Johann Van Beethoven - Life

Life

Johann van Beethoven was the son of Lodewijk (Ludwig) van Beethoven (1712 in Mechelen – 1773 in Bonn; not to be confused with Johann's famous son of the same name) and Maria Josepha Ball (married 1733). His father was probably born in or near the Brabantian town of Mechelen (now in Flanders, Belgium), and had served as a musician in several communities in Flanders before moving to Bonn in 1733. There he served as a musician at the court of Prince-Archbishop-Elector of Cologne Clemens August of Bavaria, rising to the post of Kapellmeister in 1761. Johann 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, may have extended into alto and even higher registers), he played the violin and zither, and played and taught keyboard instruments of the day, including the harpsichord and the clavichord.

He probably met his future wife, Maria Magdalena Keverich (1746–1787), on a trip to Ehrenbreitstein. She was the daughter of the head chef to the Archbishop of Trier, whose court was there, and she had family connections in the court orchestra at Bonn. Already widowed at the age of nineteen, she and Johann were married on 12 November 1767 in the Catholic St. Remigius church, Bonn. Their first child, Ludwig Maria, was born in early April 1769, and died several days later. On about 16 December 1770 their second son was born; he was baptised Ludwig, after his grandfather, the next day. They had two more children that survived to adulthood, Karl (1774–1815) and Johann (1776–1848).

Johann realized Ludwig's talent and became his first teacher. It is said that Johann was a violent father when it came to his son's playing. Whenever Ludwig played poorly, Johann would exclaim that it was an embarrassment to the family. Johann was an alcoholic, 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 Joseph Haydn. His employer the Elector wrote sardonically to a friend, "The revenues from the liquor excise have suffered a loss in the death of Beethoven."