- Insisted on conducting the premiere of his ninth symphony even though he was totally deaf. One of the musicians had to turn him around to the audience to see they were applauding wildly.
- His funeral on March 29, 1827, was a major public event. An estimated 20,000 people stood in reverence as his funeral bier passed through the streets of Vienna. Soldiers were needed to control grief-stricken crowds. After nine priests blessed his body, he was buried in a grave marked by a simple pyramid with one word: "Beethoven".
- He would have become a pupil of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, if he had not received an urgent letter saying that his mother was critically ill, forcing him to return home again. Unfortunately, by the time Beethoven was free to take lessons, Mozart was dead.
- He was the first composer to use trombones in a symphony.
- He described the opening of his Fifth symphony as "death knocking upon the door". It would later be used as a signature piece for the Allies during WW2, since the notes unintenionally were Morse Code for the letter "V" (for "Victory").
- Originally dedicated his third symphony to Napoléon Bonaparte, then scratched out the dedication when he learned Bonaparte had proclaimed himself Emperor of France.
- The finale of his Ninth Symphony, often called "Ode to Joy", was the first to use a choir in a strictly symphonic work. Presently, it is used as the "national anthem" of the European Union.
- According to his correspondence, he grew up under a physically and mentally abusive father.
- The Beatles' song "Because" is reportedly based on the chord pattern of his "Moonlight Sonata" played backwards.
- Suffered from textbook symptoms of lead poisoning; hair samples have revealed lead in concentrations 100 times that of normal.
- The second movement of his Ninth Symphony has a passage in which the tympani (kettledrums) play solo and tuned to a certain pitch. This had never been done in a symphony.
- Always considered his "Moonlight" sonata to be inferior to many of his other works for piano, even though it became enormously popular.
- Frequently worked as a musical tutor to members of the aristocracy.
- He was considered by Leonard Bernstein to have been the greatest composer who has ever lived.
- His Ninth Symphony has the scherzo as the second movement, and the adagio (slow) movement as the third. This was a radical departure from common practice; it was customary to make the second movement in a symphony the slow one, and the third movement a scherzo.
- Appropriately, but coincidentally, the first four notes of his Fifth Symphony are also Morse Code for the letter V, which is the Roman numeral for five.
- Usually worked on several compositions at once. Always struggled to achieve the rightness present in his music; sometimes altered a passage as many as 20 times.
- Is generally regarded as the first romantic composer; his third symphony was a radical departure from anything written up until that time.
- There is no actual record of Beethoven's birth. He is traditionally assumed to have been born on December 16, 1770 because his baptism was recorded as taking place on the following day, but the real natal date and hour are unknown. As an adult, Beethoven considered himself to be two years younger than his given age and obstinately evaded the question of his birth date. December 16 is still internationally celebrated as Beethoven's birthday by music lovers.
- He eventually became very dissatisfied with the lessons that he took from Joseph Haydn, and actually said, "I never learned anything from Haydn". Haydn, once an admirer of his music, became rather critical of what would later become highly acclaimed Beethoven compositions.
- He was a student of Antonio Salieri
- He was the first composer to imitate the calls of a quail, a cuckoo, and a nightingale all in one symphony (his sixth, the "Pastoral", which is heard, abridged, in Disney's "Fantasia"). Imitations of animal sounds had been done in other works, such as Leopold Mozart's brief "Toy Symphony" and Antonio Vivaldi's "The Four Seasons", but never in a symphony that was forty minutes long.
- A contemporary of Beethoven, German composer and virtuoso pianist Daniel Steibelt (who believed he himself was the best in Vienna) challenged Beethoven to a musical duel in front of an audience. History has it that Beethoven--being the superior artist--casually humiliated Steibelt by playing his music upside down, parodying his grandiosity, and adding his own embellishments that Steibelt stormed out and vowed never to step foot in Vienna again as long as Beethoven lived there. Beethoven died in Vienna approximately 40 years later.
- Was planning a tenth symphony at the time of his death.
- His final words are subject to historical debate. According to one report, he said "Friends, applaud. The comedy is over." Another has him saying, "I shall hear in Heaven." Yet another has him saying, "I feel as if up to now I had written no more than a few notes." While another has him saying to his friend Johann Hummel (who was at his bedside), "Is it not true, Hummel, that I have some talent after all?" Another has him saying, "There, do you hear the bell? Don't you hear it ringing? The curtain must drop. Yes! My curtain is falling." Another report has him saying nothing; simply shaking his fists defiantly at the heavens as a thunderstorm raged outside his window.
- A First Movement and Allegro for what would have been Beethoven's 10th Symphony were realized by Barry Cooper in 1989, compiled mostly from 50 sketches and rough drafts (none containing more than 30 bars of music). According to Cooper, " . . . all the basic thematic material is Beethoven's, but appropriate harmony has had to be added in places where it is missing, the movement has had to be orchestrated in Beethoven's style (with the aid of only a few clues in the sketches), and linking passages based on Beethoven's themes have been inserted where necessary.".
- Was perhaps the first composer to use brass instruments as part of the orchestral texture of a composition; they had previously been used only at special moments where they would stand out, or as solo instruments.
- He used the harp in only one of his compositions - his ballet "The Creatures of Prometheus".
- Moonlight Sonata's first movement was purposely written in low notes, not to set an eerie mood, but because Beethoven couldn't hear the higher ones.
- He was the first composer to use the piccolo in a symphony.
- Dedicated the C sharp minor sonata to the Countess Giulietta Guicciardi.
- Depicted in Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure (1989) and the comic books based on the movie and its sequel by Marvel Comics. Portrayed by Gary Oldman in Immortal Beloved (1994), Ed Harris in Copying Beethoven (2006) and Erich von Stroheim in Napoleon (1955).
- Beethoven's "Fifth Symphony" was sampled in the 1970s disco era by Walter Murphy, who renamed the instrumental piece "A Fifth of Beethoven", which became an international hit.
- During his time in Vienna Beethoven lived in 36 different apartments, moving more than once a year and sometimes renting two simultaneously. All were usually dirty because he could never keep domestic help for long.
- Beethoven never learned how to shave properly, and his face was often marked by little cuts and nicks. As an older man he would let his beard grow for days before he picked up a razor.
- Every morning Beethoven would grind and brew his own coffee, exactly 60 beans per cup. He also kept rye bread, salami and Stracchino (a soft Italian cheese) in his room for snacking purposes, as he would often forget about meals when he was busy composing.
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