- [Narrator] The year 2020 is the 250th anniversary

of Beethoven's birth and Germany is ready to celebrate,

but nowhere more so than his hometown of Bonn.

(upbeat orchestral music)

- [Announcer] This Great Big Story was made possible by

the German National Tourist Board.

(cheerful orchestral music)

- Beethoven lived more than 22 years in Bonn

and there are many places here

that are associated with Beethoven.

My name is Malte Boecker.

I'm the director of the Beethoven-Haus.

We're in front of the Beethoven-Haus,

Beethoven's birth place in 1770,

and it's considered one of the best visited

music museums in the world.

I'm standing in front of the Beethoven monument,

and it's the first monument dedicated to Beethoven ever,

and we're very proud to have it here in Bonn.

(cheerful orchestral music)

This is one of 22 installations,

and this is our form of presenting

the Beethoven city Bonn to the world.

I think he'd be pretty happy to see

that his music is still relevant, is still performed,

and he would encourage us to look to the future.

(pensive piano music)

- [Narrator] The city of Bonn during the day is beautiful,

but at night it really shines.

in honor of Beethoven's 250th anniversary,

the city of Bonn in Germany is lighting up the night

with some installations inspired by him and his works.

(Nils speaks in a foreign language)

(Felix speaks in a foreign language)

(Nils speaks in a foreign language)

(Felix speaks in a foreign language)

(Nils speaks in a foreign language)

(melancholy piano music)

- [Narrator] From sight to sound, one woman is uniting

with composers across the globe to curate and perform

250 original compositions inspired by Beethoven's work.

- Having Bonn in the focus of contemporary composers

is the best thing you could give Beethoven

as a birthday gift.

My name is Susanne Kessel.

I'm a concert pianist.

I'm organizing and managing the project

250 Piano Pieces for Beethoven.

In 2020, the large Beethoven anniversary will take place,

and as a Bonn citizen,

I wanted to do a large project for him.

I thought of asking 250 composers all over the world

for personal commissions for piano pieces

that refer to Beethoven's music or his personality

or his deafness.

All composers are free to do what they like.

I always perform other people's music,

and this is something that makes me really, really happy,

of course, that through Beethoven

people have the connection to new music.

(cheerful orchestral music)

- [Narrator] The music continues outside of Bonn

with some curious self-playing instruments.

Located in Germany, there is a museum

of antique self-playing mechanical music instruments

where you can hear

Beethoven's classical orchestral arrangements played.

(cheerful orchestral music)

- I belong to Siegfried's Mechanical Music Cabinet.

They were the first possibility to listen to music

without the help of a human being,

and as an composer, to write music and have it played

exactly like you want it to.

The oldest instrument is from 1780

and it's clear Meyer flute clock.

Fairground organ is one of the most favorite.

The Hupfeld Phonoliszt-Violina plays six violins

at the same time together with piano.

Usually people don't know about these instruments anymore,

and it's a lot of dancing and singing.

It's more fun in here.

- [Narrator] And finally, two performers who celebrate

Beethoven every day by re-imagining his works

with one piano and four hands.

(dramatic piano music)

- We want to combine piano and entertainment

and make classical pieces more accessible to the audience.

(dramatic piano music)

We are Pianotainment, Marcel Dorn and Stephan Weh.

We perform all over the world.

more than 100 countries still now.

- Beethoven is one of the most famous composers

and he gave so much to the world with his music.

And now we live in 2020 and it's the Beethoven year.

That's a great chance to bring his work back on stage

in our way, four-handed show elements

and a bit more funny than he was himself.

The audience is amazed how we put together old Beethoven

with new styles of Latin, of samba, et cetera.

Sharing an instrument, you have to be like Siamese twins.

Four hands, one piano, one artist.

(upbeat piano music)

(bell dings)