Five things you didn’t know about Beethoven | Music - OUPblog

Mark Evan Bonds, Cary C. Boshamer Distinguished Professor of Music at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill summarizes, Films like Immortal Beloved and Copying Beethoven, whatever their value as entertainment, have helped create an image of the composer that often runs counter to the historical evidence. Here are five things that might surprise you about the composer.

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He laughed a lot

Most images of Beethoven—especially those done after his death—show him scowling. But contemporary accounts make it clear that he was quick to laugh, and his letters reveal him as an incorrigible punster. Portraits of him from his own time typically show a contemplative gaze, exactly the kind of look one would expect from a creative artist...

He had to hustle to make a livingUnlike most other major composers of his time, Beethoven had no permanent appointment at a court or church, which meant that he had to cobble together an income from a variety of sources: teaching, performing, and above all selling his published music. But he was not a very good businessman and lamented the countless hours devoted to haggling with publishers. We can only imagine how much more he would have written had he had more time to do so.

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Beethoven: 

Variations on a Life

Source: OUPblog