His Ninth Symphony is called the "Choral" Symphony because there is a choir and soloists in the last movement. At the time people did not understand this either, because a symphony is normally a work for orchestra, not a work with singers. Beethoven chose the words of a poem by the German poet Friedrich Schiller: "An die Freude" ("Ode to Joy"). It is all about living together in peace and harmony, so that it sends an important message to people. This is why it has been chosen in recent years as the National Anthem for the European Union. The Ninth Symphony was performed at a concert on May 7, 1824. After the scherzo movement the audience applauded enthusiastically, but Beethoven could not hear the applause and one of the singers had to turn him round so that he could see that people were clapping.
Beethoven died on March 26, 1827. About 20,000 people came onto the streets for his funeral. The famous poet Franz Grillparzer wrote the funeral speech. One of the torchbearers was Franz Schubert. Schubert died the next year. In 1888 Beethoven’s and Schubert’s remains were moved to another cemetery in Vienna and were placed side by side.
Beethoven’s music is usually divided into three periods: Early, Middle and Late. Most composers who live a long time develop as they get older and change their way of composing. Of course, these changes in style are not sudden, but they are quite a good way of understanding the different periods of his composing life.
His first period includes the works he wrote in his youth in Bonn, and his early days in Vienna up to about 1803. His middle period starts with the Eroica Symphony and includes most of his orchestral works. His last period includes the Ninth Symphony and the late string quartets.
Beethoven is probably the most famous of all composers, and the most written about. He had a wild personality and this was something that the Romantics in the 19th century always expected from great artists. The Romantics thought that the artist was somehow a person with exaggerated qualities who was not like normal people. Beethoven had a very strong personality. He lived in the time of the French Revolution and had strong views on independence and ways of living free from tyranny. This made him a hero in many people’s eyes.
His music was so famous that many composers in the 19th century found it quite hard to compose because they thought they would be compared to him. For example, Johannes Brahms, took a long time to write his First Symphony. He thought that everyone was expecting him to be the next Beethoven. It was only towards the end of the 19th century that Gustav Mahler wrote several symphonies which include singing, although he does this very differently to Beethoven.
Roald Amundsen
Roald Amundsen was a Norwegian explorer who focused on the poles. He led the first expedition to reach the South Pole and the first that could prove it made it to the North Pole. Amundsen was also the first man known to travel the Northwest Passage.
When Amundsen was young, he decided he would use his life to explore the wilderness. He was inspired by the lives of Fridtjof Nansen and John Franklin. While his mother was alive he did not go to sea, to keep a promise to her. After her death, he quit university to begin exploring the world at 21 years old.
In 1897, he went on the Belgian Antarctic Expedition as first mate. This was the first expedition to stay over winter at Antartica, since their ship got stuck in the ice preventing them from leaving.
In 1903, Amundsen led the first expedition to make it through the Northwest Passage.
In October 1911, he began his expedition to Antarctica with four other men in attempt to be the first man to reach the South Pole. Robert Falcon Scott, an explorer from Britain, arrived in Antarctica with his own team only days after Amundsen. Both explorers raced to the South Pole, but Amundsen and his men used skis and dog sleds for transportation. This was more efficient. On 14 December 1911, Amundsen successfully became the first man to reach the South Pole.
In 1926, Amundsen and his men made it to the North Pole. Three other expeditions claimed to make it before then, but their claims have not been verified. Two of them have been considered fraud. This may make Amundsen and his men the first to reach the North Pole.
He disappeared in June 1928 while taking part in a rescue mission.
Christopher Columbus
Christopher Columbus (1451–1506) was a Genoese trader, explorer, and navigator. He was born in Genoa, Italy, in the year 1451. "Christopher Columbus" is the English version of Columbus's name. His real name in Italian was Cristoforo Colombo
In 1492 Columbus landed on an island of the Bahamas, the first European to do so. His initial goal was to find a quicker route to Asia from Europe. He is credited with the discovery of the New World because his voyage started the era of European colonialism in the Americas. This was an important moment in European history. While Leif Erikson was the first European to land on the soils of America it was not well documented and did not lead to the later contact between Europe and the New World. The effects was the bringing over of livestock, disease, crops and slaves
When the Spanish learned that Columbus had found a New World, many other people, called conquistadors, went there too. This led to the Spanish colonization of the Americas.
Columbus died on 20 May 1506, in Valladolid, Spain.
Columbus was not the first European person to have discovered America. At the time of his voyage, Europeans did not know that the Americas existed. However, Leif Erikson, around 1000 AD had landed in present-day Canada. This discovery had no impact on European history and was not well documented. Columbus discovered America in the sense that he was the first person to create repeated exploration and contact with the New World. Another point is that Native Americans had been living there for thousands of years before he arrived. However, Native Americans did not record or contribute to the European record of history for obvious reasons. Columbus, therefore, "discovered" America in context of European history.
Many people in Western Europe wanted to find a shorter way to get to Asia. Columbus thought he could get to Asia by sailing west. He did not know about the Western Hemisphere, so he did not realize it would block him from getting to Asia.
However, Columbus did not have enough money to pay for this voyage on his own. After defeating the Emirate of Granada, the rulers of Spain, Ferdinand II and Isabella I of Castile, agreed to pay for the voyage. He promised to bring back gold and spices for them.
In August 1492, Columbus and his sailors left Spain in three ships: the "Santa María" (the Holy Mary), the "Pinta" (the Painted), and the "Santa Clara" (nicknamed the "Niña": the Little Girl).
The three ships were very small. Historians think that the largest ship, the "Santa María", was only about long, and about 16 to 19 feet (4.8 to 5.8 metres) wide.
Columbus's other ships were even smaller. Historians think they were about long.
On October 12, 1492, after sailing for about four months, Columbus landed on a small island in the Bahamas. The natives called it Guanahani; Columbus renamed it San Salvador Island ("Holy Savior"). He met Arawek and Taíno Native Americans who lived on the island. They were friendly and peaceful towards Columbus and his crew. Not knowing where he was, and thinking that he had reached Asia, the "Indies," he called them "Indians." He claimed their land as Spain's.
Columbus then sailed to what is now Cuba, then to Hispaniola. On Hispaniola, Columbus built a fort. This was one of the first European military bases in the Western Hemisphere. He called it Navidad (Spanish for "Christmas"). He left thirty-nine crew members there, and ordered them to find and store the gold.
On the day he landed in the Bahamas, Columbus wrote about the Arawaks and Taíno: