Episode 36 - Recuperation

In this episode, John provides further musical evidence that Beethoven’s increasing deafness was not impeding his creativity, as he plays two different overtures to two different plays - both of which he composed in 1811 at the age of 40. One, set in Ancient Greece and written to open a huge new theatre, and the other a deeply patriotic tribute to a former king. As Beethoven suffers from money problems, and with his health playing up, his doctor suggests he recuperates in a spa town and John discovers more pieces that the great composer wrote during this troubling period in his life. He reveals the String Quartet that Beethoven insisted was written only for a small circle of connoisseurs and should never be performed in public - an instruction that was ignored - as well as a bright and uplifting Violin Sonata that belies the troubles the composer faced. John also plays the work that drew Beethoven back to writing a symphony for the first time in three years, whilst recovering in that spa town; his Symphony No.7 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.