Beethoven and Mozart
Ludwig van Beethoven was born in Bonn in 1770, fourteen years after Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart entered the world in Salzburg. The two cities sat roughly 900 kilometers apart across German-speaking Europe. Despite this distance, young Ludwig lived within a political sphere tied to Vienna, where Mozart had moved by 1781 to build his career. During his training years in Bonn, Beethoven played Mozart piano concertos with the court orchestra. He also performed as a viola player in productions of Mozart's operas. Lewis Lockwood noted that just as Mozart once told his father he was soaked in music, Beethoven was similarly immersed in Mozart's work. This exposure shaped his early compositional efforts so deeply that he once feared he had accidentally plagiarized the older master. A sketch leaf from October 1790 shows Beethoven writing down a C-minor passage and labeling it stolen from a Mozart symphony. He then rewrote the phrase slightly differently below it and signed it himself. Modern scholars cannot trace that specific passage to any known Mozart symphony.
Evidence regarding Beethoven's travel dates remained obscure for centuries until researchers examined the Regensburgische Diarium publication. Records indicate he arrived in Vienna in January 1787 and departed around March or April of that year. His return to Bonn came partly because his mother fell ill with tuberculosis and died in July. His father struggled with alcoholism while two younger brothers needed support at home. Written documentation about this initial visit is sparse enough that historians debate whether the composers ever met. Otto Jahn published an anecdote claiming Beethoven improvised before Mozart and impressed him. Jahn offered no evidence beyond stating the story came from good authority in Vienna. Ignaz von Seyfried described a similar encounter but placed it in 1790 instead of 1787. Contemporary scholarship remains skeptical about these accounts. The New Grove Dictionary states much remains uncertain about the journey's aims yet suggests they likely met. Some historians argue they never encountered each other at all. Maynard Solomon proposes Mozart may have auditioned the sixteen-year-old and rejected him due to financial worries and family obligations.
Otto Jahn gave an anecdote claiming that Beethoven had improvised before Mozart, and that the latter had been impressed. Jahn gives no evidence of this, mentioning only that it was communicated to me in Vienna on good authority. A contemporary of Beethoven's, Ignaz von Seyfried, describes his encounter with Mozart as follows although Seyfried places the visit in 1790. Beethoven made a short stay at Vienna, in the year 1790, whither he had gone for the sake of hearing Mozart, to whom he had letters of introduction. Beethoven improvised before Mozart, who listened with some indifference, believing it to be a piece learned by heart. Beethoven then demanded, with his characteristic ambition, a given theme to work out; Mozart, with a skeptical smile, gave him at once a chromatic motivo for a fugue. Beethoven was not intimidated, and worked out the subject, the secret intention of which he immediately perceived, at great length and with such remarkable originality and power that Mozart's attention was riveted. Contemporary scholarship is however somewhat skeptical of this story. The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians does not mention it. Some historians are skeptical that Mozart and Beethoven met at all. Eisen in his notes to Abert's biography of Mozart endorses this skepticism.
Beethoven wrote cadenzas WoO 58 to the first and third movements of Mozart's D minor piano concerto K. 466. He created four sets of variations on themes by Mozart including Se vuol ballare from The Marriage of Figaro for piano and violin WoO 40. Another set used Là ci darem la mano from Don Giovanni for two oboes and cor anglais WoO 28. Ein Mädchen oder Weibchen from The Magic Flute became the basis for a piece for piano and cello Op. 66. Bei Männern welche Liebe fühlen from the same opera inspired another work for piano and cello WoO 46. Quite late in his career Beethoven paid homage to Mozart by making a quotation from Don Giovanni the basis of the 22nd of the Diabelli Variations. This final movement opens with notes from Leporello's aria Notte e giorno faticar. These compositions demonstrate how deeply Beethoven engaged with specific melodies from Mozart's operas throughout his life.
Even after his death, Mozart's influence was apparent in the works of Beethoven. Charles Rosen sees Mozart's C minor Piano Concerto K. 491 as a model for Beethoven's 3rd Piano Concerto in the same key. The Quintet for Piano and Winds K. 452 served as a model for Beethoven's quintet for the same instruments Op. 16. A major String Quartet K. 464 influenced Beethoven's A major String Quartet Op. 18 No. 5. Robert Marshall identifies Mozart's Piano Sonata No. 14 in C minor K. 457 as the model for Beethoven's Pathétique Sonata Op. 13. Beethoven copied a passage from Mozart's 40th Symphony into the sketchbook he used when composing his Fifth Symphony. The third movement of that symphony opens with a theme similar to one from the Mozart work. These structural parallels show how Beethoven absorbed compositional techniques directly from his predecessor while developing his own distinct voice.
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Common questions
When did Ludwig van Beethoven first travel to Vienna to meet Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart?
Ludwig van Beethoven arrived in Vienna in January 1787 and departed around March or April of that year. Records indicate he returned to Bonn because his mother fell ill with tuberculosis and died in July.
Did Ludwig van Beethoven ever actually meet Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart according to historical records?
Written documentation about this initial visit is sparse enough that historians debate whether the composers ever met. Contemporary scholarship remains skeptical about accounts claiming they encountered each other, though The New Grove Dictionary suggests they likely met.
What specific musical works by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart did Ludwig van Beethoven compose cadenzas for?
Beethoven wrote cadenzas WoO 58 to the first and third movements of Mozart's D minor piano concerto K. 466. He also created four sets of variations on themes from Mozart including Se vuol ballare from The Marriage of Figaro and Là ci darem la mano from Don Giovanni.
How many years apart were Ludwig van Beethoven and Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart born?
Ludwig van Beethoven was born in Bonn in 1770, fourteen years after Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart entered the world in Salzburg. This age gap meant Beethoven was sixteen when he made his first documented attempt to visit Vienna in 1787.
Which compositions by Ludwig van Beethoven were directly modeled after works by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart?
Charles Rosen sees Mozart's C minor Piano Concerto K. 491 as a model for Beethoven's 3rd Piano Concerto in the same key. Robert Marshall identifies Mozart's Piano Sonata No. 14 in C minor K. 457 as the model for Beethoven's Pathétique Sonata Op. 13.