Pod Insights Short History Of... Ludwig van Beethoven About this episode One of the world’s most influential composers, Ludwig van Beethoven changed the course of Western music. Despite losing his hearing, he created some of history’s most celebrated works, and his compositions are renowned for their emotional depth, innovation, and freshness to this day.
But how did an unpolished youth from the German Rhineland rise to become one of the most famous names in classical music? Why was his private life beset by disappointment? And how did he continue to produce such extraordinary works, even as deafness overtook him?
This is a Short History Of Ludwig van Beethoven.
A Noiser production, written by Nicola Rayner. With thanks to John Suchet, broadcaster and author of eight books about Beethoven, including In Search of Beethoven: A Personal Journey.
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0:35 Speaker 01 It is May 7, 1824, at the Theater Amkertaneter in Vienna.
0:42 Speaker 01 From the wings, the conductor, Michael Umlauff, watches the audience file into the auditorium, lit by flickering candlelight.
0:51 Speaker 01 But though the concert is about to start, the royal box remains conspicuously empty for this evening's premiere of Ludwig van Beethoven's Ninth Symphony. Rumors have it, the emperor and empress are reluctant to be associated with a potential disaster.
1:08 Speaker 01 Umlauff checks his pocket watch. It is time for him to fetch Beethoven.
1:14 Speaker 01 He makes his way through the backstage warren and finds the 54-year-old composer alone, scribbling furiously. Waving at him to get his attention, Umlauff taps his wrist: "They need to go." The composer finds his baton and follows him out. He's scowling a little. It's no secret that he wanted to do the job alone and is unhappy that Umlauff is going on with him as co-conductor. In truth, the conductor will be at the helm, and not the composer.
1:49 Speaker 01 The men make their way back towards the main stage, where the orchestra and choir are already in place, warming up.
1:56 Speaker 01 Now the musicians fall silent, and Beethoven strides onto the stage. His wild hair and unconventional green frock coat draw sniggers from the crowd.
2:08 Speaker 01 Umlauff follows behind him, and, glancing at the worried faces of his musicians, he makes the sign of the cross above them, to the further merriment of the audience. But Beethoven hears none of that. With absolute focus on the music, he simply takes his place in front of the orchestra, raises his arms, and brings them down. To the side of him, and slightly behind, Umlauff makes the same gesture, to ensure he also has the musicians' attention.
2:38 Speaker 01 A hush falls over the auditorium as the orchestra plays the opening chords.
3:01 Speaker 01 With Beethoven gesturing wildly next to him, Umlauff's nerves start to dissipate.
3:08 Speaker 01 The audience will have heard nothing like this before, and the best is yet to come.
3:19 Speaker 01 Umlauff drives his musicians through the movements, until the choir makes its entrance in the fourth.
3:31 Speaker 01 It is a groundbreaking moment in symphonic music, the first major symphony to incorporate vocalists.
3:41 Speaker 01 Exhilarated, Umlauff brings his arms down at the final chord, and the audience erupts.
3:51 Speaker 01 Rising to their feet, they wave their hats and handkerchiefs in unbridled appreciation, crying the name of the composer.
4:00 Speaker 01 But turning to Beethoven now, Umlaff sees that he is oblivious. Still waving his arms at the orchestra, he is conducting the music as it sounds in his head.
4:14 Speaker 01 Umlaff takes a step towards him, but Carolina Ungar, the contralto, reaches him first. Gently touching him on the shoulder, she nods towards the cheering audience.
4:27 Speaker 01 Beethoven turns, at last, and in a moment of realization, his confused expression melts into utter joy.
4:45 Speaker 01 One of the world's best-loved and most influential composers, Ludwig van Beethoven changed the course of Western music. Despite losing his hearing in his late twenties, he created some of history's most celebrated works, including symphonies, sonatas, string quartets, and concertos. His compositions are renowned for their emotional depth, innovation, and freshness to this day.
5:12 Speaker 01 But how did an unpolished youth from the German Rhineland rise to become one of the most famous names in classical music? Why was his private life beset by bitter disappointments? And how did he continue to produce such extraordinary works, even as deafness overtook him? I'm John Hopkins. From the Noiser Network, this is A Short History of Ludwig van Beethoven.
5:47 Speaker 01 It is 1770, in the small but culturally vibrant town of Bonn in what is today Germany. The life of one of the world's greatest composers begins in December, but precisely when is uncertain, because his birth certificate has never been found.
6:06 Speaker 01 Maria Magdalena und Johann von Beethoven nannten ihren Sohn nach seinem Vater, der Kapilmeister, der Musikdirektor, im Prinz-Elektorskanzler. Beethovens Vater war auch musikalisch, ein Sänger im Kanzler, aber mit begrenztem Erfolg und wegen einem Trinkprobleme.
6:27 Speaker 01 Seit sehr früh ist klar, dass der kleine Ludwig ein Gift für Musik hat. Bevor er versprach, lernte er die Violin und Klavier, ein Kabelinstrument. Es ist die Epoche der Erklärung,
6:43 Speaker 01 ein Zeitalter der wachsenden Interesse an Menschheitspotenzial und Talent. Aufgrund dessen besteht ein tiefen Interesse in Kindprodigen, besonders den austrikanischen Mozart, 14 Jahre Beethoven Senior. Bei sieben ist Ludwigs Vater ihn für öffentliche Rezitationen einrichten und liebt seine Alter, behauptet, dass sein Sohn nur sechs ist. Die Grundlage für das fehlende Geburtsschlüssel.
7:14 Speaker 01 Eines der ersten Lernlehrer Ludwig ist ein Akteur und Sänger, der mit der Familie verfügt, aber auch ein Trinkvertrauter für seinen Vater. Die Paare kam von den Tavernen spät in die Nacht und nahm den jungen Musiker aus seinem Bett, um das Piano zu spielen.
7:29 Speaker 01 Ludwig braucht nicht lange, um zu lernen, dass Musik besser ein Kompanier ist als Menschen. Während er Kindheit, ist er für seine schwache Komplexion und genannt wird der Spanier, bis sein Vater ihn aus der Schule auszieht, 10 Jahre alt.
7:46 Speaker 01 Obwohl es ein Handbekenntnis, die ihn mit unerträglichen Schrift und ein schreckliches Kopf für Figuren lässt, gibt es ihm die Chance, sich nur auf Musik zu konzentrieren.
7:55 Speaker 01 Der Fernseher und Autor John Suchet hat acht Bücher über Beethoven geschrieben, die letzte ist "In der Suchet nach Beethoven: Ein persönlicher Reise".
8:04 Speaker 02 His father did recognize his talent and the best thing that he did for his boy was to employ a teacher. When Beethoven was about 10 or 11 years of age, his father took him out of school and engaged this man who was an organist and composer to teach the boy from about the age of 11 or 12. And it was the best thing he could have done because this teacher was truly inspirational.
8:39 Speaker 01 By the time the teacher, Christian Gottlob Nefer, is introduced to the Beethoven household, Ludwig has been joined by two younger brothers, Karl and Johann. But other children have been lost in infancy, adding strain to a household already plagued by alcoholism. For Ludwig, music increasingly becomes a refuge, as do his friends. He grows close to the upper-class von Brüning family, to whose children he teaches piano. The family's son will be a lifelong friend, while Helene, the widowed matriarch, becomes a motherly figure. She teaches manners to the unrefined Ludwig and encourages his love of literature and poetry. Her warmth offers him an escape from his troubled home.
9:24 Speaker 01 A little later, Nefer is promoted to court organist. He arranges for his 13-year-old student to become his assistant, Beethoven's first salaried position.
9:37 Speaker 01 As well as providing a musical education, the well-read Nefer also introduces his charge to Enlightenment ideas of freedom and equality. He encourages Ludwig to compose music too, and helps him to publish his compositions. Proud of his pupil's prodigious talent, Nefer writes an article for a famed musical publication in which he calls Ludwig "a genius, a second Mozart".
10:04 Speaker 01 It is around now that the teenage Ludwig may have made the acquaintance of the Austrian composer.
10:12 Speaker 02 Did Beethoven meet Mozart? Well, thereby hangs a tale. The legend is that Beethoven went to Vienna in April 1787, when he was 16 years of age. He met Mozart once, briefly. Mozart was in his early 30s and not in good health. And Mozart, hearing him play, said to his wife, “Watch out for this boy. One day, he’ll give the world something to talk about,” and offered to take him on as a pupil. But Beethoven, 16 years of age, got an urgent letter from his father, saying, “Your mother is seriously ill. Back in Bonn, you need to come home immediately.”
10:59 Speaker 01 It is possible that the meeting is apocryphal. For the rest of their lives, neither composer mentions it. But what is true is that Beethoven’s mother now dies of consumption.
11:11 Speaker 01 His father’s alcoholism spirals further, culminating in his arrest for drunkenness and banishment from the city.
11:20 Speaker 01 Beethoven senior lives out the final few years of his life in exile, leaving the 18-year-old Beethoven to become head of the household.
11:30 Speaker 01 But another father figure steps into Beethoven’s life when he meets Count Walstein at the Von Brunnings.
11:40 Speaker 01 The aristocrat becomes an important early patron, commissioning his first work for the stage, the ballet “Musik zu einem Ritterballett.”
11:49 Speaker 01 Patronage during this time is an important matter for musicians. And with the news from Vienna of the death of Mozart at the age of just 35, the world is keener than ever to find his replacement.
12:03 Speaker 01 Walstein’s support couldn’t come at a more crucial moment.
12:09 Speaker 01 With the French Revolutionary Army invading German territory, now is the perfect time for the ambitious young composer to move out of the danger zone to Vienna, the capital city of the Holy Roman Empire.
12:25 Speaker 01 But first, Beethoven needs the permission of his employer, the prince-elector.
12:33 Speaker 02 Napoleon was invading the Rhineland. Bonn was next on his list. The prince-elector and his family had to get out of Bonn into exile. And that was a perfect moment for Walstein to say, "Look, this boy Beethoven, who plays viola in your orchestra and who's a brilliant pianist, I'd love him to go to Vienna. Would you give him permission?" And the prince-elector said, "Do you not think I've got more important things to think of at the moment? Do what you like." And the other reason he was able to go was that the greatest composer of the age, Mozart being dead, was Haydn. And Haydn, on his return from a triumphant tour of London, stopped off in Bonn, met young Beethoven,
13:16 Speaker 02 saw one of his manuscripts and said, "Cool. This is amazing. If you can get to Vienna, I'll take you on as a pupil." So that was the other incentive. So when Beethoven went there at the age of just under 22, he went to take lessons with Haydn. And that's how he began in Vienna.
13:36 Speaker 01 A new chapter in Beethoven's life is about to begin.
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14:11 Speaker 01 This November on the Noiser Podcast Network. On Real Dictators, the story of Rafael Trujillo concludes with an epic shootout scene, plucked straight from a mafia movie. On Short History of, join us as we unthor Utzi the Iceman, Europe's oldest-known natural-human mummy, and step back into the swinging 60s. On Real Survival Stories, on Ben Nevis, Scotland's highest mountain, a chilling tale plays out in the mist, and, after a volcanic eruption in New Zealand, a helicopter pilot scrambles to respond. In Jane Austen Stories, Emma continues with Dame Julie Andrews, and in Sherlock Holmes' short stories, the tale of hidden treasure and murder continues in The Sign of Four.
14:54 Speaker 01 Get all of these shows and more early and ad-free on Noiser Plus.
15:04 Speaker 01 In late 1792, when Beethoven arrives in Vienna, it is known as one of the most exciting and cultured cities in Europe.
15:13 Speaker 01 But despite his supreme talent, Beethoven is unprepared for the sophistication of the society in which he is now immersed. With his harsh Rhineland accent and ill-fitting clothes, he has never worn a wig, let alone the powdered ones sported by the city's fashionable elite. At first, he lives in an attic room, in a house owned by Walstein's relative Prince Karl Lichnoffski.
15:39 Speaker 01 One of the wealthiest men in the city, and a great patron of the arts, Lichnoffski will be instrumental in Beethoven's transition into Viennese life, offering financial and social support. Beethoven now throws himself into his work, seeking to refine his compositional technique. And though he takes lessons with Joseph Haydn, as planned, the relationship is strained.
16:07 Speaker 02 He was a very difficult pupil, and every time Haydn said, "You can't do that, that's wrong," "I can do that, I am Beethoven." So you can imagine it, Haydn in his 60s, Beethoven in his 20s, a new man, a new composer, in a hurry.
16:22 Speaker 01 Haydn requests that his student includes the phrase "pupil of Haydn" on the title of his early works. Beethoven, though, never plagued by self-doubt and increasingly renowned for his fiery temper, refuses point-blank.
16:40 Speaker 01 More successful in that relationship are Beethoven's performances at Salon Soirs. Arranged through Lichnowski's contacts, these events help him build a reputation as a virtuoso pianist with a flair for improvisation.
16:55 Speaker 01 Soon, he begins to compose in earnest. A set of three piano trios: two full piano concertos and three piano sonatas. With Lichnowski's help, he now secures the large Imperial Burgtheater in March 1795 for his first major public performance.
17:19 Speaker 01 Beethoven, however, causes consternation by rewriting his piano concerto right up until the last minute, something that will become a lifelong pattern. But the performance is enough of a success for it to be repeated the next day. His professional star is on the ascendant, but Beethoven proves unlucky and laugh.
17:41 Speaker 01 He becomes reacquainted with a friend from his Bonn years, a singer called Magdalena Wilmen, but when Beethoven proposes marriage, he is promptly turned down.
17:53 Speaker 01 Later, when she's asked why, she calls him "ugly" and "half-crazy".
18:00 Speaker 01 His mood already sour, he is joined in Vienna by his brothers Karl and Johann, with whom he is not close. Karl attaches himself to his talented brother and becomes his business manager, though Beethoven soon escapes him on a tour of Prague, Dresden, Leipzig and Berlin, where he performs to royalty.
18:20 Speaker 01 But, just as he appears to be reaching the pinnacle of his career, Beethoven suffers what will turn out to be the greatest loss of his life.
18:32 Speaker 01 Now, twenty-seven, the composer begins to notice a change in his hearing. At first, he ignores the buzzing in his ears and keeps it to himself. After all, he's still managing to compose works like his dramatic "Patetique Sonata", which reflects a step up in complexity. He completes his first symphony too, which premieres on April the 2nd, 1800, at the Burgtheater. It gets mixed reviews, but undeterred, Beethoven embarks on his second symphony and a ballet. Even so, despite being busy and productive professionally, privately, he is agonized over the loss of his hearing.
19:13 Speaker 02 If there's one thing that most people know about Beethoven, it is that he's the one who went deaf. That affliction, which was slow to start and slow to develop, it only became full deafness after about fifteen years. But all through that period, he continued to compose. And when you discuss Beethoven's music, from the early days to the end of his life, you must never forget that he was slowly losing his hearing, and that had the most profound influence on his music.
19:54 Speaker 01 He's given all manner of medical advice. One doctor suggests cold baths, another, warm. A third suggests putting almond oil in his ears, which only exacerbates the issue. Worst of all, is the physician who soaks the bark of a poisonous plant and straps it to Beethoven's arms. As the bark dries, it shrinks, tightening the skin underneath and causing terrible blisters to form, which the doctor then lances.
20:25 Speaker 01 It's so damaging that Beethoven is temporarily unable to play the piano, and the deafness only continues.
20:39 Speaker 01 But there is some consolation during this difficult time in the form of his sixteen-year-old piano student, Julia Gucciardi.
20:49 Speaker 01 The attraction is apparently mutual, but the match is vetoed by her father on account of Beethoven's unpredictable lifestyle, peculiar temperament, and his deafness. Despite the painful rejection, the romance inspires a piano sonata, which he dedicates to Julia. A piece of music so hauntingly beautiful that one critic compares it with the moon setting over the lake Lucerne:
21:15 Speaker 01 "The Moonlight Sonata."
21:23 Speaker 01 His mood spiraling, in early 1802, one of his doctors suggests a break from the hustle and bustle of city life. And so Beethoven rents a small cottage just outside the city.
21:37 Speaker 01 He continues to compose, but after a walk with a friend, during which he fails to hear the lovely sound of a shepherd playing his pipe, his sadness becomes despair.
21:58 Speaker 01 It is the 6th of October, 1802. In the small village of Heiligenstadt, children are playing in the fallen autumn leaves while a horse and rider trot down the lane.
22:12 Speaker 01 But inside his cottage, seated at a simple wooden desk, Beethoven can only hear the usual humming and buzzing in his ears.
22:22 Speaker 01 He rummages in a drawer for a tinderbox, strikes flint against steel to light a lantern next to his desk, then closes the curtains to block out the world beyond.
22:35 Speaker 01 Sighing, he now reaches for a small inkwell and feathered quill and begins to write a letter to his two brothers. The document will act as his last will and testament, and he embarks upon it furiously.
22:49 Speaker 01 On the paper, Beethoven rails against those who have misunderstood him and against the loss of the one sense, as he puts it, "that should have been more highly developed in me than anyone."
23:02 Speaker 01 "Would it not be better," he muses, "to end it all, to leave behind the burden of a world he can no longer fully experience."
23:12 Speaker 01 But as he writes, a flicker of defiance begins to stir, and, better still, a melody starts to form in his head. He stands abruptly and makes his way to the upright piano in the corner of the room to try it out.
23:30 Speaker 01 The rebellious tune keeps him there at the piano. It won't leave him alone.
23:38 Speaker 01 When it's finally done with him, his eyes fall on the manuscripts scattered across the kitchen table, the notes dancing silently on the pages.
23:49 Speaker 01 They remind Beethoven of all the music still trapped in his mind, waiting to be written, waiting to be heard. To end his life would be to deny that to the world.
24:00 Speaker 01 With fresh resolve, he returns to his desk to conclude the letter. His quill flying across the page, he writes now not about surrender, but about fighting on. It becomes not only a letter, but a manifesto.
24:16 Speaker 01 Though he has stared into the abyss, he has also confronted his deafness and remembered the reason he wants to live, after all.
24:32 Speaker 01 Soon, he returns to Vienna with a new resolve, and instead of sending the letter, he carries it with him, a reminder of his commitment to persevering for the sake of his art.
24:45 Speaker 01 Early in 1803, Beethoven is made composer in residence at the Theater and Avin, an appointment which comes with a small apartment in the building. His brother Carl, still managing Beethoven's business affairs, moves in with him. But it's not a peaceful existence. Carl is pushy and annoys publishers with aggressive demands for money. And the temperamental Beethoven isn't an easy housemate either, with works now coming thick and fast. It's fair to say his talents as a composer exceed his organizational skills.
25:25 Speaker 01 On the morning of one concert in 1803, his secretary Ferdinand Rees is summoned to Beethoven's apartment, where he finds the composer sitting up in bed adding trombones to the score of a new oratorio, "Christ on the Mount of Olives."
25:41 Speaker 01 With the final rehearsal due to take place in a matter of hours, it's up to Rees to urgently source trombonists. There is no time to hire copyists, so in the end, the hastily-assembled musicians play from Beethoven's handwritten manuscript sheets.
25:59 Speaker 01 The reviews are mixed, but it is something of a relief to everyone when the contribution of the trombones is picked out for praise.
26:10 Speaker 01 In the summer of 1803, Beethoven begins work on a new symphony, his third. Composing over an intensive three months, he dedicates it to Napoleon Bonaparte, who has risen from humble roots to lead revolutionary France in a new era of liberty, equality, and fraternity. A champion, Beethoven believes, of the common man.
26:36 Speaker 01 Despite living under an absolute monarchy and his dependence on wealthy patrons, Beethoven never loses the Enlightenment principles which he adopted under Christian Nafar's tuition. So when Napoleon declares himself emperor, it falls to a brave Rees to break the news to Beethoven. Furious at what he views as a betrayal of republican ideals, he rips the dedication of the symphony in two, scratching out Bonaparte's name so violently that a hole is left in the script.
27:12 Speaker 01 This symphony becomes known as "The Heroica."
27:17 Speaker 02 The "Heroica Symphony", which began his heroic period, sets a new standard for symphonic composition. He begins it with two massive chords.
27:32 Speaker 02 As if he's saying, "Pay attention, pay attention." What I think he's saying is, "To hell with my deafness." You don't begin a symphony with two massive chords. And it's often said of the heroica, composed in roughly 1803 to 1804, it took music into a new century. And it's still looked back on today as just groundbreaking. Every musical form, he broke the rules. If you go to a Mozart concert, Mozart's music is utterly divine. It is perfect. As Salieri says in the Anthony Shaffer play Amadeus, jealously, "It's as if God put the music into his head.
28:13 Speaker 02 It flows down his arm, into the pen and onto the paper." Beethoven? Just look at the manuscripts, covered in crossings out, ink blotches, torn paper. He struggled to get it down. But once he got it down, this was a new kind of music.
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29:08 Speaker 01 This November, on the Noiser Podcast Network. On Real Dictators, the story of Rafael Trujillo concludes with an epic shootout scene, plucked straight from a mafia movie. On Short History of, join us as we unthor Utsi the Iceman, Europe's oldest known natural human mummy, and step back into the swinging 60s. On Real Survival Stories, on Ben Nevis, Scotland's highest mountain, a chilling tale plays out in the mist. And after a volcanic eruption in New Zealand, a helicopter pilot scrambles to respond. In Jane Austen Stories, Emma continues with Dame Julie Andrews. And in Sherlock Holmes' Short Stories, the tale of hidden treasure and murder continues in The Sign of Four.
29:51 Speaker 01 Get all of these shows and more early and ad-free on Noiser Plus. And for our American listeners, a special offer on Noises debut book, A Short History of Ancient Rome. Head to bookshop.org and use the code NONFIC26 for 15% off. Valid for US customers November 1st to 30th. That's bookshop.org and use the code N O N F I C two six.
30:22 Speaker 01 Beethoven now works on an opera, Leonore. But his life is once again about to be shaped by larger forces. Fearing Napoleon's expansionism, Austria joins Britain and other powers in a coalition against him, and soon the Napoleonic wars are underway.
30:43 Speaker 01 By October 1805, a mere month before the opera's November premiere, Napoleon is marching towards Vienna.
30:52 Speaker 01 Soon, he and his army storm into the city, which surrenders to the occupation with little resistance.
31:00 Speaker 01 With most of the opera-going public having fled, Leonore opens to a handful of friends and a few French soldiers. It closes after just three nights.
31:16 Speaker 01 Beethoven keeps working, but this turbulent time is further marred by fractures in some key relationships.
31:25 Speaker 01 First, history repeats itself when he falls in love with and is rejected by one of his pupils. This time, the object of his affections is a beautiful young woman called Josephine Bruntig. Second, to add salt to the wound, his brother Carl during this time makes a match that Beethoven deems most unsuitable.
31:48 Speaker 01 Johanna Rees, his brother's intended, is the daughter of a Viennese upholsterer who had a brush with the law in her youth. Ignoring his brother's disapproval, Carl marries her anyway and steps down from his role as Beethoven's manager just in time for the arrival of their son.
32:12 Speaker 01 Knowing Beethoven is under strain, his patron, Prince Lichnovsky, invites the composer to his country estate at Graz, near the border between the Czech Republic and Poland, today.
32:23 Speaker 01 Unfortunately, one evening, the prince also entertains a number of French officers. The French, by this stage, have withdrawn from Vienna, but Beethoven has neither forgiven nor forgotten Napoleon's treachery. So when the officers expect the great composer to play for them, he angrily refuses. Lichnovsky insists, so Beethoven charges to his room. He packs up his things and leaves the house, but not before scribbling a note that says: "There have been and will always be thousands of princes. There is only one Beethoven."
33:02 Speaker 01 Back at home in Vienna, still in a rage, Beethoven smashes his marble bust of the Prince to pieces. The rift is irreparable. And soon, Lichnovsky brings a halt to the annuity he's been paying him.
33:18 Speaker 01 Beethoven's life seems to be becoming increasingly chaotic, yet he continues to compose, now bringing to life one of the most renowned pieces of his career.
33:35 Speaker 02 It's well-known that the most famous, perhaps, orchestral composition of them all is the Fifth Symphony, and that famous opening, "Da-da-da-dam", which most people know, everybody knows, it's not even a tune, it's not a melody, it's a motif. And what he does with it in that symphony is extraordinary. A lot of Beethoven's music was rejected when it was first heard, simply because he just broke the rules so conclusively all the time that they found it very, very difficult.
34:09 Speaker 01 The Fifth Symphony is closely followed by his Sixth, a very different work which he calls "The Pastoral", imbued, as it is, with his love of the countryside. In December 1808, he organizes a colossal concert, featuring the premieres of his Fifth and Sixth Symphonies, among other works.
34:31 Speaker 01 It draws a strong audience, but the concert itself is a marathon of a performance in a freezing theater, undermined by inadequate rehearsals, repeated interruptions, and the fiery temper of the composer shouting at the musicians.
34:46 Speaker 01 But around this time, Beethoven receives an enticing offer from Napoleon's brother, Jerome Bonaparte.
34:55 Speaker 01 He invites him to serve as kapellmeister in Westphalia, a client state of the French Empire in central Germany.
35:03 Speaker 01 To keep him in Vienna, three of the city's wealthiest aristocrats step in, including Archduke Rudolph, the youngest son of Austria's Emperor Leopold II. They pledge him a generous stipend of 4,000 florins annually, on the condition he remains in the city.
35:27 Speaker 01 But by early the next year, Austria has, once again, declared war on France.
35:35 Speaker 01 As Napoleon marches on Vienna, determined to teach the Austrians a lesson once and for all, the imperial family flee, including Beethoven's patron, Archduke Rudolph. Beethoven himself stays behind, sheltering in his brother Carl's cellar, covering his head with pillows during the assault. After the subsequent occupation, Vienna is a changed city, with soaring prices and an uneasy atmosphere.
36:09 Speaker 01 In this unhappy period, Beethoven again falls in unrequited love. This time with the daughter of an Italian family, Therese Malfati.
36:20 Speaker 01 He composes a piece of music for her, simple enough that she might be able to play it on the piano. Entitled "Bagatelle", the work is more commonly known by what Beethoven scribbled on the title page: "Für Elise", meaning "for Elise", which is likely to have been Therese's nickname.
36:42 Speaker 01 Just as before though, the romance comes to nothing, just another in a long series of unfulfilled longings.
36:55 Speaker 01 Destabilized by the wars, Austria's currency weakens. Prices skyrocket and some of Vienna's wealthiest individuals lose their fortunes overnight. One of Beethoven's three wealthy patrons is bankrupted, and a second is thrown off his horse and killed.
37:14 Speaker 01 Yet Beethoven continues to create at a furious rate, completing a Seventh Symphony and beginning work on the Eighth, among other projects. His health however is troubling him, particularly stomach problems. So in the summer of 1812, when he is 41, he retreats for a break.
37:37 Speaker 01 It's in the town of what is now Teplize in the Czech Republic that he meets a mystery woman.
37:45 Speaker 02 He arrives late at night, the carriage wheel is broken, so he's late, and he gets to the hotel and his room has been taken, appears to go down the hill to a new hotel, and he starts to write a letter that night to a woman. And he tells her about what a dreadful journey he's had. The next morning, he writes an addendum to it telling her more about it. And the next night, in a third addendum, it's only about half a page long. His writing has become really spread across the page, it's totally disorganized. And in the second line of this second addendum, he calls her "meine unsterbliche Geliebte", "my eternally beloved", or "my immortal beloved".
38:33 Speaker 01 It is a long letter, full of intense declarations of love and an indication of a mutual passion. But there is no address, and the letter appears never to have been sent. It is shoved into a secret drawer of his desk, where it is found after his death.
38:52 Speaker 01 Most frustratingly of all, the recipient remains nameless. Her identity evading historians ever since.
39:02 Speaker 02 A very distinguished American musicologist, Maynard Solomon, wrote a definitive biography of him, in which he had even investigated the times of the mail coach from Teplice to Karlsbad, because Beethoven refers to this other town with a K, saying, "I'll send the letter by the mail coach. Damn it, I just missed it, it just left." This guy did all the research possible and identifies the woman as Antoni Brentano, because he knew her in Vienna very well, which has to be the case from the evidence of the letter. She was in Prague in the first week of July 1812, when he was, and then she was in Karlsbad in the weeks following to where the letter was sent.
39:46 Speaker 02 And he names her as the immortal beloved, and he says in his biography, "I think, without boasting, we can now regard this mystery as solved." Well, he was wrong there, because since then, so many other names have been put forward.
40:02 Speaker 01 Other possibilities include Beethoven's former crushes, Giulia Guicciardi and Teresa Malfati. But the other top suspect, along with Antoni Brentano, is Josephin Brunsvik, with whom the composer fell in love many years before.
40:20 Speaker 01 There is no proof of her being in the correct place at the correct time. But for some, the fact that she gave birth exactly nine months on from the writing of the letter to a daughter who resembled Beethoven in her adult years has been too tempting a coincidence to resist.
40:39 Speaker 01 The composer's trip away is cut short by what he deems to be a family emergency. On discovering that his brother Johann is about to make an inappropriate match in marriage, Beethoven rushes to the central Austrian town of Linz. Ever the moralist, despite his revolutionary ideals, he is determined to prevent the wedding on the basis that his brother's fiance, who was initially his housekeeper, already has an illegitimate child.
41:09 Speaker 01 The composer takes the matter to the bishop and even the police, but despite terrible scenes between the brothers, he's unable to get his way.
41:18 Speaker 02 Beethoven was not a very nice man. He upset his family, he upset his patrons, he upset fellow musicians, he upset everyone he came into contact with. One restaurant, you know, if he was given eggs that had gone off in a restaurant, he would hurl them at the waiter. Once he threw them out of the window and they landed on diners outside. And once, people were eating in the restaurant and he was at a table next door and they said to the maître d: "I'm really sorry, this man at the table next door is investigating the contents of his nose. Please may we move to another table." That was Beethoven. He was eccentric and difficult,
42:02 Speaker 02 and they all knew he was difficult. Mozart, by contrast, was almost infantile. He had a childlike quality to him, but everybody loved him, and Haydn was adored by everyone. Mozart christened him Papa, Papa Haydn, which stuck, but everyone gave Beethoven a wide berth when they could because he was not an easy man.
42:31 Speaker 01 Though he's been plagued with pains for a while, Beethoven's health now begins to deteriorate. He gives up completely on hygiene, drinks more heavily, and experiences a rare creative block at this time too. There is a glimmer of hope on the horizon, however. After the British, Portuguese, and Spanish forces under Wellington defeat Napoleon's brother Joseph Bonaparte in Spain, the mood in Vienna is jubilant. With the people in the mood for music, Beethoven gives three successful concerts, at which he conducts the first public performance of his Seventh Symphony, shortly followed by the Eighth. There is also the premiere of a piece celebrating the recent battle,
43:14 Speaker 01 called "Wellington's Victory". Beethoven's only operatic work, "Leonor", is revived as "Fidelia", and performed to Europe's triumphant heads of state at a gala evening in September. But this professional pinnacle is followed almost immediately by a personal low. In November 1815, his brother Carl dies. Though he had previously written a will that would leave Beethoven in sole charge of his son, a more recent version gives guardianship to both Beethoven and Carl's widow Johanna. To the horror of everyone involved, Beethoven now embarks on a prolonged legal battle over the matter.
43:59 Speaker 01 Eventually, his nephew Carl is removed from his mother at the age of nine. His uncle Beethoven promptly puts him into boarding school, though the tug of war continues for years. It takes its toll on the composer. By 1818, his hearing has deteriorated so badly that he has to find alternative means to communicate.
44:21 Speaker 02 When Beethoven's deafness was as total as it would ever be, he began to carry around little notebooks with him, so that if people wanted to talk to him, he'd hand them the notebook and they would write the question down. He would answer it verbally, of course. They were called "conversation books", and he got through several hundred in his lifetime. Sadly, after his death, his secretary Anton Schindler burned over a hundred or it may even be two hundred, but he burned a whole load of the conversation books because they reflected badly on Beethoven's character.
45:01 Speaker 01 But it is now that Beethoven receives a new concert grand piano from a London piano manufacturer. The gift inspires the creation of his monumental Hammerklavier Sonata. It stands as a turning point in his compositional style, his longest and most complex Sonata.
45:21 Speaker 01 While the years after the Hammerklavier would bring to light some of the composer's best-loved masterpieces, they are marked by immense personal challenges.
45:31 Speaker 01 In 1821, he endures a near-fatal bout of rheumatic fever. He also learns of the death of Josephine Brunsvik, high on the list as a possibility for being his immortal beloved. This series of events will bring Beethoven to the brink of ruin. Neglecting his health, he turns increasingly to drink.
45:59 Speaker 01 It is autumn 1822, a quiet, cold night on the outskirts of Vienna. A young constable picks up his pace to keep warm as he patrols the cobbled streets.
46:13 Speaker 01 In the distance, he hears a noise, some kind of commotion. A man runs towards him, his arm raised. "There's a tramp," he tells the constable, "who is disturbing the peace." The officer is led to a scruffy man slumped on a bench beneath the dim glow of a streetlamp. Wrapped in a tattered coat, the tramp is hatless, with an unruly nest of hair that looks as if it has been untouched by a comb for weeks. He is shouting, though what he's shouting about is unclear. The constable addresses the tramp politely, but struggles to make himself understood. Eventually, through gesture, he makes it clear that he's going to have to take him into custody if he doesn't quieten down.
46:59 Speaker 01 The vagrant fixes the constable with a glare, his dark eyes flashing in the lamplight. "Arrest me," he demands, "but I am Beethoven."
47:14 Speaker 01 His appearance does not match his imperious tone, and even from a few steps away, he reeks of alcohol and neglect. Another constable now arrives, drawn by the sound of incoherent ranting.
47:27 Speaker 01 The two briefly discuss whether this could indeed be the man the whole of Vienna hails as a genius. There is nothing about him to suggest the wealth or stature of the famous composer.
47:39 Speaker 01 Incensed, the tramp now rises angrily, if unsteadily, to his feet. And, making a quick assessment, the officers seize him by the arm and frogmarch him to the police station. He is swiftly booked for the night into a holding cell.
47:56 Speaker 01 But that is not the end of the matter. He spends the night rattling the bars of his cell and shouting in ever-increasing volume that he is Beethoven. His noise disturbs everyone in the station, so the young constable is sent back out into the city to track down the commissioner of the police. He finds him enjoying an early evening drink at one of his favorite local taverns.
48:17 Speaker 01 Though not overjoyed to be disturbed, the commissioner decides to call upon a musical director he knows to settle the matter.
48:27 Speaker 01 Hours later, the men convene at the station. The musical director is led to the holding cell, where the vagrant sits on the other side of the bars, his face set in a furious scowl.
48:39 Speaker 01 His arms are crossed tightly over his chest, his boots scuffed and damp.
48:45 Speaker 01 Adjusting his spectacles, the musical director takes one glance and confirms to the police: "That is Beethoven."
48:55 Speaker 01 The constable is told in no uncertain terms to release the prisoner. With shaking hands, he unlocks the door, and Vienna's most famous composer storms out of his cell, leaving a stunned silence in his wake.
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49:43 Speaker 01 This November, on the Noiser Podcast Network. On Real Dictators, the story of Rafael Trujillo concludes with an epic shootout scene, plucked straight from a mafia movie. On Short History of, join us as we unthor Utsi the Iceman, Europe's oldest known natural human mummy, and step back into the swinging 60s. On Real Survival Stories, on Ben Nevis, Scotland's highest mountain, a chilling tale plays out in the mist. And after a volcanic eruption in New Zealand, a helicopter pilot scrambles to respond. In Jane Austen Stories, Emma continues with Dame Julie Andrews. And in Sherlock Holmes' short stories, the tale of hidden treasure and murder continues in The Sign of Four.
50:26 Speaker 01 Get all of these shows and more early and ad-free on Noiser Plus. In the last years of his life, Beethoven experiences remarkable creative achievement, despite deteriorating health and personal struggles. It is during this period that he completes some of his most famous works, with May 1824 marking the premiere of his monumental Ninth Symphony. A towering masterpiece, it redefines symphonic music with its inclusion of choral voices in the famous "Ode to Joy".
51:04 Speaker 02 The words of the final movement are from a poem by Schiller called "Andi Freud" which is translated as "Ode to Joy", which is a hymn to liberty, a hymn to freedom, a plea for all mankind to become brothers. And that is what appealed to Beethoven, and that is the poem that he uses in the final movement of the Ninth Symphony, and it completely sums up his philosophy. That is the significance of the Ninth.
51:39 Speaker 01 The work debuts to immediate acclaim, though Beethoven, unable to hear the applause, has to be turned around to see the audience's reaction.
51:49 Speaker 01 In these final years, Beethoven's compositions become introspective and complex. His late string quartets are considered some of the most profound works in western classical music. Yet his difficult temperament, exacerbated by his frustrations with deafness and isolation, continues to strain his personal relationships. His guardianship of his nephew is particularly tumultuous.
52:15 Speaker 01 Despite lavishing affection on young Carl, Beethoven is far from an ideal guardian. He puts immense pressure on the unmusical young man to follow in his footsteps, and denies his wish to join the army. With frequent bitter quarrels, they reach a breaking point in 1826, when Carl attempts to shoot himself in the head, just before his university examination. He survives, and Beethoven reluctantly permits him to begin a military career after all. Just a year later, Beethoven's health declines rapidly.
52:50 Speaker 01 Following months of severe illness from cirrhosis of the liver, he dies on March 26, 1827, in his apartment in Vienna. He's 56 years old.
53:08 Speaker 01 His funeral is attended by an estimated 20,000 people. Among them are many notable musicians, including Franz Schubert, who not only accompanies his coffin, but also, 18 months later, will be buried beside him.
53:28 Speaker 01 Despite the struggles and hardships that defined his later years, Beethoven's legacy as one of history's greatest composers has been solidified in the centuries since his death.
53:40 Speaker 01 Among his many masterpieces, the Ninth Symphony endures as a global symbol of unity and hope, with its ode to joy adopted as the anthem of the European Union in 1972.
53:53 Speaker 01 But most of all, Beethoven's music has never lost its power to speak to ordinary people.
54:01 Speaker 02 Go to a Mozart concert and at the end of it, sit back and the music has washed over you. Everything is right with the world. Go to a Beethoven concert and your knuckles should be white, gripping your chair. What has he done? Where has he taken me? I've never heard anything so exciting in my life. That's the big difference and that, I believe, is what set Beethoven apart. Because he breaks the rules, his music is as fresh today as it was when he wrote it over 200 years ago. And that is what I believe makes him the greatest of the more.
54:41 Speaker 01 Next time on Short History of, we'll bring you a short history of the printing press.
54:47 Speaker 04 The first major impact of Gutenberg's press was it allowed ordinary people to read things in their own language. And so, ordinary people, for the first time, were able to skip past the authority of priests and, as it were, commune directly with God in their own language.
55:08 Speaker 01 That's next time.
55:12 Speaker 01 If you can't wait a week until the next episode, you can listen to it right away by subscribing to Noiser Plus. Head to www.noisier.com/subscriptions for more information.
55:24 Speaker 03 Low energy, unfocused, foggy. You might be dehydrated. Gatorade Zero Powders have been scientifically designed to help improve hydration balance in the body. With a clinically proven electrolyte blend and no artificial colours or flavours, great tasting hydration, no matter where you're going. Shop now online or at retailers nationwide. Gatorade: Hydrates Better Than Water. Is it in you? Symptoms noted are signs of mild to moderate dehydration. Consult a healthcare professional if symptoms persist.
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