No one is quite sure when he was born but Ludwig van Beethoven was christened on 17th December, his birthday celebrated by his family on 16th December, and meanwhile we still dont really know when Beethovens birthdate really was.

It was the custom in that area of Germany at the time (1770) to baptise your child very quickly, so one can only surmise that his birthday celebrations were on the correct date due to the family celebration of it. Of course part of this custom had grown from the very high child-mortality rate prevalent all over Europe at the time, and the number of deceases, hardly known today, which infected young infants very rapidly. Possibly, we may think nowadays, that taking a newborn child to a cold church for baptism may have exacerbated any potential bacteriological problem, but in those days the spiritual healing of baptism was presumed to be sufficient immunisation.

Actually Beethoven was unwell or ill for quite a bit of his life. Autopsy showed a large degree of lead poisoning, but the dangers of lead were unknown at the time and it was used in many facets of life from water pipes to additives to wine, and almost certainly did not lead to his deafness in his late 20s, as the symptoms he had do not match this possible lead for the scientists.

The grandson of a Kappelmeister (top job) and son of an alcoholic singer, his musical training was rather slapdash at first but he was soon recognised as being something special. He was trained by some very good teachers, including Handel, due to people recognising he had a special talent.

The Elector (Ruling Prince) paid for some of his lessons and training, whilst later in life his genius stood out to the extent that he was given stipends or contracts to keep him composing.

Mozart and Handel were very much the composers he had to try to live up to in his earlier period of composing, whilst stretching the bounds of what was possible musically.

The new forte-piano, and later the pianoforte, being developed in both Vienna and London, brought him fame as a virtuoso pianist in his 20s. The quieter Viennese piano was later changed to accommodate Beethoven and his music, and became louder, like its London counterpart. This was not due to Beethovens deafness but to the necessity for the audience to hear the harmonics created by this new instrument. Harmonics were surely what Beethoven could hear when he composed, even over his tinnitus, and most people playing his music today will experience that delight in his music.

Beethovens technical skill as a music theorist enabled him to write great works even after his deafness became almost total. He worked hard though, and his loft after his death was discovered to contain a cornucopia of draft manuscripts and notes for some of his major works, and indeed for his smaller ones, with which he took equally scrupulous care.

Whilst Beethoven and his music are well known today, the music can be listened to again-and-again, and each time you listen to it you may just spot something you missed last time. Yes, it was deliberate and maybe you will listen again just to see if you can spot something more. "Great" music, written by one of its Masters, often holds surprises even to the knowledgeable.