When I was a little girl I used to hear my parents and other adults say that Beethoven was a very angry and misunderstood man. Until recently, the only part that had stuck was the 'angry' part. A few weeks ago though, I was looking through a book in my school library and I stumbled across a picture of Ludwig Van Beethoven, at first I was struck by how his face made him seem so frustrated, but on a closer look I realized his eyes and mouth seemed sad, not mad.

And then I thought 'Can you imagine what Beethoven went through and experienced?' - Yeah I talk to myself like this- 'He had something he truly loved to do, something he spent his whole life chasing after, taken away by God. Can you imagine how angry he must have felt?

In 1796 Beethoven began to lose his hearing, many historians contribute this to syphilis, lead poisoning, typhus, or auto-immune disorder, others say deafness was caused by Beethoven's habit of dunking his head in cold water to keep himself awake. Lab tests conducted on pieces of hair taken from the composer were found to have unusually high lead content and cause others to believe that Beethoven suffered from an ear disorder.

In 1811 Beethoven became ill, had numerous headaches and bad fevers. Recommended by his doctor, Beethoven vacationed in the Bohemian Spa Town of Teplitz. The following winter, after working on the seventh symphony he once again began to suffer from these symptoms and decided to winter for a year in Teplitz.

Beethoven was also thwarted in love, the Moonlight Sonata (also known as Sonata No.14) was dedicated to a woman named Giulietta Guicciardi. Future wedding plans between the two were then dashed by Giulietta's father because Beethoven was 'common' born. Later Beethoven entered into a relationship with Josephine Deym who declined Beethoven's proposal of marriage seemingly (once again) because she was of noble birth and he was not.

Beethoven, through all these failures continued to care for his brother Carl, who was ill, and his family, an act which left him penniless for a time. Finally, due to one of the defeats of Napoleon's army, Beethoven was motivated to compose the battle symphony, Wellington's Victory, a very popular composition for it's easy understanding. In 1814 Beethoven composed a piano sonata (No. 27, Opus 90) for the first time in five years, after a failed attempt to play the Piano Concerto No. 5 (the "Emperor") in 1811.

Till his death on 29 March 1827 Beethoven continued to write music, his last was 'the substitute final movement of the Thirteenth Quartet, deemed necessary to replace the difficult Große Fuge.'