambert’s Cathedral in Liège. Here, he would’ve caught the attention of Elector Clemens August, who summoned him to join the court chapel in Bonn. Clemens August was the Elector and Archbishop of Cologne, a German city along the Rhine River north of Bonn. His court was located in Bonn instead of Cologne for political reasons. Elector August was a great patron of the arts and builder, but he had no interest in ruling. He left the Electorship with a huge debt when he died in 1761. To alleviate the debt, the new elector cut musicians and musicians’ salaries. The salary cuts caused the old Kapellmeister to leave.
The elder Ludwig van Beethoven secured the Kapellmeister position after Elector August’s death. Not a composer like his grandson, the elder Ludwig was the leading bass soloist at the Bonn court. In addition to remaining the leading bass soloist, his duties as Kapellmeister would have included directing the choir and the combined choir and orchestra. The elder Ludwig was also an astute businessman as a wine seller. He died in 1773 when his grandson was three years old. Beethoven recalled his grandfather fondly; however, it is doubtful he had any clear memories from that age. The musical talent and business acumen in the family would skip a generation from the elder Ludwig to his grandson.
Beethoven’s father, Johann van Beethoven lived from about 1740-92. He was a tenor vocalist who began receiving a salary as a court singer in Bonn in 1764. Johann van Beethoven was an alcoholic and a schemer. His alcoholism would eventually leave a teenage Beethoven largely responsible for the family. Unfortunately, Johann wasn’t as intelligent or talented as his father. After his father died, Johann attempted to succeed him as Kapellmeister but was denied. Part of his scheme to succeed his father involved a forged letter of a lucrative job offer from another municipality. Johann would have heard the child prodigy Mozart on tour in Bonn in 1763. He began training son Ludwig as a musician from age four or five on keyboard, violin, and viola. His initial goal was to secure his son a position as a court musician in Bonn as soon as possible so Ludwig could start earning money for the family. Johann quickly realized young Ludwig had talent and attempted to turn him into the next Mozart as one of his schemes. Unfortunately, Johann was abusive both physically and mentally as a teacher. Abuse as a motivator to learn would have been prevalent at this time, and Johann was likely passing on lessons as he had learned them from his father. While unlikely the sole cause, one hypothesis on Beethoven’s deafness suggests it was caused by repeated blows to the head as a child. Johann would eventually realize that his son needed better teachers.
We’ll pick up next time with the influence of liberal Bonn, the Enlightenment, the Freemason society and Christian Neefe, young Beethoven’s primary keyboard and composition teacher. Don’t forget to watch the video at the top that accompanies this post. If you’re a subscriber, the videos aren’t necessarily appearing at the top of the email. If you don’t see the video, click on “Dr. Mark’s Music Notes” in the top right corner of the email. That should take you to the blog post on WordPress, and the video should be at the top of the post. Feel free to leave a comment if you have any questions, and click the subscribe button for notifications about more information on Colossal Classical Composers and other musical topics. Thanks for reading. Play On!