Ludwig van Beethoven (Germany, 1770-1827)

Ludwig van Beethoven (b. Bonn, 17 December 1770; d. Vienna, 26 March 1827) is probably the most admired composer in the history of Western music. He emerged in the Classical period and then went on to lay the foundations for the Romantic era, and has had a profound influence over every subsequent generation of musicians. A deliberate iconoclast who reached his maturity in the age of Enlightenment and Revolution, Beethoven is perhaps the earliest artist whose music was audibly shaped-often on a titanic scale-by his philosophical and political attitudes. Although largely cut off from personal communication by his deafness, he remained committed to the idea of liberty and brotherhood, as he so powerfully expressed in his Third "Eroica" and Ninth "Ode to Joy" Symphonies.... read more