Beethovens love life - Essay Example

Ludwig van Beethoven’s love life Ludwig van Beethoven was never married, although he did have several love interest during his lifetime. The first woman who he had feelings for was a young countess, Julie Guicciardi. Beethoven first met her when he was teaching Josephine Brunsvik, who he later came to love, how to play the piano. Although Julie Guicciardi was his first love, Beethoven never had any intentions of marrying her because of the class differences between them. It is believed that Beethoven’s Moonlight Sonata was dedicated to her.

Over three or four years of teaching the piano to Josephine Brunsvik, Beethoven grew attached to her. However, because Brunsvik’s mother arranged a marriage to a much older man of a higher social class, Beethoven had to suppress his feelings for her. Brunsvik felt much the same way about Beethoven, and it wasn’t until her husband died that the love affair between the two of them grew. Over the course of the next few years, Beethoven wrote many love letters for Brunsvik that professed his love for her.

However, Brunsvik’s family put her under pressure to end the relationship for the simple fact that Beethoven was a commoner. If she had married Beethoven, she would have lost guardianship of her children from her first marriage. Despite this, Beethoven continued to pursue Brunsvik secretly, although this never amounted to anything.Another woman that Beethoven had strong feelings for was one of his closest friends, Therese Malfetti. It is thought that Beethoven’s famous piece Fur Elise was dedicated to her.

The overriding common denominator in all of Beethoven’s relationships is that he pursued women of a much higher social class, which inevitably meant that he was unable to marry any of them.