Beethoven 250

A portrait of Ludwig van Beethoven, painted in 1804 by W.J. Mähler. Wikimedia Commons hide caption

Portrait of Beethoven by Joseph Karl Stieler, ca. 1818. Wikimedia Commons hide caption

Sir John Eliot Gardiner and the Orchestre Révolutionnaire et Romantique are performing all nine of Beethoven's symphonies in a series of concerts celebrating the composer's 250th birthday. Chris Lee/Courtesy of the artist hide caption

German composer and pianist Ludwig van Beethoven (1770 - 1827), painted by Kloeber circa 1805. Hulton Archive/Getty Images hide caption

In 1959, Beethoven's Ninth Symphony was performed for the first time by an all-Chinese orchestra and sung in Mandarin. Courtesy of China National Symphony Orchecstra hide caption

A Chinese student at the 1989 Tiananmen Square protests, where speakers playing Beethoven's Ninth Symphony were rigged up to drown out government broadcasts. Battle Hymns Productions hide caption

Violinist Joshua Bell conducts the Academy of St. Martin in the Fields by doing what comes naturally to him. The celebrated soloist is also the London orchestra's music director. Chris Chrisodoulou/Sony Classical hide caption

An autographed portrait of Ludwig van Beethoven. Hulton Archive/Getty Images hide caption

The players in the Belcea Quartet played a series of late Beethoven string quartets at Carnegie Hall's Zankel Hall. Melanie Burford/NPR hide caption

The Budapest String Quartet in 1919. Wikimedia Commons hide caption

The Emerson Quartet play Beethoven at the Savannah Music Festival. From left: Philip Setzer, Eugene Drucker, David Finckel and Lawrence Dutton Frank Stewart/Savannah Music Festival hide caption