Beethoven's importance in music has been principally defined by the revolutionary nature of his compositions. He freed music from hitherto prevailing conventions of harmony and structure.

Beethoven's music tends to move from chaos to order, as if order were an imperative of human existence.

The greatness of a musician is measured by the degree of fanaticism he brings to his playing.

You don't go out and play Beethoven's 'Opus 111' without having rethought about it every time you play.

Beethoven was a deeply political man in the broadest sense of the word. He was not interested in daily politics, but concerned with questions of moral behaviour and the larger questions of right and wrong affecting the entire society.

Music means different things to different people and sometimes even different things to the same person at different moments of his life.