In order to fully understand music, you need to know the giants in all genres of music. When I start to talk about the history of melodic and harmonic devices, it's helpful to know who thought of them first. Here are 5 things that you didn't know about Beethoven. The first is about his upbringing by an abusive father and musician. Even though he was harshly treated by his alcoholic father, he still developed an enduring love of music. Number two was about the question of whether or not he ever met or studied with Mozart. The third was about his developing hearing loss and the Heiligenstadt Testament, a letter to his two brothers about the pain and agony of his impending deafness. The fourth is about the famous concert of December 22, 1808 where there were premiers of four major works of the Western musical cannon. Number five discusses his late period works composed when he was completely deaf.
