Beethoven

American  

[bey-toh-vuhn, beyt-hoh-fuhn] / ˈbeɪ toʊ vən, ˈbeɪt hoʊ fən /

noun

1. Ludwig van 1770–1827, German composer.

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Beethoven British  

/ ˈbeɪtˌhəʊvən /

noun

1. Ludwig van (ˈluːtvɪç fan). 1770–1827, German composer, who greatly extended the form and scope of symphonic and chamber music, bridging the classical and romantic traditions. His works include nine symphonies, 32 piano sonatas, 16 string quartets, five piano concertos, a violin concerto, two masses, the opera Fidelio (1805), and choral music

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Other Word Forms

• Beethovenian
  adjective
• Beethovian
  adjective

Example Sentences

As a young kid, MTT played Beethoven piano sonatas so impressively that he wowed his babysitter, an architecture student at USC named Frank Owen Goldberg, who needed extra cash.

From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 24, 2026

A Pathé newsreel, filmed when she was five years old, noted that the toddler had "surprised musical critics by her playing of Beethoven".

From BBC • Apr. 23, 2026

“Human beings are free wherever Wagner and Beethoven are played,” he said.

From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 13, 2026

Rosenzweig was born in Kassel in 1886, into a German-Jewish bourgeoisie for which Beethoven, Goethe and the Frankfurter Zeitung newspaper were as formative as the Torah had once been.

From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 6, 2026

Beethoven takes a relatively simple tune and builds from it a giant tapestry of ideas and musical meanderings.

From "The Story of Music" by Howard Goodall