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Beethoven was one of the most known classical composer of all time. He began his music studies at an early age and by the time he had reached young adulthood he had already established a reputation for himself as a young piano virtuoso. He had also, composed a number of very significant compositions. A few of his most known composition includes: Fur Elise, Moonlight sonata, Symphonies no. 9, etc.
Beethoven’s life and works are generally divided into three periods. In the early period, until the first years of the 1800s, his music was still very much in the classical tradition of Haydn and Mozart even though Beethoven’s original stamp was already very much in evidence. He wrote the six String Quartets Op.18, the first ten piano sonatas (through Op.14), the first three piano concertos, and the first two symphonies.

The middle years, until approximately 1815, are characterized by works of greater scope, increasing power and intensity. Symphonies Nos.3 to 8, the incidental music to Goethe’s drama Egmont, the Coriolan overture, the opera Fidelio, the last two piano concertos,the Violin Concerto, the Quartets Opp.59 (the Rasumovsky), 74, and 95, and the Piano Sonatas through Op.90.

In the late period, Beethoven’s works achieve even greater depth and complexity. Beethoven endured considerable emotional suffering in his personal life and could also be difficult and demanding. His loss of hearing, a condition that began in his early 30s, would have certainly contributed to his personal pain. His output was substantial. Among his important major works, 10 sonatas for violin and piano, 5 for cello and piano, and 32 solo piano sonatas. All are, without exception, magnificent works.

In popular imagination, Beethoven was the first Romantic composer, living his life on a grand and passionate scale, railing against his deafness, beseeching God for comfort, and scowling at society’s conventions. From a practical standpoint, he was the first important composer to make his living outside of the traditional venues of court and church. Musically, Beethoven was a revolutionary, whose innovations of scale and form are still being assimilated by composers, performers and audiences to this day.

This most singular of musicians actually began his career in a traditional fashion. His father was a (not very good) tenor employed by the Elector of Bonn; he both recognized his son’s talents and attempted to exploit them by arranging concerts in the family apartments. After young Beethoven’s studies, he assumed a position as a violist in the Elector’s court and theater orchestras. His talents, both as a keyboard virtuoso and as a composer, attracted much notice from members of the court, and he came to be on easy terms with several members of the aristocracy. The most important of these was the Count Ferdinand Waldstein, who arranged a stipend for the young composer to study with Haydn in Vienna, and who wrote at Beethoven’s departure, “With the help of assiduous labor you shall receive Mozart’s spirit from Haydn’s hands.”

http://www.en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ludwig_van_Beethoven