The composer of some of the most influential pieces of music ever written, Ludwig van Beethoven created a bridge between the 18th-century classical period and the new beginnings of Romanticism. His greatest breakthroughs in composition came in his instrumental work, including his symphonies. Unlike his predecessor Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, for whom writing music seemed to come easily, Beethoven always
             Ludwig van Beethoven was born in Bonn, Germany, and was baptized onDec. 17, 1770. (There is no record of his birth date.) His father and grandfather worked as court musicians in Bonn. Ludwig's father, a
             singer, gave him his early musical training. Although he had only meager academic schooling, he studied piano, violin, and French horn, and before he was 12 years old he became a court organist. Ludwig's first important teacher of composition was Christian Gottlob Neefe. In 1787 he studied briefly with Mozart, and five years later he left Bonn permanently and went to Vienna to study with Joseph Haydn and later with Antonio Salieri.
             Beethoven's first public appearance in Vienna was on March 29, 1795, as a soloist in one of his piano concerti. Even before he left Bonn, he had developed a reputation for fine performances. In Vienna young Beethoven soon had a long list of aristocratic patrons who loved music and were eager to help him.
             In the late 1700s, Beethoven began to suffer from early symptoms of deafness. The cause of his disability is still uncertain. By 1802, Beethoven was convinced that the condition not only was permanent but was getting progressively worse. He spent that summer in the country and wrote what has become known as the "Heiligenstadt Testament." In the document, apparently intended for his two brothers, Beethoven expressed his humiliation and despair. For the rest of his life he searched for a cure, but by 1819 his deafness had become total. This caused him to become angry and somewhat
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