It was a piano piece seldom heard but much revered – and no one played it better than Philip van Kraus. He refused, of course, to go by that name, adopting the singular ‘Beethoven’ as his preferred stage name. It was what many would critique him for later in his career – an appropriation of the original composer Ludwig van Beethoven that may have led to his fortuitous fame, notwithstanding his exceptional piano playing ability. But, Phillip insisted that he had never presumed it would be pronounced the same. After all, he was a beetroot. Could he help it that people couldn’t distinguish the ‘ee’ sound in his stage name with the ‘bait’-hoven sound of one the greatest composers of all time?

Artist notes: What can I say about this except that I love a good pun? When I was a kid I was always confused by Beethoven's name. I was actually listening to his 9th Symphony whilst chopping up some beetroot for lunch and, well, you can see what happened!