A Dictionary of Music and Musicians/Van den Eeden, Gilles

by George Grove

VAN DEN EEDEN, Gilles, Beethoven's first instructor in music. Of his birth and death nothing seems to be known, but he was doubtless son or nephew of Heinrich van den Eede, who in 1695 was Hofmusicus to the then Elector of Cologne. In 1722 the name occurs again as a vocalist, but the first certain mention of Gilles is in 1728, when he represents to the Elector that he has been employed as organist for a year and a half without pay, on which 100 gulden is allotted him, increased, on his further petition (July 5, 1729), to 200 gulden.^[1] He thus entered the Elector's service before Beethoven's grand-father. [See vol. i. p. 162 b]. In 1780 we find him as teacher to the little Ludwig: when the teaching began or of what it consisted beyond the organ is not known. There is reason to believe however that Beethoven had no instructor in composition before Neefe. He often spoke of his old teacher, with many stories which have not been preserved.^[2] In 1784 Van den Eeden's name has vanished from the lists. [App. p.807 "See also vol. ii. p. 450b, where the date of his death is given as June 29, 1782."]

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1. Thayer. i. 10, 17, 24. The name is spelt Vandeneet, and Van den Eede.
2. Thayer i. 114; Schindler (1st ed.) p. 19.