Beethoven was a revolutionary man living in a revolutionary time. He captured his inner voice – demons and all – and the spirit of his time, and in doing so, created a body of music the likes of which no one had ever before imagined. Beethoven’s 32 piano sonatas provide a window into his personal musical development and highlight the piano as an evolving instrument. A virtuoso at the keyboard, Beethoven used the piano as his personal musical laboratory, and the piano sonata became a place where he could experiment and develop a view of music as a form of self-expression.