Episode 18 – Going Deaf

John explores Beethoven’s increasing deafness, and the impact it had on the great composer. He reveals the lengths that Beethoven went to in order to try and cure it, including disappearing to the countryside, and virtually vanishing for five months in his mid-twenties. When he emerged, he was determined to compose as much as possible, becoming obsessed with a musical theme that became a metaphor for his deafness, including his ultimate defiance against his failing hearing; his Symphony No.3 - the Eroica. All the Beethoven pieces featured in this podcast are taken from the 90-disc Naxos box set, the Complete Beethoven Edition. You can buy yours by heading to Presto Classical and Europadisc.