On the night of Brexit, while some people were celebrating…

In my mother's belly, I remember not liking the tempi my father played the Beethoven Sonatas in.

— Daniel Barenboim

I went to bed on the night of Brexit, of that vote for leaving the E.U., and I said to everyone it will be…

— Roisin Murphy

Beethoven's last quartets were written by a deaf man and should only be listened to by a deaf man.

— Thomas Beecham

My wife and I just started listening to the late Beethoven Quartets together, an activity I recommend for all married couples, but that doesn't…

— Clive James

I would say that Beethoven's late string quartets are the nearest to God that we'll ever get.

— Sheila Hancock

In my early music-loving days, I thought Beethoven was a bit bombastic, a bit heroic, a bit, well, big.

— Sheila Hancock

I was struck during the Brexit debate by how little discussion there was about the origins of the concept of a united Europe.

— Sheila Hancock

I shall never forget Juliek. How could I forget this concert given before an audience of the dead and dying? Even today, when I…

— Elie Wiesel

“You'll have a good, secure life when being alive means more to you than security, love more than money, your freedom more than public…

— Wilhelm Reich

The point of recapitulation in the first movement of Beethoven's Ninth Symphony unleashes one of the most horrifyingly violent episodes in the history of…

— Susan McClary

“He had said it bravely, and that is why one can trust Beethoven when he says other things.”

— E.M. Forster

“That Beethoven was capable of producing the ultimate musical definition of heroism in this context is itself extraordinary, for he was able to evoke…

— Maynard Solomon

And now, in honour of the 150th anniversary of Beethoven's death, I would like to play 'Clear the Saloon', er, 'Clair de Lune', by…

— Victor Borge

I believe so, but at first he must know. He must know in which spirit Beethoven has composed this piece. He must try to…

— Kurt Masur

For me, musicians are poets. Beethoven describes himself as a poet of tones, just like Coltrane's a poet of tempo.

— Cornel West