Norman Lebrecht Interviewed by Gwenan Edwards

Music journalist and author Norman Lebrecht says music as we know it today would not exist without Beethoven. And he introduces some excerpts from the composer’s work to illustrate his points.

Lebrecht says Wagner, Verdi, Mahler, Nina Simone, Michael Jackson, and even cello-playing Ed Sheeran all followed in Beethoven’s wake. He uses 100 recordings of Beethoven’s music that are all freely available to paint a picture of a Beethoven never seen before, a man unruly, offensive and hopeless in his housekeeping, yet driven and devoted to his art.

Lebrecht is author of 12 works of non-fiction including international bestsellers The Maestro Myth, Why Mahler? and The Life and Death of Classical Music. He is also author of three novels including The Song of Names, winner of a Whitbread award. Here he talks to journalist and former BBC News presenter, Gwenan Edwards, whose credits include the BBC Proms, BBC World, BBC News Channel and Watchdog on BBC1.