Beethoven’s childhood was not an easy one

One of the interesting facts about Ludwig van Beethoven that you may not know. Beethoven was at best a mediocre student who struggled with math and spelling throughout his life. Some biographers have theorized that Beethoven may have suffered moderate dyslexia. "Music comes to me more effortlessly than words," he said. Beethoven's first composition, a set of piano variations on a theme by an obscure classical composer named Dressler, was published when he was 12 years old. At the age of 10, Beethoven withdrew from school to devote his full attention to studying music with Christian Gottlob Neefe, the newly appointed Court Organist. Beethoven's father was no longer able to provide for his family by 1784 due to his severe alcoholism and deteriorating voice, and Beethoven publicly requested an appointment as Assistant Court Organist. Beethoven's request was granted despite his youth, and he was given a meager 150 florins per year as remuneration.

As his father was unable to support the family, Ludwig had to leave school at the age of 11 and eventually took on the role of family breadwinner at the age of 14. Beethoven's father started teaching him music with an incredible severity and harshness that would have an impact on him for the rest of his life somewhere between the births of his two younger siblings. According to neighbors, the little child sobbed as he played the clavier while standing on a footstool to reach the keys, and his father punished him for every pause or error. Beethoven was frequently spanked, imprisoned in the cellar, and denied sleep to allow for longer practice sessions. Along with his father, he took further tuition from local organists while studying the violin and clavier. Beethoven was an extraordinarily gifted musician from a young age, whether in spite of or because of his father's strict discipline.