Ludwig van Beethoven’s Rare Handwritten Letter Found    [20-01-2012] Ludwig van Beethoven was a German composer and pianist. He was born in 1770 and died in 1827. Although he passed away a long time ago, he is still remembered as one of the greatest musicians in history. He composed a large number of masterpieces such as the short piano piece “For Elise엘리제를 위하여,” “Moonlight Sonata월광소나타,” and “Symphony No. 5 In C Minor (Destiny)운명 교향곡.” Recently, a rare handwritten letter by the great composer was discovered in Germany. The letter was written in July 1823, just four years before his death. He was 53 years old then. Beethoven wrote the letter to his fellow composer Franz Stockhausen. In the six-paged letter, Beethoven complained of his low salary and illness. He asked his friend to help him find wealthy people to sponsor his latest composition “Missa Solemnis미사 솔렘니스.” It is considered to be his most significant piece of work. The famous composer wrote that his deafness contributed to his financial problems. “My low salary and my illness demand efforts to make a better fortune,” wrote Beethoven. Sadly, despite having a reputation as one of Europe’s top composers, he never got paid enough for his remarkable talent. After his death, anything written by Beethoven commanded a high price. This letter is valued at 100,000 euros (about 140 million won).     출처: 어린이 영자신문 키즈타임즈 (www.kidstimes.net)