The Rest Is History
527. Beethoven: Napoleon and the Music of War LIVE at the Royal Albert Hall
02 Jan 2025
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? _______ 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 Katie Stevenson Mezzo Andrew Staples Tenor William Thomas Bass _______ Twitter: @TheRestHistory @holland_tom @dcsandbrook Producer: Theo Young-Smith Assistant Producers: Tabby Syrett + Anouska Lewis + Aaliyah Akude Executive Producers: Jack Davenport + Tony Pastor Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
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Please welcome back to the stage Tom Holland and Dominik Sandberg. Welcome back, everybody. Always start the second half with a banger, they say. And that, of course, was the banger to end all bangers. The first movement of Beethoven's Fifth Symphony premiered in December 1808 in Vienna.
And Dominic, the opening of that movement must be the most famous opening to any piece of music ever written, I'd have thought.
Absolutely.
So, we have had Mozart, and the second half is about a very different character, someone who is brooding, unfriendly, difficult, and... And here he is... ..to talk about Ludwig van Beethoven. Dominic, take it away. Uh...
When I wrote that joke, I knew you would laugh. So, Tom, you ended with Mozart's death and funeral in 1791. No great send-off, a slightly lackluster occasion. And let's start by fast-forwarding three decades to March 1827, to the death and funeral of his great successor Ludwig van Beethoven. And it's a completely different scene. As Beethoven lies dying, also in Vienna,
Presents, cash, cakes are coming in from all over Europe. Beethoven's last recorded words greet the arrival from Mainz of a case of his favorite Rhineland wine. And his last words were, pity, pity, too late. And then he died. And when he did die on the evening of the 26th of March, it was the news story of the year.
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