Beethoven vs Rossini: should music storm the soul or delight the ear?

Music must seize the listener by the collar and drag him toward the sublime, even against his comfort.

And yet the whole of Europe hums my tunes while yours are studied in silence, Ludwig; joy needs no dragging.

You compose an opera in three weeks and call the froth eternal? I labor years so that a single chord may shake the heavens.

I retired at thirty-seven, dined splendidly, and let the world sing me to sleep; you suffered gloriously, but I lived beautifully.