The life and music of Beethoven still fascinate classical music lovers, new and old. His many symphonies, sonatas, concertos, string quartets, and his one opera enchant audiences, challenge performers, engage students, and support scholars in their work. In Experiencing Beethoven, music historian Geoffrey Block explores in laymans terms a highly representative body of about two dozen Beethoven instrumental and vocal works, offering listeners who know him well, or are just discovering him, an opportunity to grasp the breadth and depth of his musical genius.

Designed for those unversed in musical terminology or theory, Experiencing Beethoven places the composers works within the evolving context of his personal and professional life and social and cultural milieu. Block sheds light on the public and private audiences of Beethovens music, from the concerts for the composers own financial benefit to the debut of the Eroica Symphony at the palace of Prince Lobkowitz to the historic public premiere of his Ninth Symphony.

Experiencing Beethoven paints a portrait of the composers youth in Bonn, his early triumphs and artistic maturation in Vienna, anddespite the challenges his music posed to his contemporaries the recognition he received during his lifetime as the most acclaimed composer of the era. Block conveys the range and scope of Beethovens achievement, from his heroic style to his lyricism, grappling throughout with the composers power to communicate his idealistic musical vision to listeners in both his time and ours. Finally, Experiencing Beethoven explores why Beethovens music continues to enjoy an unwavering appeal in an age saturated with a range of musical styles.