Course Details

This course is designed to familiarize you with the life, the work, and the time period of one of the greatest composers who ever lived; Ludwig van Beethoven. The course will explore Beethoven's early years as a child in Bonn. It then takes an in depth look at three periods of musical maturity in Vienna, up to his death. We look at Beethoven's struggles which affected his work. First we look at his dysfunctional family life, then with the early onset of deafness at age 28, and at all times the problem of needing to "earn a living" which took him away from being able to fully concentrate on creating great art.

This course presents basic and detailed information interweaving Beethoven's music and his life through the use of biographical and art historical materials, portions of musical scores, art work depicting Beethoven and other influential people in his life, and a CD with two important performances of Beethoven's Fourth and Seventh symphonies. We examine the creative process and the historical context in which his music was produced with an emphasis on gaining an overall understanding of the importance of Beethoven's work today, and how you might use Beethoven's music to enrich your classroom.