id not manifest any
especial precocity in this direction: his published compositions with
opus number contain only one movement, it is believed, which he wrote
before he was twenty or twenty-one years of age. After the death of
his father he was left, as he had been practically for some years
before, the responsible head of the family, with the care of his mother
and his younger brothers. He remained in Bonn, with one visit to
Vienna in 1787, until he was about twenty-two years of age, when he
left Bonn definitely and took up his abode in Vienna. Here he studied
with the best masters attainable--Haydn, then in his prime, Salieri,
and others. His first published compositions with opus numbers--three
trios--date from the Vienna time.

In Vienna he lived all the remainder of his life--about thirty-five
years. In the earlier part of this period he was considered one of the
great pianoforte virtuosi of his time; his playing was distinguished
for force, strong contrasts, musical quality, and, above all, pathetic
expression. Czerny states that it was not unusual for a company of the
Viennese aristocracy to be affected to tears by the playing of this
master. His published works were generally criticized as being too
bold and unconventional.

As Beethoven had the fortune to live to quite a good age, he gradually
established his position with regard to the earlier compositions,
inasmuch as by repeated hearings they sooner or later commended
themselves to the critics as well as to the public; but by the time
this had come to pass with the works of a certain period, he had
advanced and composed others, which now in turn succeeded to the charge
of being too advanced and forced. These in turn were later on
accepted, only to leave a still later stratum of his compositions under
the same condemnation which had been the portion of the earlier works.

Nevertheless, the want of recognition of Beethoven by his
contemporaries has been greatly overrated. He enjoyed a fairly
comfortable income, as such things went among the middle-class Viennese
of his time, and during most of his career he was esteemed to be
probably the most eminent composer living.

As compared with the works of Haendel or Bach, those of Beethoven do not
make a great display in volume. Nevertheless, there are thirty-two
piano sonatas, ten violin sonatas, nine symphonies for full orchestra,
five pianoforte concertos, twenty-one sets of variations for piano
al