Richards was deeply affected by the death of Dylan Thomas in 1953 and produced a series of works in homage to the dead poet. This allegorical composition celebrates another of the artist's heroes, Ludwig van Beethoven. It juxtaposes two favourite themes. One of these is a musing woman, turning from a piano and a French horn to a sheet of music. The other is a pair of energetic galloping horses, ultimately derived from 'The Lion Hunt' by the French Romantic painter Eugéne Delacroix (1798-1863).