A dramatization of episodes in the life and work of Ludwig van Beethoven at the height of his renown, encompassing the years 1813 to 1819 in Vienna. Beethoven's symphonic work "Wellington's Victory" or "The Battle of Victoria" is enthusiastically well-received by the public, but his living circumstances are still dismally humble: constant paucity of money, quarrels with the landlady, stifling paternalism channeled through both his brothers Johann and Karl, state espionage because of his democratic sympathies and his increasing deafness. As his isolation becomes ever greater, however, he fondly recalls his "Immortal Beloved." Because of this inspiration, his creative power does not crumble. He instead bears these thoughts in mind and applies them to his Ninth Symphony; in the final shot, he paces in the presence of those very sounds that comprise the masterpiece.