RESTRICTED TO EDITORIAL USE - MANDATORY CREDIT "AFP PHOTO / Ira F. Brilliant / Center for Beethoven Studies, San Jose State University" - NO MARKETING NO ADVERTISING CAMPAIGNS - DISTRIBUTED AS A SERVICE TO CLIENTS
This undated image released by the Beethoven Studies, San Jose State University, shows the Moscheles Lock of German composer Ludwig van Beethoven, authenticated by the study, with inscription by former owner Ignaz Moscheles. - Beethoven died in Vienna nearly 200 years ago after a lifetime of composing some of the most influential works in classical music. Ever since, biographers have sought to explain the causes of the German composer's death at the age of 56, his progressive hearing loss and his well-documented struggles with chronic illness. A team of researchers who sequenced Beethoven's genome using locks of the German composer's hair may now have some answers. Liver failure, or cirrhosis, was the possible cause of Beethoven's death brought about by a number of factors, including the composer's alcohol consumption, they said. (Photo by Ira F. Brilliant / Center for Beethoven Studies, San Jose State University / AFP) / RESTRICTED TO EDITORIAL USE - MANDATORY CREDIT "AFP PHOTO / Ira F. Brilliant / Center for Beethoven Studies, San Jose State University" - NO MARKETING NO ADVERTISING CAMPAIGNS - DISTRIBUTED AS A SERVICE TO CLIENTS