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Ludwig van Beethoven was born in Bonn, Germany. He was baptized on December 16. 1770, but his actual birth date is not known. He was named after his grandfather Lodewijk van Beethoven. His father, Johann van Beethoven, was an alcoholic and musician at the Electoral court at Boon. He was Beethoven's first music teacher. He is said to have been a very harsh instructor. Beethoven's talent was recognized very early, and soon his father got a friend, Tobias Pfeiffer, to oversee Beethoven's work, since Beethoven had learned the extent of what his father could teach him. As a child Beethoven's first public performance was at Cologne. He was 7 and a half years old at the time, but his father said he was 6, leading Beethoven to believe he was younger than he actually was. At the age of 8, Beethoven was already studying organ and viola along with piano.


His most important teacher in Bonn was Christian Gottlob Neefe who was the Court's Organist. Beethoven's first published work was a set of keyboard variations, which Neefe helped him publish. In 1784, at the age of 14, Beethoven became organist of the court of Maximilian Franz, because of a recommendation by Neefe. Because of this, he met many new people, some of whom he would remain friends with for the rest of his life. Prince Maximilian Franz was very aware of Beethoven's talent and sent him to Vienna in 1787 to meet Mozart and further his musical education. No one knows for sure if Beethoven ever did meet Mozart, because soon after had to leave because his mother was dying. He went back to Vienna, five years later, because he received a grant from the prince to further his education, again. He then studied for a time with Joseph Haydn. During this time, Beethoven also learned from Johann Georg Albrechtsberger and Antonio Salieri. By 1793, Beethoven had a reputation in Vienna as a piano virtuoso. In 1794, Beethoven composed his opus 1, three trios for piano. The following year, Beethoven made...