10 things you probably didn't know about Beethoven - PART 2
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David Hackett2 min read|26. March 2023
His friends were so appalled by his old, dirty clothes that during the night they discreetly swapped them for new ones...
Beethoven got up the next morning and put on the new outfit without batting an eye.
He refused to follow the rules of class
At a time when most musicians still earned their living through permanent posts in the church or at an aristocratic court, Beethoven refused to do either. Most of his income came directly or indirectly from wealthy patrons. Beethoven usually wrote music for them to their wishes, but entirely on his own terms. He refused to adapt to their courtesies and ceremonies. Archduke Rudolf of Austria, a great patron, eventually gave up trying to tame his gifted but wilful composer and instructed his staff not to expect any normal court etiquette from Beethoven.
At the same time, Beethoven claimed that his "van" entitled him to be regarded as being of noble German descent ...
Except that it didn't. He was not descended from the Teutonic/Prussian aristocracy (nor was he the love child of Frederick William II or Frederick the Great, as he sometimes liked to have others believe). The "van" in his name was merely an unimportant Dutch/Belgian prefix, a fact that Beethoven either would not believe or did not want others to know.
He was constantly in love, but never married
Much of Beethoven's life seemed to involve an endless stream of beautiful, wealthy women who were attracted to his strong, artistic temperament - before being at least as repelled by his strong, artistic temperament. He never lost a certain naive idealism about love, even though most of his romantic relationships were never consummated. It is hard to imagine that Beethoven would ever have been content with a quiet, domesticated existence, something his potential suitors perhaps also realised.
Despite his beautiful, mathematically balanced scores, he struggled with basic mathematics
Beethoven left school at the age of 10 to pursue a career in music, and thus missed out on a basic education. Although he could do simple addition, he could not multiply or divide in his head, and often had to carry out such calculations with the help of aids.
He was surprisingly regular in his working habits
He got up at dawn, worked for at least six hours, ate lunch, went for a long walk in the countryside and spent his evenings dining at a tavern, socialising with friends or reading alone. The man often regarded as classical music's great rebel was usually in bed by 22.00.
To read more from David Hackett, go to www.musicbytheyear.com.