Ludwig van Beethoven (1770–1827) was a great German composer and performer, one of the three (along with Haydn and Mozart) “Viennese classics”, a key figure in the transition period from classicism to the romantic era in classical music. The author of the presented biography traces , how genius and an all-consuming desire to create, despite personal instability and a devastating illness for a musician - deafness, raised the composer’s work to unprecedented heights of mastery. Beethoven's works amazed his contemporaries with their innovative courage and power, and to this day they remain among the most famous and performed in the world. The musical culture of mankind is forever divided into “before” and “after” Beethoven. Translation from French and comments by E. V. Kolodochkina Sign of information products 16+