An intimate portrait of a great composer

From 1795 to 1816, inflation was so rampant in Vienna, because of the Napoleonic Wars, that Ludwig van Beethoven's fortune shrank 40 times. Today, the average European is suffering from depression, uncertainty and anger because of the coronavirus crisis, but virtually none of us could possibly realize what it would be like to live in Beethoven's times.

Obviously, crises do not prevent the creation of masterpieces (if they do not actually encourage it) and during this tumultuous period Beethoven was busy creating a body of work that inspires the notion of perfection through the sense of hearing (the same sense that he himself, ironically and tragically enough, began to lose after his 30s). We don't really know the composer's exact date of birth, but it is certified that he was baptized on December 17, 1770 in Bonn and his biographers assume that he was born the day before.

Continue reading on: