Ludwig Van Beethoven (1770-1827), the German composer who gave to Western Classical music some of its most creative pieces, was born in Bonn two centuries ago. In Germany and other European countries concerts and festivals are being held to commemorate the bicentenary of this musical genius. India, along with the rest of the world celebrates his bicentenary during November-December, 1970.
Born in a family of court musicians on December 16, 1770, Beethoven was subjected to a rigorous musical discipline from the age of four so that he could fulfil his father's expectation in becoming a piano prodigy and child composer. The great Mozart after meeting the child prodigy said, “Pay attention to this young man, he will cause a stir in the world one day”. At 17, he became an organist at Bonn’s Electoral Court and gave his first composition. In his 22nd year, he gave a new expression to piano, displaying a style that changed the piano aesthetics. His compositions too were recognised at this time. In the following 33 years, Beethoven enamoured his audiences through concerts and devoted himself to musical compositions. Sieders, quartets, sonatas and symphonies received his feverish attention which one estimate places at 7,500 pages of manuscript.
Belonging to the age of the French Revolution and Napoleonic era, he basically acquired a republication disposition. But partly because of the suppression in him due to pedagogical experiments in childhood and because of the dissatisfaction with the times, he was often aloof, grumbling and given to emotional outbrsuts. Beethoven suffered from partial deafness which later made him unable to hear his own compositions. A passionate hiker and lover of nature, he wandered in the countryside taking notes. Yet the musical genius in him endeared him to all. The legendary halo around him was evident at the time of his death when on March 24, 1827, 20,000 commoners, princes and nobles vied with each other to pay him their last respects.
Beethoven was a tone poet and a musical counterpart of Shakespeare. In his approach to music he was a classicist who shaped humanity in all phases of expression. Goethe once said about him, “I have never seen an artiste more collected and intense.”
This year, the whole world celebrates the 200th birth anniversary of this most famous composer. For India to honour the memory of Beethoven this year would be not only a most appropriate act, but it would be one more gesture cementing the bonds of friendship between the people of this country and the people of Germany. The P&T Department feels privileged in bringing out a special commemorative stamp to honour one of the greatest musicians and composers of the West, Ludwig Van Beethoven.
Source : Information Folder issued by Indian Posts & Telegraph Department, Government of India