Category: Beethoven and Bach...

hearing famous musicians play Beethoven's Kreutzer Sonata or the Ode to Joy of the Ninth Symphony or Bach's Brandenburg Concertos
Beethoven's romantic grandeur, as that of the storms of air and sea
Beethoven communicates a credo so effectively that the listener finds the courage he needs to reaffirm his own belief in the purpose of life. Beethoven stiffens the fiber of our commitment in a language that is beauty itself, in a statement as open as a Greek temple. (L. Maazel)
Bach is the supreme genius of music...this man, who knows everything and feels everything, cannot write one note, however unimportant it may appear, which is anything but transcendent. He has reached the heart of every noble thought. (P. Casals)
Bach's sacred cantatas and suites
Beethoven's expansion of classical forms and fierce independence
after going deaf around 1796, Beethoven continued to compose until his death in 1827 -- where 10,000 people attended his funeral
Bach, from a large family of northern German musicians, was an outstanding harpsichordist and organist as well as an expert on organ building
as was usual for the time, Bach's music (like Haydn's and Mozart's) was neglected for about 50 years after his death, but by 1900 all the known works were printed and his music revived -- a deliberate exhumation of old music