Mystery based on the search for the identity of the one great love of composer Ludwig van Beethoven. Following Beethoven's death, his mentor begins searching for Beethoven's one great love, which he alluded to in his last testament as his "immortal beloved."

Examines the life of eighteenth-century composer Ludwig van Beethoven, discussing his difficult childhood, early gift for music, volatile personality, hearing loss, and the influence of other composers on his work. Includes twenty-one related activities.

Discusses the life and career of the nineteenth-century Austrian composer.

At first, ten-year-old Christoph resents the eccentric boarder who enters his home, but slowly he comes to understand the torment of Ludwig van Beethoven's deafness, and appreciate his genius and the beauty of his music.

The stories of the lives of the great composers are told, including interviews with musical scholars, readings of their letters, and studio performances of their works.

Complete with a 50-minute CD of excerpts from his most revered works, a picture book provides a comprehensive look at the life, times, inspirations, and accomplishments of one of the world's most celebrated composers.

"Music critic Matthew Guerrieri reaches back before Beethoven's time to examine what might have influenced him in writing his Fifth Symphony, and forward into our own time to describe the ways in which the Fifth has, in turn, asserted its influence."--

Just before his death, Sanford Friedman completed this, his final novel, something entirely different from anything he, or for that matter anyone, had written before - Conversations with Beethoven, a moving meditation on greatness and pettiness, vulnerability and genius, that is as elegiac as it is witty and engaging.

Beethoven's extraordinary ability to compose great music despite severe health problems, including deafness and depression, has puzzled and inspired. The author looks at the relationship between Beethoven's health and creativity to show how the composer was able to transcend physical and emotional torment to produce some of the most powerful and beautiful music in Western culture.

A fascinating and in-depth exploration of how the Enlightenment, the French Revolution, and Napoleon shaped Beethoven's political ideals and inspired his groundbreaking compositions. Beethoven imbibed Enlightenment and revolutionary ideas in his hometown of Bonn, where they were fervently discussed in cafes and at the university. Moving to Vienna at the age of 21 to study with Haydn, he gained renown as a brilliant pianist and innovative composer....