Madaboutbeethoven front page

John Suchet explains what drove him to study the life and works of Beethoven

Beethoven's life: a complete and in-depth chronology

NEW Beethoven's family - fascinating biographies with pictures

NEW Beethoven's Vienna and beyond - a tour of the places he knew

The Last Master trilogy - John Suchet explains how and why he wrote a fictional account of Beethoven's life

More about the trilogy books - and how to order them

Beethoven bulletins - an article profiling John Suchet and his passion for the master composer

NEW Tour dates for The Last Master talks given by John Suchet

Coming soon to the madaboutbeethoven site

Get in touch - let us know what you think about the site and what you want to see in the future

Listen to the opening part of Beethoven's Fifth Symphony

It has been visited by Beethoven enthusiasts in 27 countries, who have e-mailed more than 500 messages, comments and suggestions to the site.

ITN's award-winning journalist and television news anchorman John Suchet - author of the remarkable Beethoven trilogy, The Last Master - brings you his unrivalled personal knowledge of Beethoven's life: the great composer's passion, his anger, his pain, his glory.

Please bookmark the site and keep coming back - we will be adding a lot more material very soon.

            

LUDWIG VAN BEETHOVEN (1770 - 1827) is arguably the greatest composer who ever lived. Who doesn't know something about Beethoven, even if it's only that he's the one who composed the Fifth Symphony with its famous opening bars - surely the best known bars of music ever composed - and that he went deaf.

This site will tell you about his music, but it will also tell you about his life. His family, friends, patrons; where he lived, how he lived, where he used to eat and drink.

John Suchet uses his own unique set of photographs of Beethoven sites - his homes, taverns he frequented, locations associated with him - to bring you an unequalled insight into his life.

You will also find John's own rare and precious map of Vienna as Beethoven knew it - published in 1827, the final year of his life, by Artaria, his first music publisher in Vienna. You will find portraits and biographies of his family, and in time his patrons and friends ... as well, of course, as his music.

MadaboutBeethoven aims to become the most comprehensive site anywhere about Beethoven. It is a site for you, Beethoven fans, and it welcomes your comments. Enjoy discovering the man behind the greatest music ever written.

JOHN SUCHET is one of Britain's best known television newscasters. He's also the author of the best-selling trilogy on Beethoven's life, The Last Master.

Over almost a decade John and his wife Bonnie travelled to practically everywhere that Beethoven knew - from Bonn to Vienna, the Austrian countryside that Beethoven loved so much, Prague and Bohemia.

He is now acknowledged as one of the foremost authorities on the life and works of Beethoven.

When away from the television studio, John is kept increasingly busy giving talks about Beethoven with live musical accompaniment at theatres and concert halls around Britain.

© John Suchet