If classical music had a top 10, Beethoven’s Für Elise would be the contender for No. 1. Even if you don’t listen to the classics, you’ve heard this familiar piece. Who was this mysterious Elise? Some people believe she was Therese Malfatti, better known as Baroness Therese Falfatti von Rohenbach zu Dezza. She came from a wealthy Austrian family whose home was a hub of Viennese social and musical life. As regular visitor to the family estate, Beethoven gave Therese piano lessons.

Rumor has it that Beethoven fell deeply in love with Therese and proposed marriage; however, she declined him. Yet it appears the Therese kept Beethoven’s letters and mementos all her life, suggesting she held affection for him also. Therese later married Wilhelm von Droßdik, an Austrian nobleman with whom she had several children. Throughout her life, she played Beethoven’s works.

Among the proposed contenders for the mysterious Elise, Theresa is my favorite. Around 1867, musicologist Ludwig Nohl found a manuscript in Beethoven’s handwriting among Therese Malfatti’s personal papers. The manuscript had a note that read For Elise, on April 27 in remembrance of Ludwig van Beethoven. Scholars believe Ludwig misread Beethoven’s handwriting. He may have been a great musician but had rather sloppy penmanship!

Beethoven lived during the transitional period between the Classical and Romantic eras of western music. The breadth of Beethoven’s music spans the elegance of enlightenment ideals with the dynamics of romantic individualism.

Für Elise was written in 1810 during his middle or heroic period when he composed bold, dramatic, emotional music like Symphony No 3 “Eroica” or the Fifth Symphony. (Trust me, if you don’t know Beetoven’s 5th by name, you know the first four opening notes!) Around this time Beethoven was 40, his hearing loss was worsening. In his writings he expressed feelings of isolation and frustration. Für Elise doesn’t represent those grand pieces, but his private voice during this phase of his life. It reflects his tender, introspective side rarely exposed in his symphonic works. Amid the thunder of the grand Beethoven, we get a glimpse of the human behind the legend.

If you’ve heard Für Elise and think, don’t need to listen to another rendition of it … think again. Lang Lang truly embodies the beauty, passion, hope, and sorrow expressed in this elegant piece. Lang Lang is one of the few musicians I’ve heard who play this piece as I’m sure Beethoven wanted it to be heard.