RE: Beethoven is the Best Composer, Change my Mind
In general, I would agree that Beethoven did much to shift the course of music, but I would say that he was a product of the shift rather than single-handedly causing it.
Beethoven single handedly caused the shift between the classical era and the romantic.
I would argue that CPE Bach did just as much if not more. Also, the music of Schubert I would argue straddle the divide just as much as Beethoven's, although he does appear a little bit after Beethoven. His early works are very much Classical in style (such as the violin sonatas), but his later works are most definitely a Romantic style ( such as the C major string Quintet).
His music shook the foundations of classical music by incorporating rhythmic, structural, harmonic, and melodic innovations that were unheard of before his time.
There are many lesser known composers that were disrupting the "expected" Classical conventions. Zelenka was a Baroque composer that has some wildly interesting shifts in harmony. Likewise, CPE Bach would also had some really odd ideas. Even earlier, Les Elemens by Rebel is famed for it's unexpected beginning harmony.
He managed to surpass even losing his hearing towards the end, and wrote one of the most influential symphonies ever despite it.
Okay, I'll concede this one!
However, I would blame him for destroying the string quartet as a genre. The later string quartet (despite being phenomenal works) led the cello higher and higher, and in the intervening centuries, I would say that the string quartet has become too treble heavy for my taste. On the other hand, this has led to some pretty amazing sextets or larger...
I'm not sure I've written this in a way that will change your mind though, I'm pretty tired and I'm not sure it is all too coherent!
Thank you for this comment. I would say that the term single handedly was not the best choice. I also agree with you that CPE Bach was a large part of the shift between baroque and classical. However, I feel like Beethoven was a large catalyst for romanticism. I can't say that I know exactly how big CPE Bach was in his time, but I feel like the fact that large majority of composers that followed Beethoven were greatly influenced by him. I am not going to say that this did not happen with CPE Bach, I just have not done the research to determine that. I will do some listening and reading and see what I can find over the next week or so. However, I have listened to a lot of Schubert's music (he is one of my favorite composers) and read up a lot on his life. I feel like Schubert's shift to romanticism was largely following in the footprints of Beethoven. Schubert was a huge fan of Beethoven's work. This is easily heard in many of his later works, which are obviously innovative and obviously inspired by Beethoven. I also feel like the fact that Schubert's music was undiscovered until years later (when Schumann, Mendelssohn, and other composers discovered it) demonstrates that his innovations were late to the cultural party, and did not exactly inspire the cultural shift.
In regards to my second comments, I feel like innovation is a large portion of the role of composers. However, I feel like Beethoven was very outright in the changes he made. He took music as far as he could with the influence he had (which was great). I will not argue that other composers do not innovate, but I feel like Beethoven's innovation had a cultural impact larger than that of any other composer (Except maybe Wagner). But this point was also a valid point that I respect.
In regards to the string quartet, my theory teacher is a cellist, so I am going to mention your point to him. I am quite interested to hear his take on Beethoven's effect towards the string quartet. I am a huge fan of the Mendelssohn String Octet, so I agree when it comes to the amazing > Sextets.
Take a listen to the Brahms Sextets is you don't already know them! They are really quite something.