The author implies that Beethoven's music was strikingly original because Beethoven A. strove to outdo his predecessors by becoming the first composer to exploit limits B. fundamentally changed the musical forms of his predecessors by adopting a richly inventive strategy C. embellished and interwove the melodies of several of the great composers who preceded him D. manipulated the established conventions of musical composition in a highly innovative fashion E. attempted to create the illusion of having transcended the musical forms of his predecessors