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Ludwig von Beethoven is one of the most influential and most famous music composers of all time.

Even if you can't name any of his works or haven't even heard of him, you will have heard some of his compositions throughout your life.

Today's podcast will mention some interesting facts about Beethoven, the deaf composer who changed music forever.

Let's get started.

The first fact is about Beethoven's birthday.

No one knows for sure Beethoven's date of birth. He was baptized on 17th December 1770.

In that era, when Beethoven was born, it was the tradition of the Catholic Church to baptize the newborns right after birth.

Therefore, most scholars accept 16th December as Beethoven's birthday.

The second fact is about maths.

Despite the mathematical complexity of his compositions, Beethoven was always terrible at numbers.

He left school at the age of 11 after he learned how to add and subtract, but before learning how to multiply or divide.

As a result, he found it difficult to keep track of his finances.

In an 1801 letter, he described himself as

really an incompetent businessman who was bad at arithmetic. Unbelievable, isn't it?

Thirdly, in March 1787, Beethoven traveled to Vienna with the intention of studying with Mozart.

Mozart, then the greatest composer in Vienna, was generally unimpressed with other musicians

because he was so far ahead of his peers in talent and accomplishments.

It was said that Beethoven managed to meet Mozart and performed for him.

At first, Mozart showed no interest in Beethoven's performance.

However, towards the end, Beethoven could draw his attention.

Mozart turned to the other people in the room and said,

Mark that young man, he will make himself a name in the world.

After this anecdote between Beethoven and Mozart, let's continue with Beethoven's great compositions.

Beethoven is widely regarded as the greatest composer who ever lived because of his ability to translate feeling into music.

The compositions of Ludwig von Beethoven consists of 722 works written over 45 years.

Beethoven composed in all the main genres of classical music, including symphonies, concertos, string quartets,

piano sonatas, and one opera.

The last point we'll focus on is his struggle against deafness.

When he was just 26 years old, Beethoven started to lose his hearing.

He was completely deaf during the last decade of his life.

Although there are many theories as to why Beethoven lost his hearing, no one knows the exact cause.

It is believed that diseases such as typhus and smallpox are likely causes.

As a result of his hearing loss, Beethoven withdrew from conducting and performing to focus on his compositions.

Although he felt lonely and isolated after he withdrew from society, he produced some of his most famous symphonies.

Being bad at mathematics, fighting against deafness, but still being able to produce great works.

In today's podcast, we mentioned some interesting facts about Ludwig von Beethoven, but of course there is more of them.

Why don't you share with us if you know any other interesting piece of information about him?