Ludwig van Beethoven was born in Bonn, Germany, and was baptized on December 17, 1770. There is no record of his actual birth date. He came from a family of musicians. His father and grandfather worked for the Elector of Cologne. Beethoven’s grandfather, Lodewyk van Beethoven came from Belgium and joined the court orchestra in Bonn as a bass player and eventually became its conductor. Beethoven’s father Johann was a professional tenor at the court …showed first 75 words of 839 total…

…showed last 75 words of 839 total…March 26, 1827. His funeral was attended by hundreds of mourners. Franz Grillparzer best described him during his funeral address when he said: “despite all these absurdities, there was something so touching and ennobling about him that one could not help admiring him and feeling drawn to him.” The bicentennial of his birth and the sesquicentennial of his death were celebrated with new performances and recordings of all of the master’s old works. (Solomon, 1998). ------------------------------------------------------------------------ **Bibliography**