There's a very interesting book directly germane to this subject by Tia
DeNora called "Beethoven and the Construction of Genius: Musical Politics
in Vienna, 1792-1803" (1995: U.  of California Press).  Unfortunately,
it's repetitious and much of it is written in academic sociologese (I
suspect it was her doctoral dissertation), but she makes the point clearly
and persuasively that Beethoven's greatness as it was perceived during
his life and later was the result not only of his talent but also of the
particular social milieu in which he worked, where his association with
the aristocrats of Bonn and Vienna gave him opportunities and a kind of
recognition not available to other composers of his time and place.  It's
worth a look if you can find it in your library.

Alex Morin