Ludwig van Beethoven lived in Vienna in 1792 and studied with distinguished musical composers: Joseph Haydn, Antonio Salieri, Johann G. Albrechtsberger and Johann Schenk. Thanks to his popularity with the local aristocracy (and also thanks to their financial support) he was able to make a living as a free artist, which was highly unusual: at the time musicians were typically employed in the court of a certain aristocratic family or with ecclesiastical dignitaries. His most distinguished patrons were the houses of Lichnowsky, Lobkowitz, Kinsky and Esterházy, and he also lived off royalties from concerts and incomes from teaching music. Beethoven's creative endeavour culminated in his later period, when he wished to give his ideas the maximum possible intensity, and his works became more complex both in terms of composition and of playing. His 9th symphony is precisely one of these most significant later works, which in connection with Křižík's fountain obtains an unsuspected nuance.