Beethoven Ludwig van Beethoven was, and remains today, an Olympian figure in the history of classical music. His influence on the last 150 years of music is unequalled; while generaly a member of the Classicist fold, he was in fact the first Romantic, and pre-figured virtually all music that followed the Romantic era as well. Perhaps no other composer in history wrote music of such exhilarating power and expressiveness; certainly no other composer did so against …showed first 75 words of 705 total…

…showed last 75 words of 705 total…did not write completed works in his head - he slaved over each composition, filling innumerable sketchbooks with his struggles to produce perfection. For this reason - combined with his lifelong policy of taking only the best commissions - he was far less prolific than Mozart. But no matter - the music he did leave us, from solo to chamber to orchestral works, is the most substantial and profoundly moving expression we may ever hear.