Ludwig van Beethoven
![Portrait by Joseph Karl Stieler, 1820](/Images/godic/202412/23/Beethoven3411.jpg")
![Beethoven's birthplace at Bonngasse 20, now the Beethoven House museum](/Images/godic/202412/23/Beethoven_house_of_birth_Bonn_20083411.jpg")
![A portrait of the 13-year-old Beethoven by an unknown Bonn master (c. 1783)](/Images/godic/202412/23/Thirteen-year-old_Beethoven3411.jpg")
![Portrait of Beethoven as a young man by Carl Traugott Riedel (1769–1832)](/Images/godic/202412/23/Beethoven_Riedel_18013411.jpg")
Ludwig van Beethoven (/ˈlʊdvɪɡ væn ˈbeɪˌtoʊvən/, /ˈbeɪtˌhoʊvən/; German:[ˈluːtvɪç fan ˈbeːtˌhoːfn̩]; baptised 17 December 1770 –26 March 1827) was a German composer. A crucial figure in the transition between the Classical and Romantic eras in Western art music, he remains one of the most famous and influential of all composers. His best-known compositions include 9 symphonies, 5 piano concertos, 1 violin concerto, 32 piano sonatas, 16 string quartets, his great Mass the Missa solemnis and an opera, Fidelio.