Medicine

Donald Macleod and Professor Herwig Czech discuss medicine during Beethoven’s lifetime.

Beethoven’s lifetime was one of tumultuous change. In a week of programmes exploring this wider world around Beethoven, Donald Macleod is joined by five guests to discuss some of the various elements which combined to define the spirit of the age – the economy, the wider world of the arts, engineering, medicine and belief.

Beethoven was a man well acquainted with healthcare - suffering all through his life with a variety of illnesses. In Thursday’s programme, Donald is joined by contemporary historian Professor Herwig Czech – Chair of the History of Medicine at MedUni Vienna - to discuss the state of medicine during Beethoven’s lifetime and the likely causes of the composer’s hearing loss.

Composer of the Week is returning to the story of Beethoven’s life and music throughout 2020. Part of Radio 3’s Beethoven Unleashed season marking the 250th anniversary of Beethoven’s birth.

Doktor speert das Tor dem Tod, WoO 189
Accentus

Trio in E-flat major, WoO 38 (after the Septet, Op 20) (IV. Andante con Variazione)
Paul Meyer, clarinet
Claudio Bohorquez, cello
Eric le Sage, piano

Cantata on the Death of Emperor Joseph II, WoO 87 (VII. Todt, Todt!)
Sally Matthews, soprano
Tamara Mumford, mezzo
Barry Banks, tenor
Andrew Foster-Williams, bass-baritone
San Francisco Symphony Chorus
San Francisco Symphony
Michael Tilson Thomas, conductor

Piano Sonata No 23 in F minor, Op 57 “Appassionata” (III. Allegro ma non troppo)
Alfred Brendel, piano

Symphony 7 in A major, Op 92 (II. Allegretto)
Vienna Philharmonic
Raphael Kubelik, conductor

String Quartet No13, Op 130 (V. Cavatina)
Takacs Quartet

Produced by Sam Phillips for BBC Wales.