2. Beethoven is the composer of the most influential pieces of music ever written. Beethoven created a bridge between the 18th-century classical period and the new beginnings of Romanticism. His greatest breakthroughs in composition came in his instrumental work, including his symphonies. Beethoven started a rolling wheel of Romanticism. He wrote music to be jubilant at a time when he felt like it. He also showed what no other composer had shown before. He showed that music can exist in the mind and not on paper. He was the first to use non-functional chords to express emotion.

The influence of such musicians as Mozart and Haydn is evident in Beethoven’s early chamber music, as well as in his first two piano concerti and his first symphony. Beethoven added his own subtleties, including sudden changes of dynamics, but in general the music was well constructed.

He was the most influential composer for later romantics, like Berlioz, Schubert, Schumann, and even Wagner. His style was so progressive that it took decades to catch up with him.

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