Ｂｅｅｔｈｏｖｅｎ

姜紅偉

貝多芬(1770—1827)，德國著名音樂家。20多歲時，因患耳聾病而喪失了聽覺，他也曾情緒低落、沉默寡言，可是他憑借著超乎尋常的毅力創作出了許多音樂佳作……

When Beethoven was in his twenties, he began to go deaf. The deafness changed his behavior. He became withdrawn and bad-tempered. His friends found him hard to be around. But he kept composing even when he lost all his hearing. The music he heard was in his head.

As 1809 drew to its close, Beethoven presented several major works. On the 22nd of December, he gave a concert which included the Fifth Symphony and the Piano Concerto in G(Op. 58). In May 1809 Haydn died. There was no one to challenge Beethovens right to be the musical king of Vienna. At the end of 1813, the Seventh Symphony was performed for the first time. Between 1819 and 1823 he composed his Ninth Symphony and some more piano Sonatas.

Beethoven died when he was 57 years old. He had composed over a hundred pieces. His music spanned two stages of music history. His early music was more formal. It followed certain steps and patterns. But his later music changed. The style is now called romantic music. This type of music is written to stir the listeners feelings. This romantic style changed the way people thought about music. Many later composers got new ideas from Beethovens musical discoveries.

Notes:

1.compose v. 創作

2.romantic adj. 浪漫的

根據短文內容，選擇最佳答案：

1. When Beethoven was in his twenties, he ____.

A. lost his hearing B. became a composer

C. lost his friends D. became angry easily

2. We can infer from the passage that Beethoven ____.

A. became completely deaf in 1809

B. gave several major works at the end of 1809

C. took the place of Haydn when he died

D. felt very happy when Haydn died

3. The underlined word “challenge” in Paragraph 2 can be replaced by “____”.

A. judge B. accept C. deny D. give

4. His later music is called ____ music.

A. formal B. romantic C. natural D. classical

5. Beethoven is a ____.

A. very easy man to get on with B. king of Vienna

C. great composer D. music fan

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