[It was] twenty years after his [Beethoven's] death that a statue was erected to his memory at his birth place, Bonn, on the Rhine. I was present at the inauguration of this statue, August 12th, 1848 [...] The music was under the direction of Liszt, who at his own expense, erected a music hall, to contain five thousand persons. The band consisted of six hundred performers, who voluntarily came from all parts of Germany to assist in the celebration.The evening performance commenced with the Posthumous Mass, the most wonderful of all Beethoven's inspirations.