Mimi responds to the man who is "burned out on Beethoven" by grabbing to
her bosom (full of goo from the pollen) the quartets, the piano sonatas,
the violin and cello sonatas.

I think a case can be made that other composers eventually overcame the
intimidation of Beethoven's nine symphonies to create ones that while
different can stand in the same league.  Largely I think this was done
by thinking bigger and having the technological capacity to move forward
to the big Romantic Symphony that he presaged.  Others dealt with him by
thinking smaller and creating the miniatures of lied and short piano pieces
like Chopin's etc.  which can certainly be defended as masterpieces in
their own right.

But in the areas Mimi cited, the playing field is pretty much fixed: two
violins, a viola and a cello; a piano and a violin, etc.  I think here his
work must be regarded as pretty darn close to the pinnacle of the form with
every hearing deepening my appreciation.

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