He’s the towering musical genius who didn’t let his deafness prevent him from becoming one of the world’s greatest composers. Ludwig van Beethoven may have been born 250 years ago, but his story of ...

“My father’s abuse, an unhappy childhood, a life where I find no meaning without applause and am loved by no one, and the loss of hearing—a death sentence for a musician…. When such a fate drives me ...

The lives of the great composers continue to fascinate music lovers — though none, it could be argued, exert quite the fascination of Beethoven, who continues to attract biographers and commentators, ...

Freedom in Beethoven’s music takes many, frequently overlapping forms. There is heroic freedom in the Eroica (1803), freedom from political oppression in the Egmont Overture (1810), artistic freedom ...