Drama starring Ed Harris. It is 1824 and Beethoven (Harris) is racing to finish his new symphony. However, it has been years since his last success and he is plagued by deafness, loneliness and personal trauma.

A copyist is urgently needed to help the composer finish in time for the scheduled first performance - otherwise the orchestra will have no music to play. Enter Anna Holtz (Diane Kruger), a young conservatory student and aspiring composer. The mercurial Beethoven is skeptical that a woman might become involved in his masterpiece but slowly comes to trust in Anna's assistance and in the end becomes quite fond of her.