Ludwig van Beethoven

Ludwig van Beethoven1 (Bonn, Germany, December 16, 17702 - Vienna, March 26, 1827) was a German composer, conductor and pianist. His musical legacy covers, chronologically, from Classicism to the beginnings of Romanticism. He is considered generally like one of the most illustrious and important composers of the history of the music and his legacy has influenced of decisive form in the later evolution of this art.

Being the last great representative of Viennese classicism (after Christoph Willibald Gluck, Joseph Haydn and Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart), Beethoven managed to transcend the music of Romanticism, influencing the diversity of musical works of the nineteenth century. His art was expressed in numerous genres and although the symphonies were the main source of his international popularity, his impact turned out to be mainly significant in his works for piano and chamber music.

His production includes the pianistic genres (thirty-two sonatas for piano), chamber music (including numerous works for instrumental ensembles of between eight and two members), concertante (concert for piano, for violin and triple), sacra (two masses, one oratorio), lieder, incidental music (the opera Fidelio, a ballet, music for theatrical works), and orchestral, in which they take place