Beethoven and Mozart

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756–1791) had a powerful influence on the works of Ludwig van Beethoven (1770–1827). Beethoven held Mozart in high regard. Some of his music recalls Mozart’s; he composed several variations on Mozart’s themes and he modeled a number of his compositions on those of the older composer. Whether the two men ever actually met remains a matter of speculation among scholars. Beethoven’s years in Bonn Beethoven was born in Bonn in 1770, about 14 years after Mozart (born Salzburg, 1756). In 1781, during Beethoven’s childhood, Mozart had moved from Salzburg to Vienna, the Austrian imperial capital, to pursue his career. While Bonn was politically and culturally affiliated to Vienna, it was geographically even more remote than Salzburg, lying around 900 km distant on the opposite side of German-speaking Europe. During his youth and musical training in Bonn, Beethoven had extensive, intimate exposure to Mozart’s music. He played Mozart piano concertos with the Bonn court orchestra and performed (playing viola) in Mozart’s operas. Lewis Lockwood writes, “Just as Mozart had once told his father that he was ‘soaked in music’, so Beethoven was soaked in Mozart.” In Beetho