A centenary celebration raises various questions and prompts some warnings. Any nostalgic gesture is suspect: there is never any compulsion to think back. A calendar-based revival must justify itself by the sort of recognized central appeal that conditions a case for amplitude. This granted, and performances organized, the questions arise as to what the artist signified in his time and immediately after it, and what attention he can command in the context of present events. There was, for instance, never any doubt about the demand for Beethoven in 1970 by almost every variety of audience and performing body. Even the neglected early cantatas were found acceptable in what was a well-nigh routine acknowledgement across the board. Nor had the cult of Beethoven's art needed much more than time and personal advocacy to spread from Austria abroad, as a priority for orchestras and pianists, as the outstanding embodiment of resolute musical thought and as a triumph of evolution with unparalleled influence on the future of music.