Which composer is credited as a co-writer of Billy Joel's song This Night?

Ludwig van Beethoven is credited as a co-writer of Billy Joel’s song “This Night.” Joel built the song’s chorus around the second movement of Beethoven’s “Pathétique” Sonata, formally known as Piano Sonata No. 8 in C minor, Op. 13.

“This Night” appeared on Joel’s 1983 album An Innocent Man, a deliberately retro project inspired by the vocal groups, soul singers, and pop styles Joel heard growing up. Because the melody draws substantially on Beethoven’s earlier composition, the album sleeve credits the writer as “L.v. Beethoven” alongside Billy Joel rather than treating the classical source as an uncredited quotation.

The song is sometimes overlooked because it was not a major U.S. standalone single. In the United States, it appeared as the B-side of “Leave a Tender Moment Alone”; it was issued as a single in the United Kingdom and Japan. Joel has also said the lyrics were connected to his brief relationship with model Elle Macpherson, shortly before his marriage to Christie Brinkley.