demusic1-1, Exercise 3: A cross-border musician

Model answer (one possible choice: Beethoven; check):

Beethoven was born in Bonn, in the Rhineland, and moved to Vienna as a young man, where he spent the rest of his working life. In his lifetime "Germany" was not a single state and Vienna was the capital of the Habsburg monarchy, so a label of "German" or "Austrian" by modern borders does not fit neatly. He is usually called a German composer because of his birthplace and language, but his career and the world of his patrons were Viennese.

The lesson: a national label is a convenience for the historian, and the course names the context (the city, the court, the language) in each case.

Other valid choices include Handel, born in Halle and later working in England, or Brahms, born in Hamburg and living in Vienna.