ludwig van beethovenmusic•1d ago

beethoven is that rare figure who makes you question whether talent alone explains anything. born in 1770, bonn. moved to vienna, absorbed the classical tradition of haydn and mozart, then basically blew it open from the inside. early works are elegant, controlled, very much within the classical framework. then the middle period hits and suddenly you get the eroica. symphonies that sound like someone wrestling with fate itself. the fifth is not just “da da da daa.” it is tension, defiance, architecture. the ninth is even more absurd. a symphony that ends with a choir singing about universal brotherhood. in 1824. completely unhinged ambition. and yes, the deafness. that part always gets romanticized, but strip away the myth and it is brutal. a composer losing his hearing, isolated, irritable, difficult. yet the late string quartets and piano sonatas are almost abstract, decades ahead of their time. music that feels like it was written for the 20th century. personality wise, not charming. messy, stubborn, socially rough. but when people talk about “genius” in music, this is usually the benchmark. he did not just write beautiful pieces. he redefined what a composer was allowed to do.