From the brink of breaking point to Glory - Beethoven

Beethoven, despite his increasing deafness, by 1802 Beethoven was almost at breaking point. On a retreat to Heiligenstadt, just outside Vienna, he wrote: “I would have ended my life – it was only my art that held me back. Ah, it seemed to me impossible to leave the world until I had brought forth all that I felt was within me.” It’s known as the ‘Heiligenstadt Testament’, and was published in 1828.

He reinvented the symphony, reshaped string quartets, and redefined piano sonatas - but there's much more to learn about Ludwig van Beethoven, the man who changed music forever.