Beethoven's father was careless and improvident. His salary of
300 florins, about $145, was all they had upon which to live. The
mother was the daughter of a cook and the widow of a _valet de chambre_
to one of the Electors. She was kind-hearted, of pleasant temper and
lovable disposition, and the affection between mother and son was deep
and lasting. The father was stern, and a strict disciplinarian, as so
often happens in such cases. He was determined that the son should do
better than himself, being willing to furnish the precept, if not the
example.
Reared in this school of adversity the boy had a hard life. His father
was his first teacher, teaching him both violin and clavier. He began
with him as early as his fourth year; he seems to have been aware of the
boy's ability, but had no consideration, and was a hard taskmaster.
Before he was nine years of age, however, the boy's progress was so
great that the father had no more to teach him.
In those times the musical life centered about the Court. Beethoven
studied the organ under the court organist, Van den Eeden, an old friend
of his grandfather's.
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