LUDWIG VAN BEETHOVEN
HE town of Louvain, in Belgium, is now a dull place, with a Hôtel de Ville, Gothic church, detestable beer, and about 34,000 inhabitants. In the 14th century it was the capital of the Duchy of Brabant, the residence of the princes, the home of 2,000 manufactories. Near this city, whose ruin was wrought by turbulent weavers, are villages called Rotselaer, Leefdæl, and Berthem; and in the 16th century people by the name of Van Beethoven were found in these same villages or hard by. If Léon de Burbure's researches are not in vain, these Van Beethovens were simple Flemish peasants, who ate beans during the week, and on a Sunday welcomed the sight of bacon. Van is not in Dutch a sign of nobility. Nor was the spelling of the name invariable. It was Biethoven, Biethoffen, Bethof, Betthoven; and there were other variations.
About 1650 one of these farmers grew weary of the smell of fresh earth and the life with the beasts of the field, and he entered into Antwerp to make his fortune. There he married, begot a son, and named him Guillaume; and Guillaume was the great-great-grandfather of the composer of the Nine Symphonies. Guillaume, or Wilhelm, grew up, trafficked in wines, was apparently a man of parts, and was held in esteem. He married Catherine Grandjean. He named one of his eight children Henri-Adélard, and this Henri, the godson of the Baron de Rocquigny, became a prominent tailor, and wedded Catherine de Herdt, by whom he had a dozen children. The third, a son, was baptized Dec. 23, 1712, and his name was Louis. Louis was brought up in the Antwerp choirs, and there seems to be no doubt that he received a thorough musical education. His father, Henri, a year after the birth of Louis, fell into poverty, and it is probable that the boy, following the fortunes of some choir-master, lived for a time at Ghent. In 1731 he was a singer in Louvain. In 1733 he was named a musician of the court of the Elector of Cologne at Bonn. His salary was fixed at about $160, and he married, in September, 1733, Maria Josepha Poll, aged nineteen. Louis, or Ludwig, prospered. He rose from "Musicus" to "Herr Kapellmeister." Maria, his wife, with increasing good fortune and the addition of a wine shop to music lessons, took to drink, and died in 1775 in a convent at Cologne. Johann, their son, born towards the end of 1739 or in the beginning of 1740, inherited her thirst. He sang tenor and received his appointment as court singer March 27, 1756. For thirteen years he had served without pay as soprano, contralto, and tenor, and in 1764 he was granted one hundred thalers by Maximilian Friedrich, who had succeeded Clemens August as Elector. In 1767 he married Maria Magdalena Kewerich, the widow of Johann Laym, a valet. Maria was the daughter of a head cook, nineteen, comely, slender, soft-hearted. Old Ludwig objected to the match on account of the low social position of the woman. The young couple lived in the house No. 515 in the Bonngasse. Ludwig Maria was born in 1769 and lived six days. Ludwig, the great composer, was baptized the 17th of December, 1770, and he was probably born the day before the baptism. Of the five children born afterward, only Caspar Anton (1774-1815) and Nikolaus Johann (1776-1848) grew up. A brother, August, lived two years; a sister, Anna, four days, and Maria Margaretha about a year.
BEETHOVEN'S BIRTHPLACE IN BONN.
The seat of the electoral government of Cologne was transferred in 1257 from Cologne to Bonn. The ecclesiastical principality was a source of large revenue to the Elector, and his income was derived from rights of excise and navigation, church dues, benefits of games and lotteries, and secret sums paid the Elector by Austria and France for serving their interests. The Elector was also powerful in politics, and he had the privilege of putting Charlemagne's crown on the head of the emperor at Aix-la-Chapelle. The founder of the musical organization in Bonn was Joseph Clemens, ugly, humpbacked, witty, fond of practical jokes, music-mad. He was continually chasing after artists of merit. He introduced French and Flemish musicians. In 1722 the state of the electoral music-chapel was as follows: a director-in-chief of singing, and two concert-masters; six musicians who were sub-chiefs, organists, etc.; twelve singers, men and women, and to them must be added choir boys, and assistants chosen from the domestics of the court; seventeen players of stringed instruments; four trumpets, two horns and two drums; six players of oboes and bassoons. Joseph died in 1724. Clemens August succeeded him, and shared his musical taste. He in turn was followed in 1761 by Maximilian Friedrich, whose habits were sumptuous; but his prime minister cut down the expenses. He dismissed comedians, lessened the number of concerts, and so the Beethoven family suffered in pocket.