Beethoven’s publisher bundled his first three piano sonatas in one, in 1795. All of them were dedicated to his master Haydn. They shout the name Beethoven to the world, with all youthful energy the 25 years old composer could muster. Three years later he published his seventh, no longer needing to shout. His music had turned more inwards, and he was looking into the darkness that would never leave him.
Beethoven has always been portrayed as a cranky, self-centred man. He had little patience for the lesser people around him, and often showed his disdain for them. But was he really like that? His character and defiant behaviour was diametrically opposed to the habits of the aristocracy of Vienna, so all accounts we have of him are seen through that lens. They are the sources for these descriptions. Would we think of him in the same way now?