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His name is Ludwig Van Beethoven. He was born on December 16th 1770, and died on March 26, 1827. He has 2 brothers, Caspar and Nikolaus. Beethoven's first music teacher was his father. His father was a harsh instructor. He did have other music teachers, though such as Gilles van den Eeden, Tobias Friedrich Pfeiffer, and Franz Rovantini. He had his first performance when he was only 7 years old. Some of his famous pieces of artwork are Ode To Joy, Moonlight, and 9th Symphony. Beethoven was home schooled. He was taught by his mother and housekeeper but was only taught one lesson. He made most of his music during the last 10 years of his life. His mother had tuberculosis and died because of it. Beethoven's father then became depressed and started drinking when Beethoven was only 19. He then received half of his Father's salary to help his family. When Beethoven moved to Vienna in 1792 his father died. He then began to study his music more often. His artwork became famous and publishers began competing for it. Beethoven lived in Vienna until his death. The last decade of his life, he went completely deaf. That's when he made most of his music. He stopped performing from then on, but still made music. Beethoven was the grandson of Lodewijk Van Beethoven. That was his only friend as a child. Beethoven had a hard life as a child. His father beat him with a stick everytime he got something wrong. His father was an alcoholic. He never paid that much attention to him unless it was about music. Beethoven was always much closer to his mother than his father. But then, at the age of 19 or 21, he took control over the family. He started getting some of his father's pay from working to help support the family because his father couldn't. His father was a singer, and his mother did not work outside of their house. He was always crying because his father made him stay inside and study music instead of being able to go outside and play with his friends. Beethoven didn't want his friends knowing that he was deaf, so he escaped the country. He took walks in the woods, and brought along his pencil and his sketchbook. His last performance was in Vienna, but it was his first time performing his ninth symphony a nd his Great Mass. Everybody clapped for him, yet he heard nothing. Credits : "Famous composers Book I", and wikipedia.