Ludwig van Beethoven
Beethoven was one of the greatest composers of all time, but his life was not easy. As a child, Beethoven was messy, clumsy and shy. His father did not treat him very well, and he did not have many friends. Later, when he was just 30 years old, Beethoven began to lose his hearing, and this made him even more grumpy and sad.
"I live entirely in my music," Beethoven once wrote. "I would rather write 10,000 notes than one letter of the alphabet." Beethoven's music was so beautiful it often made people cry.
Beethoven was a short man, and not very handsome. He was always thinking about music. He sometimes wrote music in restaurants, scribbling on napkins, tablecloths and menus. His favorite foods were scrambled eggs and macaroni and cheese.
As Beethoven's hearing got worse, he often broke the strings on his piano trying to play it louder. But he never gave up. He continued to write powerful music, and his audiences cheered more than ever, though he couldn't hear it. When Beethoven died, more than 20,000 people lined the streets to say goodbye.
What I have in my heart
must come out;
that is the reason why
I compose.
—Ludwig van Beethoven
