Excerpt
Ludwig did more than teach piano to the Breuning children. He in effect grew up as part of the Breuning household, becoming almost a surrogate member of the family. [. . .] It was there, also, that he first became acquainted with German literature, especially poetry. It is beyond doubt that he will have been introduced to the works of the two emerging giants of German literature, Goethe and Schille. He read Homer and Plutarch. He was trained too in social etiquette. He even went away on holiday with the family. Helene von Breuning clearly took him under her wing and made it her duty to fill in the gapsacademic and socialthat early exit from school and singular devotion to music had caused.
His father Johann remained of low standing, and was little more than a figure of ridicule. [. . .] Ludwig was in effect the family breadwinner. Given his fathers alcoholism, he was also de facto head of the household. This was before he was midway through his teens. The pressure he was under must have been enormous. He held a salaried position at court, which demanded serious work. He was continuing instruction with Neefe. At home he was witnessing his fathers increasing alcoholism and his mothers distress. This was made immeasurably worse by his mothers obviously declining health. She was showing all the signs of having contracted the deadly disease of consumption (tuberculosis).
And yet he found time to compose.