Ian McMillan is a writer and performance poet, and presenter of 'The Verb' on  Radio 3.  
Here he shares his memories of Beethoven's music.

• The Verb

My favourite Beethoven is his 9th Symphony; it demonstrates the power of music and the way that music, almost more than any of the other arts, can move your soul. My most memorable 9th Symphony was somewhere in Edinburgh at the Fringe in the mid-1980's. I was up there performing poetry to small audiences and indifferent reviews (it didn't help that I'd made a joke when the Scotsman's reviewer's chair collapsed. He had hair like Beethoven.) I went along to see a performance of the 9th done by an amateur choir and orchestra. They struggled, to be honest, a bit like I was struggling with my lunchtime cabaret. They lost time a little and the singing was a little out of tune. If the show had been a chair it was in danger of collapsing. Then, gloriously, wonderfully, it all came together and I blubbered like a baby.The next day I knocked my audience dead. All six of 'em. Thanks, Ludwig!

Ian's recommendation:
The Ninth Symphony
"It demonstrates the power of music and the way that music, almost more than any of the other arts, can move your soul"