The Master

Ludwig van Beethoven was born in 1770 in Bonn, Germany. His father and grandfather were musicians. Ludwig started learning the violin and the piano at a very early age. When he was only 13, he published his first composition. In 1787 he travelled to Vienna to study under Mozart, but returned to Bonn because his mother was dying. After her death he moved to Vienna, where he spent the rest of his life. In 1795 he gave his first public performance as a pianist, and it was a success.

In the late 1790s, Beethoven began to lose his hearing and by 1819 he was completely deaf. It was during this period that he wrote some of the most famous compositions like Moonlight, Pastoral, Emperor. After he became deaf, he continued to compose great music which was joyful and optimistic. In the later years, he was lonely and depressed and didn’t write much. Although he fell in love several times, he never married. Beethoven died of pneumonia on March 26, 1827. More than 10,000 people came to his funeral.

Beethoven was the first composer who used music to express deep feelings and such ideas as his belief in freedom and heroism. Even today he is, for many people, the greatest composer.

Notes: deaf [def] – глухой; a funeral – похороны

SERGEY RACHMANINOFF

Sergey Rachmaninoff was an outstanding Russian composer and musician. He was born in 1873 not far from Novgorod and died in California in 1943, aged seventy. He studied at the Conservatories of St. Petersburg and Moscow. After the revolution, in 1917, he emigrated to the USA. His music is melodious and emotional. His greatest compositions are the Prelude, The Second and Third Piano Concertos and the Rhapsody on the Theme of Paganini. As a pianist he toured the world extensively. He became famous with audiences around the world for his piano performances.

4.22 Read, memorize and act out the dialogue. Then talk about your music preferences using phrases in bold.