Beethoven: Violin Sonata

In addition to the Academy-Award winning film Amadeus, another great film about the life of a composer is 1994's Immortal Beloved, which featured Gary Oldman as the great Ludwig van Beethoven. Most of the film focuses on Beethoven's secretary and his first biographer, Anton Schindler, who happens to find the famous "Immortal Beloved" letters shortly after Beethoven's death. The film then becomes a sort of "mystery" as Schindler goes off in search of who the elusive "Immortal Beloved" could be. During one scene of the film, Schindler is sitting in a parlor listening to the dress rehearsal of the world premiere of Beethoven's " Kreuzer" Violin Sonata. As the third movement is being played in the background, the composer arrives and discusses with Schindler the meaning of music. Music, in Beethoven's definition, should be powerful enough "to carry the listener into the mental state of the composer."