Episode 48 – Tears in the Writing

The drama of Beethoven’s temperamental relationship with his nephew continues in this episode. As Karl, while enrolled at business school, continues to see his mother in defiance of Beethoven’s wishes, John plays the deep and intense String Quartet that reflects the composer’s hurt at the time; a piece that one of his friends said “cost him tears in the writing.” John also uncovers the rare canon that Beethoven wrote for his doctor as his ill health continued, and we hear the piece that was premiered in the stiflingly hot upstairs room of a hotel, with the composer - almost totally deaf by now - snatching a violin from a player to demonstrate how the work should played. John then describes how Beethoven let his hair down with his friends at the after-show party, thanks to a drinking song! 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.