大象传媒

Donald Macleod explores Beethoven鈥檚 late Credo of Joy through Suffering and one of his greatest sonatas 鈥� the 'Hammerklavier'.

Beethoven remains one of the most lauded composers in history, famed for both his music, and for his personal triumph as a musician over the adversity of his catastrophic hearing loss. Over the course of this Composer of the Week series, Donald Macleod takes five of Beethoven鈥檚 most iconic works, spread out through the composer鈥檚 life, and tracks the journey of each of them. Through these stories, Donald discovers both the pieces鈥� direct importance to the composer, and also finds wider issues which each of them point to in the general life of a complex, and troubled man. From his carefully stage-managed debut on the Viennese scene as a young man, and his steadily increasing anguish at the loss of his hearing, and the betrayal by Napoleon of his political ideals, to the close relationship between Beethoven and his most loyal patron, and the composer鈥檚 late credo of joy through suffering which allowed him to continue to flourish artistically despite all of his personal demons.

In Thursday鈥檚 programme, Donald explores another troubled period in Beethoven鈥檚 life, when the composer was tormented by loneliness, poor health, and his increasing deafness, and had to stop performing. Beethoven also found it difficult to find any artistic inspiration at this time, and struggled to compose. His adoption of a new credo, 鈥淛oy through Suffering鈥� revived him creatively, leading to the composition of one of his greatest sonatas 鈥� the 鈥淗ammerklavier鈥�.

Piano Sonata No 29 in Bb major, Op 106 鈥淗ammerklavier鈥� 鈥� II. Scherzo
Murray Perahia, piano

Adelaide, Op 46
Werner G眉ra, tenor
Christoph Berner, fortepiano

Sonata for Cello and Piano in D major, Op 102
Mischa Maisky, cello
Martha Argerich, piano

An die ferne geliebte, Op 98
Julian Pr茅gardien, tenor
Christoph Schnackertz, piano

Symphony No 8 in F major IV. Allegro Vivace
Gewandhausorchester Leipzig
Riccardo Chailly, conductor

Piano Sonata No 29 in Bb major, Op 106 鈥淗ammerklavier鈥� 鈥� IV. Largo 鈥� Allegro risoluto
Mitsuko Uchida, piano

Produced by Sam Phillips for 大象传媒 Audio Wales & West