Johann van Beethoven ( 1739 or 1740 – 18 December 1792) was a German musician, teacher, and singer who sang in the chapel of the

Archbishop of Cologne The Archbishop of Cologne governs the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Cologne in western North Rhine-Westphalia. Historically, the archbishop was ''ex officio'' one of the prince-electors of the Holy Roman Empire and ruled the Electorate of Cologne ...

, whose court was at

Bonn Bonn () is a federal city in the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia, located on the banks of the Rhine. With a population exceeding 300,000, it lies about south-southeast of Cologne, in the southernmost part of the Rhine-Ruhr region. This ...

. He is best known as the father of the celebrated composer

Ludwig van Beethoven Ludwig van Beethoven (baptised 17 December 177026 March 1827) was a German composer and pianist. He is one of the most revered figures in the history of Western music; his works rank among the most performed of the classical music repertoire ...

(1770–1827). Johann became an alcoholic later in his life and was at times an abusive father to Ludwig. At 18, Ludwig had to obtain an order to force Johann to support his family. Johann died soon after Ludwig moved to Vienna to study with

Joseph Haydn Franz Joseph Haydn ( ; ; 31 March 173231 May 1809) was an Austrian composer of the Classical period (music), Classical period. He was instrumental in the development of chamber music such as the string quartet and piano trio. His contributions ...

Life

Johann van Beethoven was the son of Maria Josepha Poll (married 1733) and Lodewijk or Ludwig van Beethoven (1712–1773; not to be confused with Johann's famous son of the same name), who was probably born in or near the city of

Mechelen Mechelen (; ; historically known as ''Mechlin'' in EnglishMechelen has been known in English as ''Mechlin'', from where the adjective ''Mechlinian'' is derived. This name may still be used, especially in a traditional or historical context. T ...

, in the

Habsburg Netherlands Habsburg Netherlands were the parts of the Low Countries that were ruled by sovereigns of the Holy Roman Empire's House of Habsburg. This rule began in 1482 and ended for the Northern Netherlands in 1581 and for the Southern Netherlands in 1797. ...

(now in

Flanders Flanders ( or ; ) is the Dutch language, Dutch-speaking northern portion of Belgium and one of the communities, regions and language areas of Belgium. However, there are several overlapping definitions, including ones related to culture, la ...

, Belgium), and had served as a musician in several communities in and around Mechelen before establishing himself in

in 1733, where he served as a musician at the court of Prince-Archbishop-Elector of Cologne Clemens August of Bavaria, rising to the post of

Kapellmeister ( , , ), from German (chapel) and (master), literally "master of the chapel choir", designates the leader of an ensemble of musicians. Originally used to refer to somebody in charge of music in a chapel, the term has evolved considerably in i ...

in 1761. Johann van Beethoven also showed musical talent, and joined the court, primarily as a singer, in 1764. In addition to singing (his range, while usually described as that of a

tenor A tenor is a type of male singing voice whose vocal range lies between the countertenor and baritone voice types. It is the highest male chest voice type. Composers typically write music for this voice in the range from the second B below m ...

, may have extended into

alto The musical term alto, meaning "high" in Italian (Latin: '' altus''), historically refers to the contrapuntal part higher than the tenor and its associated vocal range. In four-part voice leading alto is the second-highest part, sung in ch ...

and even higher registers), he played the

violin The violin, sometimes referred to as a fiddle, is a wooden chordophone, and is the smallest, and thus highest-pitched instrument (soprano) in regular use in the violin family. Smaller violin-type instruments exist, including the violino picc ...

and

zither Zither (; , from the Greek ''cithara'') is a class of stringed instruments. The modern instrument has many strings stretched across a thin, flat body. Zithers are typically played by strumming or plucking the strings with the fingers or a ...

, and played and taught keyboard instruments of the day, including the

harpsichord A harpsichord is a musical instrument played by means of a musical keyboard, keyboard. Depressing a key raises its back end within the instrument, which in turn raises a mechanism with a small plectrum made from quill or plastic that plucks one ...

and the

clavichord The clavichord is a stringed rectangular keyboard instrument that was used largely in the Late Middle Ages, through the Renaissance music, Renaissance, Baroque music, Baroque and Classical period (music), Classical eras. Historically, it was most ...

. He met his future wife, Maria Magdalena Keverich (1746–1787), on a trip to Ehrenbreitstein. She was the daughter of the head chef to Johann IX Philipp von Walderdorff,

Archbishop-Elector of Trier The Diocese of Trier (), in English historically also known as ''Treves'' () from French ''Trèves'', is a Latin Church ecclesiastical territory or diocese of the Catholic church in Germany.Church of St Remigius, Bonn. They had seven children, three of whom lived into adulthood: * Ludwig Maria van Beethoven (2 April 1769 – 6 April 1769) *

(16 December 1770 in Bonn, Kurköln – 26 March 1827) * Kaspar Anton Karl van Beethoven (8 April 1774 – 15 November 1815) * Nikolaus Johann van Beethoven (2 October 1776 – 12 January 1848) * Anna Maria Franziska van Beethoven (23 February 1779 – 27 February 1779) * Franz Georg van Beethoven (17 January 1781 – 16 August 1783) * Maria Margarete Josepha van Beethoven (5 May 1786 – 26 November 1787) Johann realized Ludwig's talent and became his first teacher. Johann was also aware of Leopold Mozart's success traveling with a talented and young Wolfgang, and wished to duplicate their fame and fortune. He was, however, an abusive father according to a number of witnesses. "There were few days when udwigwas not beaten in order to compel him to set himself at the piano", related one childhood friend of Ludwig. A court councilor reported that Johann occasionally locked Ludwig in a cellar. Whenever Ludwig played poorly, Johann would exclaim that it was an embarrassment to the family. Johann would drag young Ludwig out of bed to play piano all night with no sleep. Johann was an

alcoholic Alcoholism is the continued drinking of alcohol despite it causing problems. Some definitions require evidence of dependence and withdrawal. Problematic use of alcohol has been mentioned in the earliest historical records. The World Hea ...

, a situation that worsened when Maria died in 1787, after which time the family was increasingly dependent on young Ludwig for support. In 1789 the 18-year-old Ludwig obtained an order resulting in one half of Johann's pay being turned over to him for support of the family. Johann died in 1792, not long after Ludwig moved to Vienna to study with

. His employer the Elector wrote sardonically to a friend, "The revenues from the liquor excise axhave suffered a loss in the death of Beethoven."MacArdle (1949, 537)

Ancestry

The family name means "from ('' van'') Bettenhoven". Johann van Beethoven was only one half from the Duchy of Brabant;R. Capell, ''Beethoven'', in ''Music & Letters'', Vol. 19, No. 4 (Oct. 1938), pp. 375–390Ernest Closson and Gustave Reese, ''Grandfather Beethoven'', in ''The Musical Quarterly'', Vol. 19, No. 4 (Oct. 1933), pp. 367–373TF Howell, ''Beethoven's nationality'', in ''The Musical Times'', 1915. "The chief hereditary character of Beethoven was Flemish, and all else was what we now label German." his father Lodewijk was the last Beethoven to be fully from the Duchy of Brabant. Most of his most recent family came from the German-speaking

Rhineland The Rhineland ( ; ; ; ) is a loosely defined area of Western Germany along the Rhine, chiefly Middle Rhine, its middle section. It is the main industrial heartland of Germany because of its many factories, and it has historic ties to the Holy ...

region and the

Electorate of the Palatinate The Electoral Palatinate was a Imperial State, constituent state of the Holy Roman Empire until it was annexed by the Electorate of Baden in 1803. From the end of the 13th century, its ruler was one of the Prince-electors who elected the Holy ...

of the

Holy Roman Empire The Holy Roman Empire, also known as the Holy Roman Empire of the German Nation after 1512, was a polity in Central and Western Europe, usually headed by the Holy Roman Emperor. It developed in the Early Middle Ages, and lasted for a millennium ...

Descendants

Johann's famous son Ludwig van Beethoven had no children and was never married, but his second son, Karl, did have children. However, none of Karl's living descendants now bears the name of Beethoven, the last to do so, Karl Julius Maria van Beethoven, having died without a son in 1917.

Notes

References

*MacArdle, Donald W. (1949) The Family van Beethoven. ''The Musical Quarterly'' 35:528–550.

External links

Beethoven family since 1485
--- Link appears to be unavailable, can someone who knows dutch verify this?-->
"The 'Van' of Beethoven"
by Herbert Antcliffe in ''The Musical Times'', Vol. 77, No. 1117 (Mar. 1936), pp. 254–255 – Article explains how "A certain Ludwig (Lodewijk) van Beethoven was born at Mechelen as the son of Michiel and the grandson of Cornelius and of Catherina Leempoels..." {{DEFAULTSORT:Beethoven, Johann van 1740 births 1792 deaths 18th-century German male singers 18th-century German keyboardists 18th-century German violinists German male violinists

Johann Johann, typically a male given name, is the German form of ''Iohannes'', which is the Latin form of the Greek name ''Iōánnēs'' (), itself derived from Hebrew name '' Yochanan'' () in turn from its extended form (), meaning "Yahweh is Graciou ...

German harpsichordists German music educators German people of Flemish descent German operatic tenors Musicians from Bonn People from the Electorate of Cologne Zither players