Ludwig van Beethoven

Ludwig van Beethoven (16th December 1770 Bonn, Germanic States -26th March 1827) was a composer of the transitional period between the late Classical and early Romantic eras. Beethoven is widely regarded as one of the greatest masters of musical construction, sometimes sketching the architecture of a movement before he had decided upon the subject matter. He was one of the first composers to systematically and consistently use interlocking thematic devices, or "germ-motives," to achieve inter-movement unity in long compositions.