The Conversation

Friday essay: Beethoven - an icon at risk of overexposure?

30-01-2020 Author: David Larkin, Senior Lecturer in Musicology, University of Sydney

Happy birthday Beethoven, 250 this year. Here, artist Ottmar Hoerl's sculptural tribute in Bonn, Germany. Shutterstock

In a series marking the 250th year of his birth, we analyse the significance of Ludwig van Beethoven.

In the centre of Bonn, a bronze statue stands on a pedestal in the Münsterplatz.

The figure is dressed in typical early...

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