Episode 31 - 1808

John focuses on Beethoven’s turbulent year of 1808 - in which we find the great composer in a foul mood, having been finally rebuffed by the long-term focus of his amorous advances, and awaiting a long-promised date for a highly prestigious benefit concert that had been cancelled several times. Despite the challenges of his personal and professional life, Beethoven continue to compose masterful music. John discovers a Piano Trio that seems entirely different to anything he had written before, nicknamed Ghost because of its eerie quality. He also reveals the setting of a Goethe poem that Beethoven struggled to compose, saying “I did not have enough time to produce a good one, so here are several attempts”, and John plays one of the composers best-loved symphonies, written as Beethoven escaped the stress of the city, to the calm of the countryside; his Symphony No.6, the Pastoral. 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.