If any composer deserves the name of revolutionary it is Beethoven.

He carried through what was probably the greatest single revolution

in modern music and changed the way music was composed and
listened to. This is music that does not calm, but shocks and disturbs.
Alan Woods describes how the world into which Beethoven was born
was a world in turmoil, a world in transition, a world of wars,
revolution and counter-revolution: a world like our own world.

"Beethoven is the friend and contemporary of the French Revolution, and he remained faithful
to it even when, during the Jacobin dictatorship, humanitarians with weak nerves of the Schiller
type turned from it, preferring to destroy tyrants on the theatrical stage with the help of
cardboard swords. Beethoven, that plebeian genius, who proudly turned his back on emperors,
princes and magnates - that is the Beethoven we love for his unassailable optimism, his virile
sadness, for the inspired pathos of his struggle, and for his iron will which enabled him to seize
destiny by the throat." (Igor Stravinsky)

If any composer deserves the name of revolutionary it is Beethoven. The word

revolution derives historically from the discoveries of Copernicus, who
established that the earth revolves around the sun, and thus transformed the way
we look at the universe and our place in it. Similarly, Beethoven carried through
what was probably the greatest single revolution in modern music. His output
was vast, including nine symphonies, five piano concertos and others for violin,
string quartets, piano sonatas, songs and one opera. He changed the way music
was composed and listened to. Right to the end, he never ceased pushing music
to its limits.
After Beethoven it was impossible to go back to the old days when music was
regarded as a soporific for wealthy patrons who could doze through a symphony
and then go home quietly to bed. After Beethoven, one no longer returned from a

concert humming pleasant tunes. This is music that does not calm, but shocks
and disturbs. it is music that makes you think and feel