Beethoven, Ludwig van

Ludwig van Beethoven was born in Bonn in 1770 and died in Vienna in 1827. Ludwig van Beethoven was a German composer. His compositions met with extraordinary interest from both the public and scholars and remain among the most frequently performed in the world. He is considered one of the greatest composers in the history of Western music and was supported during the Classical period. His musical style was a major driving force for the transition to Romantic music and the proliferation of instrumental forms such as the symphony, the piano sonata, and the string quartet. His independent, expressive, imaginative, influential, and enduring musical legacy remains alive worldwide and continues to be received with great attention.