Luudwig van Beethoven

Ludwig van Beethoven (1770–1827) was a Classical era composer who made a name for himself a pianist before succeeding as a composer.

Beethoven is most famous for his nine symphonies. In comparison to other historical musicians, he tried very hard to separate himself from his contemporaries. Aided by his straddling of the Classical and Romantic eras, some consider this to be part of his "timelessness" — where many composers are still revered, they are usually recognised as "out of date."

Beethoven was noted for his poor social skills and bad temper, partially due to his worsening deafness being misinterpreted as rudeness — Beethoven, ashamed of his hearing, would often prefer to ignore people than to ask them to repeat themselves.

Only after Beethoven's death did the performance of music by deceased composers begin to take off.