I am indebted to Beethoven for more reasons than I could possibly list. As a kid, I was obsessed with rock music and one night, around the age of 8 or 9 I stole one of my father’s classical CDs (Beethoven’s Emperor Piano Concerto). Although this was more to annoy him than for any other reason, this single act changed everything for me. Listening to the second movement of this piece was the first time I cried to a piece of music and, from that moment on, classical music became my life.

Although the following random thoughts may come across as being a bit pretentious it is what it is.

Download

I spent far too many nights waiting at the cashpoint at 11.58pm willing the ATM’s internal clock to flip over the midnight mark and allow me to withdraw yet more cash to buy drugs . I realise how much time, energy and money I could have saved by curling up on the sofa with a cigarette, a really nice cup of coffee and one of Beethoven’s many masterpieces.

Try this: the next time it’s all too much and you feel like punching someone, spending money on something you don’t need, or banging your head against the wall, go to the iTunes store instead and download a copy of LVB’s piano sonata Op 78 in F sharp major. It’s under ten minutes long and Glenn Gould’s interpretation is one of the best performances. Whack it on your iPod and go sit in the car (the last bastion of privacy and space in most households). Close your eyes and just listen.

Redemption

Beethoven was the product of appalling circumstances — almost beaten to death twice by his drunken father as a child, deaf, chronically ill, bi-polar and with a need to express himself so fervently that it almost killed him. Out of this nightmare came music that is immortal, ethereal, redemptive and timeless. Listen to his Third Symphony (the Eroica). It’s an hour-long commitment but will take you through just about every emotion known to Man and rocket you into a fourth dimension.

Feelings

Beethoven raged against the machine for all of his life. He helped to create the modern world as we know it and was the first composer truly to make the transition from Classicism to Romanticism. His music was all about feelings. It was not about what the “man” (Church/state/patrons) wanted. It was music that came from his soul and demanded to be heard.

I took drugs to escape from my inner self and realise now that I had been running in the wrong direction. Immerse yourself in Beethoven and what you’re really doing is throwing yourself into your own soul and allowing his music to open the door so that you can see what’s there. Once I’d done it a few times I found that it is not the dark, disgusting place I always thought it had been. Try the violin concerto or G minor cello sonata and allow it to guide you.

God

I despised the notion of God for years. I still struggle hugely with organised religion. But listening to Beethoven’s works is unequivocal proof that there is something out there bigger, stronger and more profound than the sum of our parts. Take the last three piano sonatas, numbers 30-32. Each one is a voyage of discovery, a witnessing and exploration of a higher self and a sense of utter timelessness. At moments (especially in the last movement of Op 111, the very last sonata he wrote) time appears to stand still, even when notes are being played.

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