A composer of the Classical and Romantic eras. Ludwig van Beethoven had a very poor and unhappy childhood. He began piano lessons at age four. When Ludwig turned eight his father decided to make money from his son’s talent. He presented Ludwig as a concert pianist and advertised that the eight-year-old Ludwig was only six years old. Although Ludwig was never a successful child performer like his father had hoped, by 14 he was quite a good musician and became the assistant org

A composer of the Romantic era. Like many other composers, Frederic began playing piano as a child. He was extremely talented. By age eight, he was performing in concerts with orchestras, and had begun to compose music for the piano. At age 15 his Rondo for Piano was published and he entered the Warsaw Conservatory of music. In 1892 9age19) he moved to Vienna, Austria, where he performed as a concert pianist, and where he had access to the many music publishers located there.

A composer of the Baroque era. Both of Johann Sebastian’s Bach’s parent’s died before he turned ten. After their deaths, Johann lived with his older brother Christoph, a church organist, who taught Johann harpsichord and organ. For most of his life, Johann Sebastian Bach was a church musician, beginning as a boy soprano in a church choir. After his voice changed, he became a violinist in a church orchestra at Lunenberg, near Hamburg, Germany. As a teenager, Bach often travele