Front Page Authors (by Period) Ludwig van Beethoven

Ludwig van Beethoven

1770 - 1827

About the Author

Ludwig van Beethoven (1770-1827) was one of the great European classical composers of the first half of the 19th century. He wrote a number of politically inspired works including an opera Fidelio which had as one of its themes the issue of individual liberty.

In The Library:

• author: Beethoven’s Opera Fidelio. German Text, with an English Translation (1805)

Quotations:

• Beethoven’s hero Florestan in the opera Fidelio laments the loss of his liberty for speaking the truth to power (1805) (6 July, 2009)