Born: 16 December 1770 · Died: 26 March 1827 · Age at death: 56
How old was Ludwig van Beethoven when he died?
Ludwig van Beethoven died aged 56. He was born on 16 December 1770 and died on 26 March 1827.
German composer of nine symphonies, including the Fifth and the choral Ninth, who kept writing masterpieces after losing his hearing
Did you know?He was famously particular about his coffee, insisting that every cup was made with exactly sixty beans that he counted himself.
Quick facts
Date of birth16 December 1770
Date of death26 March 1827
Age at death56
Cause of deathLiver cirrhosis
NationalityGerman
BirthplaceBonn, Germany
Occupationcomposer, pianist, conductor
Editor's Take:
Ludwig van Beethoven wrote some of the most powerful music ever composed, much of it while he could no longer hear. His hearing began to fail in his late twenties, a catastrophe for a musician that drove him close to despair. Instead of retreating, he expanded what music could express, bridging the elegant Classical style of Haydn and Mozart with the stormy emotion of the Romantic age. His Fifth Symphony opens with perhaps the most famous four notes in music, and his Ninth, with its Ode to Joy, is now the anthem of the European Union. At its premiere he had to be turned around to see the audience cheering, because he could not hear the applause.
Key Milestones
1792: Moves to Vienna to study with Haydn
1802: Writes the Heiligenstadt Testament about his deafness
1804: Completes the Eroica Symphony
1808: Premieres the Fifth and Sixth Symphonies
1814: Final version of his opera Fidelio
1824: Premieres the Ninth Symphony
Ludwig van Beethoven (baptised 17 December 1770 – 26 March 1827) was a German composer, conductor, and pianist.
Ludwig van Beethoven's birthday is December 16. He was born on December 16, 1770 in Bonn, Germany.
How old was Ludwig van Beethoven when he died?
Ludwig van Beethoven died on March 26, 1827, aged 56.
Who shares a birthday with Ludwig van Beethoven?
Famous people who share Ludwig van Beethoven's December 16 birthday include Jane Austen, Arthur C. Clarke, Wassily Kandinsky, Margaret Mead and Philip K. Dick.
