January 02, 2025

527. Beethoven: Napoleon and the Music of War LIVE at the Royal Albert Hall

1 hour 6 minutes

Ludwig Van Beethoven, like his precursor and possible acquaintance Mozart, is one of the most famous figures in Western musical history. With his wild hair and furrowed brow, his was a genius marked not by flamboyance and flare, but dark, bombastic gravity. Like Mozart, though, his musical talents also emerged at a young age. Born in Bonn, Germany, in 1770, he was initially taught by his father. Finding his home life dysfunctional however, he eventually moved to Vienna at the age of twenty-one. There he would study musical composition under the great composer Haydn, and garnered a reputation for being a talented pianist. By 1800, his symphonies were being performed to much acclaim. But, as music’s first true star and with the world seemingly before his feet, a terrible shadow was hanging over Beethoven - his encroaching deafness, which saw him becoming more and more anti-social. How was it, then, that in spite of this terrible affliction, he came to write some of his best known works during the height of his deafness? And what became of him?

Join Tom and Dominic at the Royal Albert Hall, featuring the Academy of St Martin in the Fields and the Philharmonia Chorus, conducted by Oliver Zeffman, as they delve into the life of Beethoven, one of the most venerated figures in the history of music. With his unkempt appearance, ferocious reputation, and famously ill-fated deafness, what was the truth behind the legends of this extraordinary man? And how did he come to write some of the most iconic pieces of classical music of all time?

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Academy of St Martin in the Fields

Orchestra

Philharmonia Chorus

Chorus

Oliver Zeffman

Conductor

Stephanie Gonley

Leader & Violin Soloist

Mishka Rushdie Momen

Pianist

Nardus Williams Soprano