Ludwig Von Beethoven: Birthday and the Happy Birthday Tune

Beethoven was baptized on the 17th December, 1770, and was probably born on the 16th of December, 1770.

Some years ago, I ran across a piano piece from an old student of mine entitled, "Happy Birthday, Ludwig." The name of the composer is Leonid Hambro and he composed (or more accurately, arranged) the "Happy Birthday" tune in the style of (songs by Beethoven). There are six variations of this song arranged in the styles of the following works:

Bagatelle No. 1, Op. 119
Für Elise - WoO 59
Minuet in G - WoO 10 number 2
Pathetique Sonata - Opus 13 - 1st Mvt
Moonlight Sonata - Opus 27 - 1st Mvt
Fifth Symphony - Opus 67 - 1st Mvt

Humbro basically borrowed motives and themes from songs by Beethoven to arrange the Happy Birthday tune. They're actually quite clever and amusing. I played and recorded them to a midi file (actually 6 separate files).

Randall L. Collins