EARLY IN THE MORNING OF 7 MAY 1824, Ludwig Beethoven went for a haircut. This might seem a small issue of personal grooming, but with Beethoven nothing is insignificant. In a society where appearance was valued as much as existence — Schein über sein — Beethoven made a noxious fetish of self-neglect. He was unwashed and unkempt, his clothes frayed, his shoes unsoled.
Yet hours before the premiere of his Ninth Symphony, Beethoven took the trouble
