In 1902, Klimt created one of his most famous works, the Beethoven Frieze, for an exhibition of the Secession movement.

The entire show was an homage to Ludwig van Beethoven. Klimt’s monumental frieze greeted visitors in the entrance hall. Thirty-four meters wide and two meters high is this opulent, ornamental "symphony"; in which Klimt sought to immortalize Beethoven's "Ninth" and its interpretation by Richard Wagner.

A key work of the creative awakening at the dawn of the twentieth century, the Beethoven Frieze unfolds a sprawling narrative across three walls that is propelled by man’s yearning for happiness. In the final scene, female figures—allegories of the arts—guide the quester into the realm of the ideal. Klimt’s apotheosis of art, which shows a couple kissing before the chorus of the angels of paradise, contains a direct reference to Beethoven. “Joy, beautiful divine spark!—This kiss for the whole world,” the chorus sings in the fourth movement of Beethoven’s 9th Symphony, which is based on Friedrich Schiller’s Ode to Joy.

While visiting the frieze, visitors can listen to the 4th movement of Ludwig van Beethoven's Symphony No. 9 in D minor, op. 125, through headphones

Ludwig van Beethoven, fourth movement of the Symphony No. 9 in D Minor, Op. 125 / Finale Presto
Wiener Symphoniker, Conductor: Philippe Jordan
Soloists: Anja Kampe, Daniela Sindram, Burkhard Fritz, René Pape
Singverein der Gesellschaft der Musikfreunde, Choirmaster: Johannes Prinz