Editing Ludwig van Beethoven (section)

=== 1792–1802: Vienna – the early years ===
[[File:Ludwig van Beethoven, aged twenty-six (1796).jpg|right|thumb|The earliest known portrait of Beethoven; 1801 engraving by Johann Joseph Neidl after a now-lost portrait by Gandolph Ernst Stainhauser von Treuberg, {{Circa|1800}}<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.artexpertswebsite.com/services/portrait-id-beethoven.php | title=Art Experts &#124; Portrait Identification: Ludwig van Beethoven }}</ref>]]
[[File:Ölenhainz - Franz Joseph Maximilian von Lobkowitz.jpg|thumb|Prince Lobkowitz depicted in a portrait by [[August Friedrich Oelenhainz]]]]
[[File:Josephine Brunsvik.jpg|thumb|A pre-1804 sketch of [[Josephine Brunsvik]]]]
Beethoven left [[Bonn]] for [[Vienna]] in November 1792 amid rumours of [[First Coalition|war spilling out of France]]. Shortly after departing, Beethoven learned that his father had died.{{sfn|Thayer|1967a|pp=34–36}}{{sfn|Cooper|2008|p=42}} Over the next few years, he responded to the widespread feeling that he was a successor to the recently deceased Mozart by studying Mozart's work and writing works with a distinctly Mozartian flavour.{{sfn|Cooper|2008|p=43}}

Beethoven did not immediately set out to establish himself as a composer but rather devoted himself to study and performance. Working under Haydn's direction,{{sfn|Kerman|Tyson|Burnham|2001|loc=§ 3}} he sought to master [[counterpoint]]. He also studied violin under [[Ignaz Schuppanzigh]].{{sfn|Cooper|2008|pp= 47, 54}} Early in this period, he also began receiving occasional instruction from [[Antonio Salieri]], primarily in Italian vocal composition style; this relationship persisted until at least 1802, and possibly as late as 1809.{{sfn|Thayer|1967a|p=149}}

With Haydn's departure for England in 1794, Beethoven was expected by the Elector to return home to Bonn. He chose instead to remain in Vienna, continuing his instruction in counterpoint with [[Johann Albrechtsberger]] and other teachers. In any case, by this time it must have seemed clear to his employer that Bonn would fall to the French, as it did in October 1794, effectively leaving Beethoven without a stipend or the necessity to return.{{sfn|Ronge|2013}} But several Viennese noblemen had already recognised his ability and offered him financial support, among them [[Joseph Franz von Lobkowitz|Prince Joseph Franz Lobkowitz]], [[Prince Karl Lichnowsky]], and Baron [[Gottfried van Swieten]].{{sfn|Cooper|2008|p= 53}}

Assisted by his connections with Haydn and Waldstein, Beethoven began to develop a reputation as a performer and improviser in the salons of the Viennese nobility.{{sfn|Solomon|1998|p=59}} His friend [[Nikolaus Simrock]] began publishing his compositions, starting with a set of keyboard variations on a theme of [[Carl Ditters von Dittersdorf|Dittersdorf]] (WoO 66).{{sfn|Cooper|2008|p= 46}} By 1793, he had established a reputation in Vienna as a piano virtuoso, but he apparently withheld works from publication so that their eventual appearance would have greater impact.{{sfn|Cooper|2008|p= 53}}

In 1795, Beethoven made his public debut in Vienna over three days,{{sfn|Swafford|2014|pp= 174–175}} beginning with a performance of one of his own [[piano concerto]]s on 29 March at the [[Burgtheater]]{{refn|It is uncertain whether this was the [[Piano Concerto No. 1 (Beethoven)|First]] (Op. 15) or [[Piano Concerto No. 2 (Beethoven)|Second]] (Op. 19 which was in fact written earlier than Op. 15). Documentary evidence is lacking, and both concertos were still in manuscript (neither was completed or published for several years).{{sfn|Cooper|2008|p= 59}} Some authorities favour Op. 15,{{sfn|Cooper|1996|p= 221}}{{sfn|Swafford|2014|p= 174-175}} but [[Oxford Music Online]] suggests it was probably Op. 19.{{sfn|Kerman|Tyson|Burnham|2001|loc=§3}}|group=n}} and ending with a Mozart concerto on 31 March, probably the [[Piano Concerto No. 20 (Mozart)|D minor concerto]], for which he had written a [[cadenza]] soon after his arrival in Vienna. By this year he had two piano concertos available for performance, one in [[B-flat&nbsp;major]] he had begun composing before moving to Vienna and had worked on for over a decade, and one in [[C&nbsp;major]] composed for the most part during 1795.{{sfn|Swafford|2014|pp= 176–177}} Viewing the latter as the more substantive work, he chose to designate it his [[Piano Concerto No. 1 (Beethoven)|first piano concerto]], publishing it in March 1801 as Opus 15, before publishing the former as [[Piano Concerto No. 2 (Beethoven)|Opus 19]] the following December. He wrote new cadenzas for both in 1809.<ref>{{Cite book|first= Michael|last= Steinberg|author-link= Michael Steinberg (music critic)|title= The Concerto: A Listener's Guide|year= 1998|publisher = Oxford University Press| location = Oxford| pages = 52–59| isbn=0195103300}}</ref>

Shortly after his public debut, Beethoven arranged for the publication of the first of his compositions to which he assigned an [[opus number]], the [[Piano Trios, Op. 1 (Beethoven)|three piano trios, Opus 1]]. These works were dedicated to his patron Prince Lichnowsky,{{sfn|Cooper|2008|p= 59}} and were a financial success; Beethoven's profits were nearly sufficient to cover his living expenses for a year.{{sfn|Cooper|2008|p= 56}} In 1799, Beethoven participated in (and won) a notorious piano 'duel' at the home of Baron Raimund Wetzlar (a former patron of Mozart) against the virtuoso [[Joseph Wölfl]]; and the next year he similarly triumphed against [[Daniel Steibelt]] at the salon of [[Count Moritz von Fries]].{{sfn|Solomon|1998|p=79}} Beethoven's eighth piano sonata, the [[Piano Sonata No. 8 (Beethoven)|''Pathétique'']] (Op. 13, published in 1799), is described by the musicologist [[Barry Cooper (musicologist)|Barry Cooper]] as "surpass[ing] any of his previous compositions, in strength of character, depth of emotion, level of originality, and ingenuity of motivic and tonal manipulation".{{sfn|Cooper|2008|p= 82}}

Between 1798 and 1800, Beethoven composed his [[String Quartets Nos. 1–6, Op. 18 (Beethoven)|first six string quartets (Op. 18)]] (commissioned by, and dedicated to, Prince Lobkowitz), published in 1801. He also completed his [[Septet (Beethoven)|Septet]] (Op. 20) in 1799, a work which was extremely popular during Beethoven's lifetime. With premieres of his [[Symphony No. 1 (Beethoven)|First]] and [[Symphony No. 2 (Beethoven)|Second]] Symphonies in 1800 and 1803, Beethoven became regarded as one of the most important of a generation of young composers following Haydn and Mozart. But his melodies, musical development, use of modulation and texture, and characterisation of emotion all set him apart from his influences, and heightened the impact some of his early works made when they were first published.{{sfn|Cooper|2008|p=58}} For the premiere of his First Symphony, he hired the [[Burgtheater]] on 2 April 1800, and staged an extensive programme, including works by Haydn and Mozart, as well as his Septet, the Symphony, and one of his piano concertos (the latter three works all then unpublished). The concert, which the ''[[Allgemeine musikalische Zeitung]]'' called "the most interesting concert in a long time", was not without difficulties; among the criticisms was that "the players did not bother to pay any attention to the soloist".{{sfn|Cooper|2008|p= 90}} By the end of 1800, Beethoven and his music were already much in demand from patrons and publishers.{{sfn|Cooper|2008|p= 97}}

In May 1799, Beethoven taught piano to the daughters of Hungarian Countess Anna Brunsvik. During this time, he fell in love with the younger daughter, [[Josephine Brunsvik|Josephine]]. Among his other students, from 1801 to 1805, he tutored [[Ferdinand Ries]], who went on to become a composer and later wrote about their encounters. The young [[Carl Czerny]], who later became a renowned pianist and music teacher himself, studied with Beethoven from 1801 to 1803. Czerny described his teacher at their initial meeting in 1801: <blockquote>Beethoven was dressed in a jacket of shaggy dark grey material and matching trousers, and he reminded me immediately of [[Joachim Heinrich Campe|Campe]]'s ''Robinson Crusoe'', whose book I was reading just then. His jet-black hair bristled shaggily around his head. His beard, unshaven for several days, made the lower part of his swarthy face still darker.<ref>{{cite book|last=Czerny |first=Carl |title=On the Proper Performance of All Beethoven's Works for the Piano |date=1970 |pages=4–5 |publisher=Vienna: Universal Edition}}</ref></blockquote> In late 1801, Beethoven met a young countess, [[Julie Guicciardi]], through the Brunsvik family; he mentions his love for Julie in a November 1801 letter to a friend, but class difference prevented any consideration of pursuing it. He dedicated his 1802 [[Piano Sonata No. 14 (Beethoven)|Sonata Op. 27 No. 2]], now commonly known as the ''[[Moonlight Sonata]]'', to her.{{sfn|Steblin|2009}}

In the spring of 1801, Beethoven completed a ballet, ''[[The Creatures of Prometheus]]'' (op. 43). The work received numerous performances in 1801 and 1802 and he rushed to publish a piano arrangement to capitalise on its early popularity.{{sfn|Cooper|2008|pp= 98–103}} Beethoven completed his [[Symphony No. 2 (Beethoven)|Second Symphony]] in 1802, intended for performance at a concert that was cancelled. The symphony received its premiere one year later, at a subscription concert in April 1803 at the [[Theater an der Wien]], where Beethoven had been appointed composer in residence. In addition to the Second Symphony, the concert also featured the First Symphony, the [[Piano Concerto No. 3 (Beethoven)|Third Piano Concerto]], and the [[oratorio]] ''[[Christ on the Mount of Olives (Beethoven)|Christ on the Mount of Olives]]''. Reviews of the concert were mixed, but it was a financial success; Beethoven was able to charge three times the cost of a typical concert ticket.{{sfn|Cooper|2008|pp= 112–127}}

In 1802, Beethoven's brother Kaspar began to assist the composer in handling his affairs, particularly his business dealings with music publishers. In addition to successfully negotiating higher payments for Beethoven's latest works, Kaspar also began selling several of Beethoven's earlier unpublished compositions and encouraged his brother (against Beethoven's preference) to make arrangements and transcriptions of his more popular works for other instruments and combinations. Beethoven decided to accede to these requests, as he was powerless to prevent publishers from hiring others to do similar arrangements of his works.{{sfn|Cooper|2008|pp=112–115}}