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    Beethoven

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    Famous last words?

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    Beethoven: Compositions, biography, siblings and more facts

    Beethoven's grave

    21. Famous last words?

    Just like Beethoven’s birth, his last words are also a bit of a mystery. It’s often thought his last words were ‘applaud friends, the comedy is ended’ (in Latin!) but his parting gift to the world was far less cerebral. After a publisher bought Beethoven 12 bottles of wine as a gift, the dying composer’s final words were: ‘Pity, pity, too late!’

    1. Image 1: Beethoven Haus Bonn
    2. Image 2: Ludwig's father Johann van Beethoven
    3. Image 3: Beethoven's brother
    4. Image 4: music manuscript violin
    5. Image 5: classical piano
    6. Image 6: Count Waldstein
    7. Image 7: Vienna
    8. Image 8: Bach's well tempered clavier
    9. Image 9: young Beethoven
    10. Image 10: Hofftheatre Vienna 21 images

    See the full gallery: Beethoven: Compositions, biography, siblings and more facts

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    The 20 greatest concertos in classical music

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    Fragile skull fragments, presumed to be Beethoven’s, returned to Vienna for study

    Fragile skull fragments, presumed to be Beethoven’s, returned to Vienna for study

    Billy Joel and Beethoven

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    The 20 best violin pieces ever written

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    The Aurora Orchestra performing in Printworks London

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    The Stumpff Lock in a laboratory at the Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History, Germany.

    Scientific analysis of Beethoven’s DNA reveals he had Hepatitis B and high risk of liver disease

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    The 15 most famous tunes in classical music

    The 15 most famous tunes in classical music

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    Best symphonies: Ludwig van Beethoven, Antonin Dvorak and Florence Price

    The 15 greatest symphonies of all time

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    4 eras of classical music

    The 4 eras of classical music: a quick guide

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    A young Marin Alsop, Sir Simon Rattle, and Seiji Ozawa conduct their respective orchestras.

    The 25 greatest conductors of all time

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    Hildegard von Bingen, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and Edward Elgar among the greatest composers in classical music history.

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    The 25 best pianists of all time

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    Soloist barred from flight – after Ryanair claimed 18th-century violin ‘too big’ for the plane

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    The 15 best pieces of music by composer and virtuoso pianist Franz Liszt.

    The 15 greatest pieces by Franz Liszt

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    Mozart

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