"He's prepared to share his life with you more than any other composer.

[BeyondGeography]

He's prepared to show all the bad parts as well. And, because of that, I think you learn more about your own life."

I'll watch any documentary/film on Beethoven and this is one of my favorites, as it really gets down to the essence of his work, telling us how and why his music continues to move so many of us so deeply. The only weakness is it doesn't doesn't identify the commentators, so I can't say who said the quote above, which hit the mark for me. As did this, from Michael Tilson-Thomas: "This man, who had a stormy and difficult life with a lot of conflict in it returns again and again in his most important pieces and at the most telling moments to a kind of deep, grateful, hymn-like utterance. As if to say life is good, it's all worth it."