Ludwig Van Beethoven
 

If an artist is great and humanity accepts him or her as such, then the artist must be more evolved than us all. In fact, we do not choose artists in order for them to do good things for us. God chooses artists to do something beyond our wishes, but for our own good. This is the case of Ludwig van Beethoven, to whom God gave enormous talent, creativity, tenacity, and love for music. Slowly but surely, he drove the feudalism out of classical music. Thus it is no surprise that two of his works are tacitly and unanimously considered to have the highest importance: the Ninth Symphony and the Missa Solemnis. The ideas expressed through the music and text cannot be used towards any political goal. The music serves nothing but the struggle for humanist ideals, what Beethoven himself fought for. This is probably the reason why Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony was chosen by the United Nations as a symbol of friendship between mankind and nations.

Ludwig van Beethoven was born on December 16, 1770 in Bonn, under the sign of humanist and idealist Sagittarius. His Ascendant is found in the sign of traditional and artistically-inclined Taurus, and his Moon is also located in the sign of Sagittarius, lover of freedom. At the moment of his birth, the planets formed powerful aspects and took dominant positions. Eccentric Uranus, placed in his house of self (1^st), sent positive vibrations to creative Neptune, located in the house of work (6^th). Both reinforce powerful Pluto, situated in the house of reputation and career (10^th). This grand Earth trine indicates protection from the Universe, and shows that Beethoven was chosen by God to perform a particular mission on the Earth. He would concretize Universal ideas and visions though his work. This is the source of the incredible strength and magnetism that radiate from his person and his work. This also indicates a life, appearance, and talent beyond the ordinary. Under the influence of original Uranus and powerful Pluto, his music is ecstatic and passionate one moment, only to become gentle in the following moment, because of dreamy Neptune.

Beethoven was the son of a church singer. His father was not the prototype of a good parent. He was a cruel alcoholic, who felt neither love nor responsibility towards his own children. Nevertheless, he was the person who taught little Ludwig to be responsible for himself as well as his brothers and sisters. Ludwig’s father also introduced him to the realm of music. Ludwig was already playing the piano when he was eight years old. He played in the theatre orchestra when he was eleven. Because of the emotional hunger he felt during his childhood, he learned to suppress his emotions and to not express his love. He channeled all of his energy into his work. People considered him cruel and insensitive. This is in fact shown by the position of cruel Saturn, located in the house of love (5^th) of his natal chart. Saturn in the fifth house indicates that an individual rejects love out of fear of being hurt. Ludwig had already been so wounded by his parents during his childhood.

When he was seventeen years old, young Beethoven arrived in Vienna. However, his need for independence and freedom, which is in fact the essential need of all Sagittarians, often led him to the verge of poverty. He changed apartments fifteen times in Vienna, always searching for better living conditions. Nevertheless, each apartment was worse than the previous one. This is nothing surprising if one knew that in the period from 1787 to September 1789, unpredictable Uranus transited his house of the home (4^th), forbidding him to stay in the same place for a long time. Several years later, in 1795 and 1796, Saturn, enforcer of destiny, passed through the sign of Gemini and sent negative vibrations to his natal Moon, symbol of feelings, his natal Sun, symbol of the ego, and his natal Mercury, symbol of words and hearing. This provoked a terrible event. At the beginning of his very promising career, at only 25 years old, Beethoven was hit by the biggest disaster that could befall a musician, the loss of hearing. Here, a sage might say that life events are merely the materialization of our convictions. A sage might also mention that loss of hearing occurs when it is too painful for one to hear the truth. Beethoven in fact did not want to hear that his brother was going to marry the woman he himself was in love with. He considered this woman the one true love of his life. Others might also say that, as Beethoven had absolute pitch, Destiny took away his hearing as a way of forcing him to control his pride. Whatever the case, the cruel illness pushed him to withdraw into himself, in despair, and brought him to the brink of suicide. However, no one has ever penetrated the mystery of Divine intentions to know the meaning of the misfortunes that befall us, or what good we take away from every ordeal which we survive.

In this case, Beethoven’s strong will, courage to accept his misfortune, and resolution to take his destiny by the horns for the second time saved him from depression.

From this victory over himself, Beethoven built the deep foundations of his art, at the heart of which lies his life philosophy and moral code, full of philanthropy, pugnacity, courage, and resolve to accomplish his mission. Beethoven was of course aware of this fact.

It was as a deaf musician that he composed his most beautiful and well known works, the Ninth Symphony, the piano and violin concertos, 32 piano sonatas, 10 violin sonatas, 5 cello sonatas, chamber music, overtures, songs, the Missa Solemnis and the opera Fidelio. He obviously owes all this to Destiny, who took away his hearing, perhaps with the objective of preventing him from wasting his energy and talent on trivial and everyday things, people, and conversations, so that he could concentrate on his creative work.

Rare are the giants in the musical world who can also easily see the weakness of the society in which they live. The aristocracy still reigned in Beethoven’s society, but the bourgeoisie was beginning to develop. Like all Sagittarians, passionate about justice and truth, Beethoven directly criticized the powerful of his time and did not conceal his contempt for those of a petty-bourgeois mindset. When his brother became rich overnight, thanks to several speculations, and sent him a visiting card upon which “Johann van Beethoven – land owner” was written, Beethoven sent him his own card upon which he wrote “Ludwig van Beethoven – brain owner”.

Under the influence of original and eccentric Uranus close to his Ascendant and powerful Pluto in the Zenith, Ludwig van Beethoven was original and personal in all of his work. When he came into a violent conflict with his patron, Prince Lichnowsky, impulsive Beethoven snapped at his face:

“Prince, what you are, you have acquired through lucky circumstances and your birth. I, however, I do not owe my position to anyone but myself. There have been and there will be thousands of princes, but Beethoven is unique!”

Truly frank and daring, as only a Sagittarius can be. In addition, the close contact of the Sun and Mercury, planet of reason and language, both located in the sign of philosophical and arrogant Sagittarius, had a strong influence on his lively sprit and his quick tongue while the disharmonious relationship between intelligent Mercury and aggressive Mars pushed him to easily come into conflict with others, offend them, and always want to be right.

– Was he really a man without a heart, as many have said?

There is no such thing as a man without a heart. Aggressiveness is often a manner of protecting oneself. The position of Saturn in the house of love (5^th) plays a crucial role in his troubled love life. It reveals that the lack of love that he felt during his childhood prevented him from opening up and devoting himself to a loved one, out of fear of being used, rejected, and wounded. This is confirmed by the position of Venus, planet of love, located in the sign of conservative Capricorn. This indicates a feeling of insecurity and the need for true love that would last until the end of his life. The position of the Moon, indicator of feelings, in the sign of Sagittarius, infatuated with freedom, indicates his real fear of having someone limit his autonomy. This is why men with their Moon in Sagittarius often remain unmarried.

– Could he overcome all that?

Yes, thanks to creative work and work with children. Such efforts would have helped him renew contact with his wounded inner child and heal. Perhaps this is the reason why Beethoven was so emotionally invested in the education of his nephew after his brother’s death.

His biographers affirm that Beethoven had an active love life, but never experienced the love of his life. Many think his lack of confidence vis-à-vis others is the reason for this. Biographers say his love life began at the age of fifteen, when he fell in love with a young lady named Eleonore. At the same time, his Moon towards touched Jupiter, planet of good fortune. Next came the prima donna Magdalena. Another of his great loves was his student Giulietta, to whom he dedicated his Moonlight Sonata. Fifty years after his death, Fanny del Rio would speak of his great love for her. His list of mistresses also includes the names of beautiful and intelligent Theresa, and the dark-haired, passionate singer Amalie, who kept the lock of hair that he gave her after their separation until the end of her days. As for Beethoven, he dreamt and wrote love letters to his brother’s wife: letters that he never sent.

During the last years of his life, Beethoven only communicated with others through writing, and always had a notebook handy. Eventually, he remained completely without means and fell sick.

On March 26, 1827 a blizzard raged. While flashes of lighting blazed and thunder burst, an ailing Beethoven raised his fist towards the sky, an irrevocable rebel, and died. A river of thirty thousand people accompanied him to his final resting place, on the avenue of musicians, where Schubert also rested. Today people can understand what he meant when he once said, guided by his own experience: “Only he who thinks and acts nobly can bear the weight of adversity”.

 

 
 

 
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