Enjoying the Culture 155hardship. Acclaimed a child prodigy at six, by 11, he had
written three symphonies; but by his early 30s, he was
widely condemned and mired in poverty and ruin. He
was never able to afford an adequate living, and he and
his wife, Constanze, were hopeless in administering
financial and household affairs. He died lonely and exhausted,
and was buried as a pauper in a mass grave at Saint Marx
in Vienna’s 3rd district. His bones were never recovered,
but there is a memorial stone bearing his name. The rest of
Europe has mourned his loss more than Vienna ever did at
the time.
Beethoven, Ludwig van (1770–1827)
Beethoven impressed Mozart with his talent and later
became a student of Haydn. From a young age, Beethoven
was extremely arrogant, self-confident and aware of his own
genius. Like Mozart, he lived off his compositions under the
sponsorship of many aristocratic patrons. His music was
brand new and popular. Although he lacked social graces
and had a profound contempt for many of his fellow men,
he was able to act professionally when necessary. The onset
of his deafness redefined him, and his compositions became
more spiritual. For all his social defects, J W Sullivan writes
about Beethoven’s spiritual development, ‘he was a composer
unique not only for his depth, importance, and number of
his inner states but also the power to realise them and give
them expression.’ He was one of the first composers to be
appreciated during his lifetime. Twenty thousand people,
or about 10 per cent of Vienna’s population at that time,
attended his funeral. It was a lavish Schöne Leich’ (pageant):
eight singers of the Court Opera carried his coffin, famous
musicians were pallbearers, and Franz Grillparzer, Schubert,
Czerny and other well-known figures held torches.
Beethoven was responsible for the opera Fidelio; 32 piano
sonatas including the Apassionata; 16 string quartets; the
Mass in D or Missa Solemnis; a violin concerto and a piano
concerto; and nine symphonies, of which the Eroica (Third),
Victory (Fifth), Pastoral (Sixth) and the Choral (Ninth) are
best known.