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Classical Fact

Beethoven idolized Goethe, whom Beethoven called the foremost German poet. So, when a commission was offered to write music for Goethe's play Egmont, Beethoven jumped at the chance. The popularity of Beethoven's Egmont Overture has outlasted the play for which it was written. As for the much-anticipated meeting between the poet and the composer: Beethoven was disappointed to find his literary hero boorish, and while Beethoven's talents astonished Goethe, he thought the composer a totally untamed personality.