{"id":73994,"date":"2022-02-02T17:35:39","date_gmt":"2022-02-02T22:35:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/?p=73994"},"modified":"2022-02-02T17:35:39","modified_gmt":"2022-02-02T22:35:39","slug":"coffee-break-habits-effective-genius-beethovens-daily-life","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/2022\/02\/02\/coffee-break-habits-effective-genius-beethovens-daily-life\/","title":{"rendered":"COFFEE BREAK | The Habits Of An Effective Genius: Beethoven\u2019s Daily Life"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Painting;
Painting; Ludwig van Beethoven by Carl Schloesser, c.1890<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The details of Ludwig Van Beethoven\u2019s birth may be somewhat obscure, even to the Master himself in his day \u2014in letters, he admitted not knowing his exact age \u2014 but there\u2019s a surprising amount of detail that historians do know about his daily life.<\/p>\n

Ludwig van Beethoven was probably born in Bonn, Germany on December 16, 1770. Luckily for historians, and his admirers centuries later, Beethoven grew to become well known in his own era. Many paintings and illustrations of him still exist, and many of them show him in the activities of his daily life, particularly during his later years. Ludwig also kept voluminous notes, including sketchbooks, letters, journals, and other assorted documents.<\/p>\n

A day in the life…<\/strong><\/h3>\n

His parents were Johann and Maria Magdalena van Beethoven. Father Johann became the Kappellmeister (choir master) for the archbishop-elector of Cologne. While there was a period of stability, after Ludwig\u2019s grandfather died, Johann gradually spiralled into alcoholism, and the family\u2019s fortunes took a nose dive. Beethoven left school at 11, and was the family breadwinner at 18.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s probable those early responsibilities instilled a sense of discipline in him. In his later years in particular, he was known for keeping a regular \u2014 and highly productive \u2014 schedule.<\/p>\n

The beloved composer was an early riser, and punctual as a rule. Beethoven was up at dawn on most mornings. He was meticulous about his coffee, which he brewed himself from exactly 60 coffee beans each day.<\/p>\n

After coffee, he\u2019d get to work composing until the afternoon, with at least one break for a walk on a typical day.<\/p>\n

Beethoven attended to business after composition. That usually meant correspondence with clients and music publishers. Existing documents, for example, detail a payment of 212 florins to Artaria publishing house for engraving his Trios op. 1<\/em>.<\/p>\n

At about noon, he\u2019d eat lunch, and many times, that included guests. The noon meal would have been the largest, served with wine.<\/p>\n

Later in the afternoon, Beethoven would go on long walks, carrying paper or sketchbooks and pencils in his pockets. He\u2019d jot down the musical ideas inspired by those hikes. For many years, from May to October, he spent time near Vienna in a small village. His country walks were documented in his sketchbooks, some of which survive, and illustrations depict those walks. It was already becoming part of his mythology during his lifetime.<\/p>\n

Along with his daily life, the sketchbooks reveal much about his working method. While he\u2019d begin with those moments of raw inspiration, they were carefully crafted and polished into the compositions we know today. He often worked on multiple pieces simultaneously in a process that would take months, and sometimes even years. Early notes on the famous Fifth Symphony<\/em>, for example, are dated 1804, four years before the finished work was published.<\/p>\n

His scores, with multiple revisions and modifications, speak to his sense of perfectionism, and just how productive his process was.<\/p>\n

Symphony No. 6, “Pastoral”<\/em> performed by the Chamber Orchestra of Europe and the director Yannick N\u00e9zet-S\u00e9guin, recorded February 7, 2017 in the Grande Salle Pierre Boulez to the Philharmonie de Paris.<\/p>\n