Beethoven’s First Symphony Premieres

It's late evening on May 11th, 1809 in Vienna, Austria.

39-year-old composer Ludwig van Beethoven hurries through the streets of the Austrian capital as artillery shells fly overhead.

Two decades ago, the French Revolution broke out, leading to a series of wars as France's European neighbors have tried to intervene and restore the French monarchy.

Recently, Austria joined the coalition against France, and the French responded by invading.

Earlier today, the French army began bombarding Vienna with artillery, forcing Ludwig to abandon his apartment.

Now he's making for a safer place where he might shelter from the explosions.

Ludwig reaches the house he's headed for, bangs on the door.

His brother opens it, grabs Ludwig's arm and pulls him into the house, ushering him down the stairs and into the basement.

The explosions still sound terrifyingly close, even to Ludwig's partially deaf ears.

To stop the loud noises damaging his hearing even further, he picks up two cushions and ties them tightly to his head.

The rudimentary earmuffs work.

The French bombardment shouldn't make his deafness any worse, and that's a small blessing because Ludwig still has more music he wants to write before he loses his hearing for good.

Ludwig van Beethoven will survive the French attack on Vienna, and during the French occupation of the city, he will write one of his best-known pieces of music, Piano Concerto No.

5.

The creation process that sees Ludwig turn hardship into music will be a pattern that's repeated throughout his career.

And it all began when Ludwig directed the traumas of a troubled childhood into his First Symphony, a piece of music that catapulted Ludwig to international renown when he was performed in public for the first time on April 2, 1800.

From Noiser and Airship, I'm Lindsay Graham, and this is History Daily.

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On this podcast, every day, we tell the true stories of the people and events that shaped our world.

Today is April 2nd, 1800.

Beethoven's First Symphony premieres.

It's early 1778 in Bonn, Prussia, 22 years before the debut performance of Ludwig van Beethoven's First Symphony.

17-year-old Ludwig stirs in his bed and wakes as a hand roughly shakes his shoulder.

Ludwig sleepily opens his eyes to see his father, Johann, staring down at him.

Johann gruffly orders Ludwig out of bed, telling him it's time to practice.

But as Ludwig rises, he looks out the window and notices the sky is pitch black.

It's still the middle of the night.

16 years ago, a young musical prodigy emerged in Austria.

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart performed at concerts from the age of six with his older sister accompanying him.

Thanks to intense public interest in the musical siblings, the Mozarts were invited to perform for kings and queens in palaces across Europe.

They were also rewarded handsomely for these royal concerts.

And now Ludwig's father, Johann, is hoping to replicate that success.

But his intensive training regimen for his son even stretches to lessons in the middle of the night.

Ludwig follows Johann to the piano and struggles to hide his yawning as he plays the pieces he's been working on for the past few days.

Only when Johann is satisfied does he let Ludwig return to bed for a few more hours sleep.

But it isn't long until Ludwig is again up to take lessons at the organ, violin, and viola from other tutors.

There is no reprieve, and if Ludwig ever retires of the endless cycle of lessons and practice, his father beats him or locks him in the cellar.

And if Ludwig improvises or comes up with his own compositions rather than playing the sheet music his father has provided, he receives even further physical abuse.

But it's probably Ludwig's natural talent and not the cruel methods used to teach him that lead the young boy to display more skill than many adult musicians.

When Ludwig is just seven, Johann decides he's ready to unveil his talented son with a public performance.

He prints posters declaring that Ludwig van Beethoven, a child prodigy, will perform in the nearby city of Cologne.

But Johann tries to drive up interest in the performance by claiming that Ludwig is only six years old, matching the age which Mozart gave his first concert.

But Johann's hopes for fame and fortune are disappointed.

Ludwig's performance in Cologne doesn't have the same impact as Mozart's debut.

Too many other musically talented youngsters have tried to replicate Mozart's success, and a supposed six-year-old playing the piano is no longer noteworthy.

Rather than being invited to tour the royal courts of Europe, young Ludwig remains in bond and continues to hone his craft under his team of tutors.

He succeeds in being appointed a court organist at the age of 12, but his father gradually loses interest as he realizes that Ludwig isn't the golden goose he hoped for.

Soon, Johann turns to drink, and he makes Ludwig's life miserable for the next decade.

So when Johann eventually dies, the then 21-year-old Ludwig doesn't mourn the loss.

Instead, he leaves the site of his unhappy childhood in search of a new place to relaunch a musical career.

Within weeks of his father's death, Ludwig arrives in Vienna, the capital of the Austrian Empire.

His relocation is nothing unusual in the highly competitive musical world.

At the turn of the 19th century, musicians and composers often travel Europe to attend the courts of royals and nobility.

Rich aristocrats pay salaries to their favorite musicians to compose and perform new pieces, and in return, composers dedicate their new works to their patrons.

In Vienna, Ludwig seeks out Josef Haydn, one of the most famous composers of the day, and begins to take lessons from him.

Inspired by Haydn, Ludwig begins to compose and perform his own works at public concerts.

Soon, Ludwig's musical talent wins him the financial backing of two wealthy Austrian nobles, and after several years of learning under Haydn, Ludwig's ambition and talent will eclipse his tutors.

He will announce a concert that he promises will include the premiere of a new piece of music, the likes of which had never been heard before.

But although the debut of his First Symphony will win him praise, Ludwig's career will be threatened by the onset of a medical issue that will plague him for the rest of his life.

It's April 2nd, 1800 at the Burgtheater in Vienna, eight years after Ludwig van Beethoven moved to the Austrian capital to further his musical career.

Ludwig accepts the applause as he walks on stage.

The orchestra has been rehearsing for weeks ahead of today's grand performance, and it's the biggest of Ludwig's life so far.

Nobles and dignitaries from across the city have announced they will be attending, and as Ludwig glances up at the royal box, he sees that even Archduke Francis II, the Holy Roman Emperor, is here.

Ludwig's concert begins with a piece by his tutor, Josef Haydn, one that the audience is familiar with.

He follows it with another well-known tune by Mozart, but Ludwig concludes the concert with something different that the audience has not heard before, Ludwig's own First Symphony.

The audience listens enraptured, struck by the differences between Ludwig's composition and those of his predecessors.

The First Symphony features far more sudden and strong emphases and has wind instruments take a more prominent role than in the past.

Ludwig's First Symphony is an instant hit, and thanks to the success of this concert, Ludwig quickly rises to become Austria's most popular and in-demand composer, but not everyone embraces the newcomer.

Seven months later, while attending a concert, Ludwig is challenged to a piano duel by Daniel Steibelt, a fellow Prussian musician.

In accordance with the rules of these musical competitions, the two men must take turns improvising on the piano.

And when Daniel chooses to improvise over one of Ludwig's own pieces, Ludwig takes it as an insult.

By altering Ludwig's composition, Daniel is inferring that he can improve on the work.

The audience bristles with anticipation as Ludwig takes Daniel's place at the piano.

Ludwig picks up the sheet music that Daniel was supposed to play tonight, and he looks at the music for a few moments before making a show of placing the pages upside down.

Then he begins to play, improvising on Daniel's music, and it's a breathtaking performance, featuring fast trills and breakneck runs.

As Ludwig continues to outplay and embarrass his rival, Daniel stalks out of the room.

He's so humiliated that he publicly announces that as long as Ludwig van Beethoven lives in Vienna, he will never set foot in the city.

And within days, Daniel does leave Vienna.

He'll keep to his word too, and won't ever return after this humiliation.

But Daniel Steitbelt isn't the only competitor who Ludwig comprehensively outplays, and Ludwig's reputation as a musical genius spreads all across Europe.

But even as he thrives on the support of his rich benefactors, a nagging worry troubles him.

Though he's only around 30 years old, Ludwig has noticed he's losing his most precious sense, his hearing.

He can't hear higher notes or voices, especially at a distance.

He struggles to hear quiet sounds and finds loud sounds unbearably painful.

But Ludwig cannot tell anyone of his problem for fear of losing the financial backing of his patrons.

Instead, he tries to disguise it.

He leans forward when conducting an orchestra and instead of listening to his musicians, he watches them, working out whether they're in time by the movement of their fingers rather than the sound of their notes.

And when even that doesn't help, he stops playing concerts altogether.

In 1802, on doctor's advice, Ludwig travels to the rural Austrian town of Heiligenstadt in the hopes that the quieter and more peaceful environment will help his hearing recover.

But it makes no difference.

Ludwig realizes that the problem is getting worse when he passes a shepherd playing the flute.

Ludwig can't hear the music at all.

But Ludwig's hearing loss seems to galvanize him and spur a sense of urgency.

If his time as a composer and musician is going to be limited, he decides to make full use of what's left.

He returns to Vienna, resumes work, and writes some of the finest music of his life.

But although Ludwig knows it's only going to get harder to make a living from music, he refuses to compromise on his beliefs.

He originally named one of his symphonies after Napoleon Bonaparte, who Ludwig initially saw as a hero of the French people.

When Napoleon became a tyrant and self-proclaimed emperor, Ludwig turns on him, and after that he refuses to perform for French officers occupying Vienna.

This embarrasses his aristocratic patrons, and they stop paying Ludwig his stipend, costing him one third of his income.

Soon Ludwig will come to regret these hasty actions, because he will almost be completely deaf by the age of 43, and will be forced to withdraw from public life.

But even though he can't hear the music, he is still able to write it.

Thank It's May 7th, 1824, at Theater Am Kertnator in Vienna, 24 years after Ludwig van Beethoven debuted his First Symphony.

19-year-old vocalist, Caroline Unger, stands on stage during the final movement of Ludwig's latest work, The Ninth Symphony, which is being premiered tonight for a distinguished audience of aristocratic music lovers.

But as Caroline reaches her highest notes, she's distracted by the conductor leading the orchestra.

Despite his now profound deafness, 53-year-old Ludwig has chosen to conduct the performance tonight.

Over the past few years, Ludwig has sought ways to compensate for his hearing loss.

He keeps several notebooks at home to exchange messages with visitors in writing rather than talking aloud.

And he's been using a newly invented mechanical metronome to indicate the exact tempo his music should be played at.

But despite these coping techniques, Ludwig has been unable to perform his music in public.

And that makes today's appearance to conduct the Ninth Symphony even more amazing.

But as Ludwig gesticulates wildly, Carlene realizes that he's completely out of time with the orchestra, which is playing at the speed they practice during rehearsals.

To stop herself being confused by the contradictory gestures and music, Carlene fixes her gaze above Ludwig's head and concentrates on listening to the orchestra so she knows when to begin her solo.

When her part is finished, Carlene heaves a sigh of relief.

The symphony reaches its crescendo and the audience bursts into applause.

Once again, Ludwig's music has wowed the audience on its first performance.

But as Carlene smiles at Ludwig, she notices that he's bent right over his sheet music, his arms still moving.

He's conducting, unaware the orchestra has finished playing.

Only when Carlene steps forward and taps Ludwig on the shoulder does he realize the concert is over.

The premiere of Ludwig's Ninth Symphony is the last great performance of his life.

Ludwig will die three years later, but his music will certainly outlive him.

For the next two centuries, Ludwig van Beethoven will be heralded as one of the world's greatest ever composers, a reputation that began when he overcame a troubled childhood to premiere his First Symphony on April 2nd, 1800.

Next, on History Daily, April 3, 1996, Ted Kaczynski is arrested by FBI agents and accused of being the elusive Unabomber.

You From Noiser and Airship, this is History Daily.

Hosted, edited and executive produced by me, Lindsay Graham.

Audio editing by Molly Bogg.

Sound design by Gabriel Gould.

Music by Thrum.

This episode is written and researched by Scott Reeves.

Edited by Joel Callan.

Managing producer, Emily Burke.

Executive producers are William Simpson for Airship, and Pascal Hughes for Noiser.