Why Beethoven

One composer towers above all others. Mozart may have better tunes and Schubert more perfect songs, but Beethoven stands for values that no-one believed music could express. He wrote music that was near-unplayable and above general comprehension. He refused sponsorship from powerful politicians and threw open the premiere of his ninth symphony to the ordinary people of Vienna. He suffered the worst affliction to befall a musician - total deafness - and surmounted it with works and ideas that remain as challenging today as when he wrote them.

Who was Beethoven? Did he really write that ringtone 'Für Elise'? Was he, possibly, non-white? As the Symphony Orchestra of India undertakes a cycle of the complete symphonies, author Norman Lebrecht takes us behind the flurry of myths and fanciful anecdotes to reveal Beethoven as a universal hero of the human condition. 

Renowned music critic and author Norman Lebrecht has shaped classical music discourse through landmark books such as The Maestro Myth and Maestros, Masterpieces and Madness. He also runs the influential website The Slipped Disc, offering incisive commentary, breaking news, and an unflinching look at the triumphs and scandals of the music world.