Episode 42 – Court Battles

John continues the dramatic story of Beethoven’s attempts to win custody of his 9 year old nephew after his brother’s death. He lifts the lid on what happened in the courtroom and how the boy’s mother attempted to visit her son in disguise - dressed as a man - while he was in Beethoven’s care. John also reveals how a single letter in Beethoven’s name almost led to him losing custody of the boy for good. He also plays music that Beethoven was composing during this tumultuous period in his life, including the first song cycle in musical history, his greatest piano sonata to date, and a quintet composed for the unusual combination of five string instruments. 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.