ABSTRACT
The name of Christian Gottlob Neefe would probably have been long since forgotten but for his connection with Ludwig van Beethoven. Neefe succeeded van den Eeden as Court organist in 1781, to the disappointment of the Beethovens, who had hoped that Ludwig, already assistant, would step into the post. From Neefe himself came the first printed notice of Beethoven. Writing to "Cramer's Magazine," on March 2nd, 1783, concerning the musical life of Bonn, he said. Mozart is content to round off the phrase with a conventional cadence. The delicately tinkling clavichord was just giving way to the new instrument whose very name was derived from its ability to produce both soft and loud tones. The pianoforte sonatas having been used to illustrate some of Beethoven's developments, this is perhaps a convenient moment to discuss in some detail a point that has been already mentioned—his frequently unsatisfactory writing for the keyboard.
