Final figures from the BBC show that the complete Beethoven symphonies on its website were downloaded 1.4m times.

It would take a commercial CD recording of the complete Beethoven symphonies "upwards of five years" to sell as many downloads as were shifted from the BBC website in two weeks.

The downloads marked "an important moment, when you see how the world is changing", said Roger Wright, the controller of Radio 3.

Radio 3 plans a similar week of broadcasts to its Beethoven Experience later in the year, devoted to Bach.