Battle Symphony

Wellington's Victory, or the Battle of Vitoria, Op. 91, is a 15-minute-long orchestral work composed by Ludwig van Beethoven to commemorate the Marquess of Wellington's victory over Joseph Bonaparte at the Battle of Vitoria in Spain on 21 June 1813 and the German campaign of 1813 in Germany thus ending the rule of Bonaparte's Confederation of the Rhine and the birth of the German Confederation. It was dedicated to the Prince Regent, later King George IV. Composition stretched from August to first week of October 1813, and the piece proved to be a substantial moneymaker for Beethoven.