About beethoven the man

Beethoven was an ugly man. His face was pock-marked, and he wore a perpetual scowl. His front teeth stuck out, his hair would not stay combed, and he never lost his awkward peasant gait. He fell in love with a number of girls. One of them- was Giulietta Guicciardi, to whom he dedicated the "Moonlight Sonata" because he first played it for her by moonlight. Another was Therese Brunswick, who first heard the Sonata Appassionata. Still, he never married. Probably no woman could have been very happy with him, for he had a violent temper, and was often unreasonable and surly. In addition, he had constant money trouble, never seemed to care how he dressed or looked, and kept his rooms in a state of complete disorder.

Nevertheless, he had many lifelong friends, and he loved his family and his friends with deep and boundless affection. Beethoven wrote nine great symphonies, the best know being the Third, or "Eroica," which he had dedicated to Napoleon Bonaparte, only to take back the dedication when he learned that Napoleon had made himself Emperor of France; the Fifth, whose opening measures spell the letter V in Morse code, so that it became the musical symbol of "V for Victory" during World War II; the Sixth, or "Pastoral," which showed his great love of nature; and the Ninth. with a great vocal chorus that he never heard (for he had become absolutely deaf). The Great Fugue, his last work, and his last five quartets, are considered by many to be the finest music of all time. Beethoven died in 1827, at the age of 57