G : Ludwig van Beethoven was a musical genius.
He composed hundreds of songs in his lifetime.
The first four notes of his Fifth Symphony---bom
bom bom bommmmm---are the most famous
in the world. These notes are played on a
trombone. Beethoven was the first composer to
use trombones in a symphony. A symphony is a
very complex and beautiful song. Beethoven
wrote nine symphonies in all. He said that he
first composed symphonies in his head. He
heard the part for every instrument in his mind
before he wrote the first note on paper.
Beethoven was born in 1770 in Bonn,
Germany. His birthday was probably in
December. Nobody is sure. He gave his first
public performance at age seven. He wrote his
first composition before he was 12. Sadly, at the
age of 28, he started to go deaf. But he continued
to compose music and to lead the orchestra. He
never got married.
After his death in 1827, friends found love
letters that he had written to someone he called
“Immortal Beloved.” To be immortal means to
live forever. “Beloved” is a way of saying you love
someone. His lover’s name still remains a mystery.
For these reasons, and because of his wonderful
music, he is remembered as a remarkable man in
history. Perhaps no other composer has had
such a large effect on the history of western
music as Beethoven.