Takes a comprehensive look at the composer's life through his musical output while documenting each piece of music chronologically and marrying it to Beethoven's biography and letters. Delving beyond the image of the tortured, cantankerous and unhinged personality, the film addresses the romantic myth that Beethoven was a heroic, tormented figure battling to overcome his tragic fate, struck down by deafness who searched for his 'immortal beloved' but remained unmarried.