Beethoven Brief Chronology

 

1770

Born in the ancient Rhineland town of Bonn on December 16.

 

1778

First public recital on March 26.

 

1783-1784

First published compositions, all for piano.

 

1785

Composes three string quartets.

 

1787

Visits Vienna and receives tuition from Mozart; returns to Bonn to be with his ailing mother. She dies on July 17.

 

1789

Enrolls at the University of Bonn.

 

1790

Composes two cantatas and a ballet.

 

1792

Leaves Bonn for Vienna, arriving on November 10. Death of his father.

 

1793

Studies with Haydn.

 

1794

Composes his Opus 1, a set of piano trios; studies counterpoint with Albrechtsberger and vocal composition with Salieri.

 

1795

First public concert at Burgtheater on March 29.

 

1796

Visits Prague, Dresden and Berlin for concerts; first symtpoms of deafness become apparent.

 

1797-1799

Composes a host of piano works, both sonatas and sets of variations, together with sonatas for violin and cello, songs, chamber music and two piano concerto.

 

1800

Premiére of the First Symphony; composes the Op. 18 String Quartets.

 

1801

Music for the Creatures of Prometheus, Moonlight and Funeral March Sonatas.

 

1802

Writes the Heiligenstadt Testament, effectively a suicide note to his brothers as he struggles to come to terms with deafness. Completes the Second Symphony, the Violin Sonatas Op. 30, and the Piano Sonatas Op. 31.

 

1803

First performance of the Piano Concerto No. 3, No. 5 in April; completes the Kreutzer Sonata and the oratorio, Christ on the Mount Olives.

 

1804

Waldstein and Appassionata sonatas.

 

1805

First public performance of Symphony No. 3 (Eroica) on April 7, and the opera Leonore (Fidelio) on November 20. The opera is written by Beethoven for revision and not heard again for 9 years.

 

1806

Overture No. 3 for Leoore, Symphony No. 4, Violin Concerto, Rasumovsky Quartets.

 

1807

First performance of the Fourth Symphony and the Piano Concerto No. 4.

 

1808

At a concert on December 22 the Fifth Symphony and the Coral Fantasy Op. 80 are performed for the first time.

 

1809

Vienna bombarded and occupied by the French; completes the Piano Concerto No. 5, Piano Sonatas Op. 78, Op. 79, and Op. 81a, and String Quartet in Leipzig.

 

1810

Sets Goethe's Egmont to music. String Quartet Op. 95, and Premiére of the Emperor Concerto Op. 74.

 

1812

Completes the Seventh and Eighth symphonies and his last Violin Sonata No. 10 Op. 96. Meet Goethe at a spa in Bohemia, Teplitz.

1815

Beethoven's last public performance as a pianist, at a concert marking the birthday of the Empress of Russia on January 25. Composes the two cello sonatas Op. 102. Death of Beethoven's brother Karl.

 

1816

Piano Sonata Op. 101, song-cycle An die Ferne Geliebte.

 

1817

First sketches for the Ninth Symphony.

 

1818

Composes the Hammerklavier Sonata.

 

1819

Makes an honorary member of the Philharmonic Society of London.

 

1820-1822

Composes his last piano sonatas, Op. 109, Op. 110, and Op. 111.

 

1822

Completes the Missa Solemnis and the overture the Consecration of the House for the Josephstadter Theater opening on October 3.

 

1823

Composes the Diabelli Variations Op. 120.

 

1824

First performance of the Ninth Symphony, together with sections of the Missa Solemnis on May 7.

 

1825

Premiére of the String Quartet Op. 127. Completes the Quartet Op. 130 and Op. 132. The fugal finale of Op. 130 proves too difficult for audience and is replaced by a new movement. The original is published separately as the Gross Fugu Op. 133.

 

1826

Completes the Quartet Op. 131 and Op. 135. Falls ill with pneumonia.

 

1827

Draws up his will on January 3. Receives the last rites on March 24, and dies at 5:45 PM on March 26.

Beethoven Piano Sonatas

Back to Home page

Last Revision: 06/12/1998 by Noriaki Nomoto