This concise and beautifully illustrated assessment of Beethoven's life and work offers an excellent introduction to one of the world's most popular composers. Illuminating the obstacles that beset Beethoven throughout his life, not least his profound deafness, it shows how his genius overcame the difficulties he faced to provide his audiences and successive generations with some of the most glorious music the world has known. Augmented by the inclusion of circa 12 facsimile documents, the book shows through these pages of autograph scores, letters, posters, invoices and booklet extracts how Beethoven's life veered between the fascinating and the frustrating.
