Ludwig van Beethoven/YMMV


 * Crowning Music of Awesome
 * Growing the Beard: Arguably, his music after he went deaf got significantly more interesting than before, and is why he's famous today.
 * Memetic Mutation: Dun-dun-dun DUUUUNNNN!
 * Sampled Up: Henry van Dyke's hymn "Joyful Joyful We Adore Thee" is set to Ode to Joy.
 * Vindicated by History: The first performance of the Ninth reportedly was a bit of a failure, and after opening night it did poorly. Possibly partly because Beethoven insisted on directing it himself despite being completely deaf - to the point where he was still conducting after the orchestra finished playing.
 * The premiere of the Fifth Symphony was in a concert that lasted four hours on a cold, December night and the audience was tired. Needless to say, it was not very well accepted in its first performance. It took a review by ETA Hoffmann to bring its genius to light.