Ludwig van Beethoven

Ludwig van Beethoven (1770-1827) was a highly talented German composer and virtuoso pianist. He was a crucial figure in the transitional period between the Classical and Romantic eras in Western classical music, and remains one of the most respected and influential composers of all time. Beethoven's hearing gradually deteriorated beginning in his twenties, yet he continued to compose, and to conduct and perform, even after he was completely deaf.

Ludwig van Beethoven in In the Presence of Mine Enemies
Ludwig van Beethoven's music was approved by the German Reich. Susanna Weiss enjoyed listening to Beethoven's music while at work.

Ludwig van Beethoven in The Two Georges
While Ludwig van Beethoven's talent was already evident at a young age and was recognised by critics both in his lifetime and after, his entire life and career was indelibly marked and blighted by a single decision taken at the age of nineteen.

An idealistic youth, Beethoven was deeply shocked by Colonel Napoleon Bonaparte's massacre of the Parisian crowds which attempted to storm the notorious Bastille Prison on July 14, 1789, and was disgusted with the German petty rulers' smug congratulations to the French King for "the salvation of his throne".

Beethoven dedicated his newly-written symphony to "The Massacred Innocents". It was warmly embraced by the remnants of the French revolutionaries, driven deeply underground, and their sympathisers elsewhere in Europe - and conversely, all "respectable" people shied away from "The Radical Composer" who was briefly detained by police and kept under one kind or another of surveillance for the rest of his life, never managing to shake off this taint.

Even centuries after his death, the performance of Beethoven's works was considered a political act which established concert halls and orchestras shied away from.