Ludwig van Beethoven (English IPA: /ˆlŠdvg va¦n ˆbetoŠvn/; German IPA: [ˆlu?tvc fan ˆbe?tho?fn], (December 16, 1770 - March 26, 1827) was a German composer and virtuoso pianist. He was an important figure in the transitional period between the Classical and Romantic eras in Western classical music, and remains one of the most famous and influential composers of all time.

Born in Bonn, then in the Electorate of Cologne (now in modern day Germany), he moved to Vienna, Austria, in his early twenties and settled there, studying with Joseph Haydn and quickly gaining a reputation as a virtuoso pianist. Beethoven's hearing gradually deteriorated beginning in his twenties, yet he continued to compose masterpieces, and to conduct and perform, even after he was completely deaf.

Beethoven's parents were Johann van Beethoven (1740 in Bonn -1792) and Maria Magdalena Keverich (1744 in Ehrenbreitstein-1787). Magdalena's father Johann Heinrich Keverich had been Chef at the court of the Archbishopric of Trier at Festung Ehrenbreitstein fortress opposite to Koblenz. Beethoven was, like their first child Ludwig Maria, named after his father's father Lodewijk van Beethoven (1712-1773), a musician of Roman Catholic Flemish ancestry who was at one time Kapellmeister at the court of Clemens August of Bavaria, the Prince-Archbishop-Elector of Cologne, and who married Beethoven's grandmother Maria Josepha Ball (1714-1775) in 1733.

Beethoven was born in Bonn, Germany in 1770. Of the seven children born to Johann Beethoven, himself the only survivor of three, only second-born Ludwig and two younger brothers survived infancy. Beethoven was baptized on December 17, 1770. Although his birth date is not known for certain, his family celebrated his birthday on December 16.

Beethoven's first music teacher was his father, who was a tenor in the service of the Electoral court at Bonn. He was reportedly

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