Talk:Ludwig van Beethoven

This article is a good article. This means the community feels it is written well.

References needed

This artzicle definitely needs some references.--Eptalon (talk) 14:06, 27 May 2008 (UTC)

I have started to add some references; the books listed probably need cleanup. Also the EnWP article has a big list of media samples (probably all in commons), big question: do we want a big list (with a div like that in a good article, or should we create another article (which just has this list of media samples, and only link to two or three of them in the GA?--Eptalon (talk) 12:13, 22 June 2008 (UTC)

Good articles

Is there a reason why this article does not have the {{good}} template on it? I see it listed under "Good articles", but there is no template. I assume it would be fine to add the template? Kansan (talk) 05:18, 14 April 2010 (UTC)

That's strange, I can see the GA icon at the top of the page...? —Classical Esther 05:19, 14 April 2010 (UTC)

I looked again, and for my browser, it shows up at the very bottom of the page. Hmm... oh well. Kansan (talk) 05:27, 14 April 2010 (UTC)

GA improvements

I know this is a Good Article, and it seems to merit the title. However, I think there are some improvements this article could work on.

• He was, perhaps, a little jealous of the success that Haydn had with his latest symphonies he had written for London. - Doesn't these need a citation?
• And during this period Beethoven produced his most famous piano sonata: No. 14, in C sharp minor, nicknamed, "Moonlight". This was written for his girlfriend, 16-year-old Giulietta Giulietti. - Most famous? Written for his girlfriend? These need references as well.
• Goethe later described Beethoven as a rather wild-mannered man who made life difficult for himself by his cross attitude to the world. - Citation please.
• Beethoven admired several women, including one to whom he wrote a passionate letter. She is known as the “Immortal Beloved”, but no one knows who she was.
• In 1826, Karl tried to shoot himself. - Sources?
• ...Beethoven realized that he [Napoleon] was just a tyrant who wanted lots of power. Could this sentence be a bit reworded? It sounds a little POV. Not that I either agree or disagree with it personally: I really know very little about Napoleon.

All in all, the article could be greatly improved with more inline references. Thanks, —Classical Esther 05:40, 14 April 2010 (UTC)

I hope to be able to take a more indepth look at this when I get a chance, but being on briefly, I at least changed the wording on the Napoleon sentence to reflect Napoleon's being a tyrant as being Beethoven's personal opinion and not a fact. Good suggestions! Kansan (talk) 15:39, 14 April 2010 (UTC)

Piano

Yes, the piano had been in use over half a century before Beethoven was born. Jim.henderson (talk) 00:26, 17 December 2018 (UTC)

I believe you're thinking of a fortepiano, or pianoforte, which is different from the modern piano. Anything closely resembling the modern piano did not exist until around the time of Beethoven's birth. - Bossanoven (talk) 00:50, 17 December 2018 (UTC)

The instrument was smaller in build, there were less octaves on the keyboard, and the color of the keys were often inverted, so, no, a fortepiano is not the same thing as a piano. - Bossanoven (talk) 00:55, 17 December 2018 (UTC)