Ludwig van Beethoven (1770–1827) was a German composer and pianist. His symphonies and other works are among the greatest and most popular classical compositions ever written. Beethoven started composing in the classical style but he gradually developed a romantic style that influenced many other, later composers. Beethoven wrote nine symphonies for full orchestra plus another 12 large-scale orchestral works. Tragically for a musician, Beethoven went deaf during his lifetime and almost completely lost his hearing. This stopped him from performing his music in public, but he could still hear music in his head which he could then write down.