Beethoven Meets Neefe

In 1782, eleven-year-old Ludwig van Beethoven began studying under Christian Gottlob Neefe, the newly appointed Court Organist in Bonn. Neefe introduced Beethoven to Bach's Well-Tempered Clavier, taught him composition and thoroughbass, and entrusted him as assistant court organist during summer absences. By 1783, Neefe arranged publication of Beethoven's first composition, the Nine Variations on a March by Dressler, and wrote publicly that a "second Mozart" was developing in Bonn.