As the author, Sir George Grove, states in his preface to this book, it is intended to provide analysis and explanation of Beethoven's symphonies for the amateur musician or music lover.

San Francisco Symphony's music director, Michael Tilson Thomas, retraces Beethoven's steps through Vienna's aristocratic ballrooms and Austria's rustic villages, exploring how Beethoven channeled his fears of deafness, his admiration for Napoleon, and his obsession to prove himself the greatest composer of his time and to write the Eroica. Includes a live performance of Beethoven's Eroica by the San Francisco Symphony conducted by Michael Tilson...