Dave Grohl of Nirvana and Foo Fighters is an unlikely person to compare to Ludwig van Beethoven, but he hits his drums so hard he breaks sticks all the time. The same could be said for the manic side of Beethoven, a beyond legendary musician who sometimes played the piano hard, loud, and fast, more intensely than any of his contemporaries — fortissimo, as its called in classical music parlance.
Born in 1770 in Bonn, which would later be part of Germany, Beethoven was a child prodigy, performing his first public concert this very week in March 1778, when he was 7 years old. That’s 238 years ago, to be exact.
Moody to be sure, Beethoven was many things: depressed, manic, euphoric, prolific, arrogant, unkempt (he rarely bathed), financially reckless, egotistical, suicidal, self-centered, a hypochondriac, and an alcoholic, to name a few. But his music — some would argue — is the best ever written.
Needless to say, he is not the greatest role model. However, in his lifetime, Beethoven wrote nine symphonies, nine concertos, and a smattering of other orchestral music, including overtures and sonatas.
Sir John Russell, forebear of the English philosopher, wrote of his friend’s style:
“The moment that he is seated at the piano, he is evidently unconscious that there is anything in existence but himself and his instrument. [Apparently Beethoven was the original shoegazer!] The muscles of the face swell, and its veins stand out; the wild eye rolls doubly wild, the mouth quivers, and Beethoven looks like a wizard, over-powered by the demons whom he himself has called up.”
Beethoven experienced child abuse at the hands of his father, who would arrive home drunk at night and force his son to play piano until the morning. Any missed notes or fumbles earned him a beating or a cruel timeout in the cellar.
As is widely known, Beethoven went completely deaf in 1816, but he continued to compose music. He even performed deaf. His deafness exacerbated his depression.
In 1816, Beethoven called himself “the most unhappy of all mortals,” according to the book Manic Depression and Creativity.
However, the mania was creatively fruitful, as evidenced by this quote, also from the book: “I live entirely in my music; and hardly have I completed one composition when I have already begun another. At my present rate of composing, I often produce three or four works at the same time.”
Beethoven only slept four hours a night when he was composing.
He would go on maniacal work tears, inspiration popping at any given moment. He’d run home, dash over to the piano, and emerge hours later having finished a sonata. When he had a fleeting musical thought but no paper he wrote on the window shutters.
Seasonal affective disorder plagued Beethoven, who did not compose during the winter because he was depressed. Summertime was his most productive – when his mania would rear its beautiful, inspirational head.
In a hypomanic moment, Beethoven wrote a letter in which he described a newfound happiness. “I am living more pleasantly now, since I mingle with people. You will scarcely believe how lonely and sad my life has been for the last two years. I feel that my youth is just beginning, for have I not always been in poor health?… Oh! Life is so beautiful, would I could have a thousand lives!”
Fellow composer Carl Czerny said, “Aside from the times when he was in one of the melancholy moods… he was always merry, mischievous, full of witticisms and jokes.”
However, Beethoven’s manias never lasted long. Deafness can cause paranoia, as can bipolar. Beethoven was so paranoid that he would have friends, his nephew, and servants taste everything he ate or drank because he was afraid someone was trying to poison him.
Psychosis was evident as well. In a letter to one of his closest friends, Beethoven signed off: “Baron? – Baron – ron – aron – ron – etc. Hail and happiness, happiness and hail and hail and happiness, happiness, hail, hail, happiness etc. Baron Baron Baron Baron.” Clearly racing thoughts taking over the composer’s brain. This according to the book Diagnosing Genius: The Life and Death of Beethoven by François Martin Mai.
It was his art that saved him from suicide. He never attempted it. In a will he wrote in 1802, Beethoven referred to his “state of endless suffering.”
He said in 1815: “Let them stab me and strike me! God will help me. I am so tired of contact with people that I hardly want to see or hear another one.”
Inappropriate outbursts were common.
Acquaintances quoted in the book Manic Depression and Creativity noted that “the strange man lives completely in his art, is very industrious, and is unconcerned about other people.”
The book also notes: “Throughout his life, Beethoven was prone to outbursts of anger, baseless suspicions, quarrels and reconciliations, fruitless infatuations, physical ills, changes of residences — which averaged better than two per year from 1792 on — and the hiring and firing of servants.”
An eccentric, tempestuous life indeed.
Despite the fact that he was a rude, malcontent curmudgeon, Beethoven left behind a treasure trove of some of the most beloved music in history. Anthems for any and every era. Opuses like “Für Elise,” “Ode to Joy,” and “Moonlight Sonata.” You can listen to these as well as some of Beethoven’s other greatest hits on a Spotify playlist I created below.
Ludwig van Beethoven died at age 56. The cause of death was liver failure due to cirrhosis caused by a long-term addiction to alcohol.
There aren’t enough superlatives in the world to describe the music that Ludwig van Beethoven gallantly gave us. But one thing is certain. Whether heard in concert halls or on headphones, in movies or TV, on transcendental walks through nature or on the couch at home, the music is everlasting. Bravo, maestro. Bravo.
To subscribe to this playlist – go to Spotify and search for MOOD MUSIC: Beethoven.
