![[Beethoven, Ludwig van. (1770–1827)] Zur Enthüllung des Beethoven-Denkmals in Wien am 1. Mai 1880. Wien. [Program from the unveiling of the Beethoven Monument in Vienna]](http://www.schubertiademusic.com/cdn/shop/files/Beethoven_Monmt_10681a769.jpg?v=1722187968)
The creation of a monument to Beethoven was the brainchild of the Gesellschaft der Musikfreunde in Wien, the musical society that continues today and whose concert hall is possibly the world’s greatest classical music venue (and also home to the Wiener Philharmoniker orchestra). The sculptor Caspar von Zumbusch eventually won the design commission and his bronze statue saw the light of day in 1880, some 53 years after the composer’s death and just following the composer's Centenary.The monument lives on Beethoven Square (Beethovenplatz) and features the composer sitting imperiously on a plinth above various mythological and symbolic figures that include Prometheus (himself the subject of a ballet with music composed by Beethoven).
The creation of a monument to Beethoven was the brainchild of the Gesellschaft der Musikfreunde in Wien, the musical society that continues today and whose concert hall is possibly the world’s greatest classical music venue (and also home to the Wiener Philharmoniker orchestra). The sculptor Caspar von Zumbusch eventually won the design commission and his bronze statue saw the light of day in 1880, some 53 years after the composer’s death and just following the composer's Centenary.The monument lives on Beethoven Square (Beethovenplatz) and features the composer sitting imperiously on a plinth above various mythological and symbolic figures that include Prometheus (himself the subject of a ballet with music composed by Beethoven).