12 Tremendous Composers 12 Composers    

Lesson 15: Beethoven Bagatelle no. 25 'Für Elise'

by Ludwig van Beethoven

Performer: Anonymous

Directions

Study the musical selection for one week.

Over the week:

• Listen to the music daily.
• Read the synopsis.
• Review the vocabulary terms.
• Read about the composer.
• Complete the enrichment activities.
• Study the review questions.

Synopsis

Although Ludwig van Beethoven's 'Für Elise' was not found until after his death, it has become one of his most recognized compositions. Beethoven wrote this piece for solo piano. As you listen, note how the recording consists of a single person playing the piano versus an entire orchestra playing a multitude of instruments.

Vocabulary

Solo: A piece of music for one performer.
Concerto: A piece of music for one or more solo instruments and orchestra.
Sonata: A musical composition for one or a few instruments, one of which is frequently a piano, in three or four movements that vary in key and tempo.
Choral Music: Of, relating to, written for, or performed by a choir or a chorus (i.e. group of people who sing together).
Chamber Music: A genre of classical music written for a small group of instruments.

Composer

1. A strange fate touched Ludwig van Beethoven and took away his sense of hearing. From the time he was about thirty years old his hearing grew gradually worse. Indeed, it was necessary for him to have a piano especially constructed with additional wires so that he could hear.

2. Can you think of anything crueller, more terrible, more depressing, more awful to happen to one who made music his life's work?

3. And yet Beethoven went on day, after day, composing beautiful music as he walked the fields, or as he sat at his table. For we must remember that he could hear his own music in his thoughts. That is, the mind that made the music could hear it, though the ear itself was forever closed to the sound of it.
4. Year after year, Ludwig van Beethoven continued to write symphonies and concertos, sonatas, songs, choral and chamber music. And year after year, his poor ears closed a little more and still a little more, until finally not even the loudest noises could penetrate them.
5. And yet Ludwig van Beethoven worked bravely; writing every beautiful music thought that came to him, so that the world, and that means you and all of us, might have them. When Beethoven was dying in 1827, Schubert called upon him and remained with him for some time.

Enrichment

Activity 1: Recite the Composition Information

• Recite the name of the composer and the composition.

Activity 2: Study the Music Timeline

Examine the music timeline to answer the following questions.

• What is the year of birth of the lesson composer?
• What is the year of death of the featured composer?
• How old was the composer upon death?
• Which composer (if any) directly precedes the studied composer by date of birth?
• Which composer (if any) directly succeeds the lesson composer by date of birth?
• Which other timeline composers were alive at the same time as the studied composer?

Activity 3: Map the Music

• Ludwig van Beethoven was born in Bonn, Germany and performed music in Austria.
• Trace a path from the city of Bonn to the country of Austria on the map of the Germany.
• Which other European countries border Germany?

Activity 4: Read Aloud Your Paper About Ludwig van Beethoven

• Read your one-page story about Ludwig van Beethoven to your family.
• Make any corrections, as needed, after reading the paper aloud.

Review

Question 1

What physical ailment struck Ludwig van Beethoven at around the age of 30, making his later compositions all the more remarkable?

1 / 6

Answer 1

Beethoven began to lose his hearing around the age of 30.

1 / 6

Question 2

Name some of the forms of music which Ludwig van Beethoven composed.

2 / 6

Answer 2

Beethoven wrote symphonies and concertos, sonatas, songs, choral and chamber music

2 / 6

Question 3

Which music by Ludwig van Beethoven have you have heard?

3 / 6

Answer 3

At this point, you've heard (at a minimum) Beethoven's Symphonies no. 5 and no. 9 as well as Für Elise.

3 / 6

Question 4

What is choral music?

4 / 6

Answer 4

Choral music is of, relating to, written for, or performed by a choir or a chorus (i.e. group of people who sing together).

4 / 6

Question 5

What is a chamber music?

5 / 6

Answer 5

Chamber music is a genre of classical music written for a small group of instruments.

5 / 6

Question 6

How old was Ludwig van Beethoven when he died?

6 / 6

Answer 6

Beethoven died March 26, 1827, at the age of 57.

6 / 6

❮ ❯

1. What physical ailment struck Ludwig van Beethoven at around the age of 30, making his later compositions all the more remarkable? Beethoven began to lose his hearing around the age of 30.
2. Name some of the forms of music which Ludwig van Beethoven composed. Beethoven wrote symphonies and concertos, sonatas, songs, choral and chamber music
3. Which music by Ludwig van Beethoven have you have heard? At this point, you've heard (at a minimum) Beethoven's Symphonies no. 5 and no. 9 as well as Für Elise.
4. What is choral music? Choral music is of, relating to, written for, or performed by a choir or a chorus (i.e. group of people who sing together).
5. What is a chamber music? Chamber music is a genre of classical music written for a small group of instruments.
6. How old was Ludwig van Beethoven when he died? Beethoven died March 26, 1827, at the age of 57.

References

Tapper, Thomas. Beethoven - The Story of a Little Boy Who Was Forced to Practice. Philadelphia, PA. Theodore Presser Co., 1917.

'Für Elise.' Wikipedia. Wikipedia.org. n.p.