With the world of music ever changing, it’s become recognisable that classical musicians of the past have forged a tremendous impact on the music of today. Famed throughout the world for their contributions to Western music, composers like Ludwig van Beethoven and Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart continue to elicit great emotion within music enthusiasts around the globe. Fans of classical music like Tunde Folawiyo may find inspiration in Ludwig van Beethoven’s rise to fame and how his accomplishments have affected the way the world revels in the art of music today.

Born December 16, 1770 in the German city of Bonn, Beethoven’s earliest training came from his father and a group of local musicians. During his teenage years, he served as an assistant to teacher Christian Gottlob Neefe. In the years following, Beethoven played the viola for various orchestras, forming friendships with other musicians along the way. In 1792, he moved to Vienna and though he had initially intended to study music under the famed composer Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, he began study under Haydn who later proved a great influence on Beethoven’s musical style.

During 1794, Beethoven began a career as a talented pianist and composer. In 1799, he completed the famed “Septet” that would ultimately become one of the most celebrated works of his lifetime. Further demonstrating superb skill, Beethoven’s first six string quartets were composed from 1798 to 1800 before being published in 1801. Shortly after, his First and Second Symphonies were released between 1800 and 1803.  By the turn of the 1800s, Beethoven had already begun to notice a gradual decline in his hearing, which proved to later intensify the antisocial behavior he was commonly known to exude. Whilst this would later hinder his abilities to play, “Eroica”, the Symphony No. 3, composed during this time, would become one of his life’s most celebrated pieces. Following a compositional hiatus from 1811 to 1817, Beethoven returned to the piano to create a number of spectacular works with the final four of his 32 sonatas possessing magnificent quality that still stands amongst the most beautiful examples of music today.

The impact of late composers such as Beethoven and Mozart are simply undisputable. Their magnificent creative works continue to inspire musicians around the world. Tunde Folawiyo and others with a love for a classical music may forever continue to regard Beethoven as one of history’s most admired musical geniuses.