Commonly known as Für Elise, Beethoven’s Bagatelle No 25 in A minor (WoO 59 and Bia 515), here performed by Lang Lang on a grand piano, is one of Ludwig van Beethoven‘s most popular compositions. It was not published during his lifetime, only being discovered (by Ludwig Nohl) forty years after his death, and may be termed either a Bagatelle or an Albumblatt. The unaccompanied oscillation between the dominant E and its chromatic lower neighbor D-sharp that begins the melody has become one of the most recognizable openings in classical music. The identity of Elise is uncertain; researchers have suggested Therese Malfatti, Elisabeth Röckel or Elise Barensfeld.
