Five myths about Beethoven
December 16, 1770 was born Ludwig van Beethoven, the great German composer and pianist, a representative of the Viennese classical school. The life of this genius was surrounded by strange myths, some of which have not been dispelled so far. We will talk about five myths about Beethoven.
The eighth child in the family
There is a popular belief that Ludwig van Beethoven was the eighth son of a woman who suffered from syphilis and whose seven children suffered from various congenital diseases.
However, Beethoven was actually the second child of Johann van Beethoven and Mary Magdalene Keverich. At the same time, he was destined to remain the eldest son in the family, since the first-born, Ludwig Maria, who was born a year earlier, died six days after his birth. In addition, the Beethoven family had not eight, but seven children.
The house where Beethoven was born
Beethoven's mother had syphilis
Mary Magdalene Keverich died in 1787 at the age of 39 from tuberculosis, not syphilis. At that time, tuberculosis was an extremely dangerous disease, it claimed the lives of most of her children. Apparently, Mary Magdalene contracted tuberculosis while caring for her sick daughter, and the body, weakened by frequent childbirth, could not cope with the disease.
At the same time, no documentary evidence has been found confirming that Beethoven's mother was once ill with syphilis.
Curse of the ninth symphony
This myth is that since Beethoven, every composer who has written a ninth symphony dies shortly thereafter. The curse of the ninth symphony was stated by Arnold Schoenberg, referring to Gustav Mahler. Mahler argues his theory by the fact that Beethoven himself died while working on the Tenth Symphony, and Anton Bruckner worked on the Ninth at the end of his life, but in fact this symphony was also the tenth, because Bruckner refused one of his symphonies.
Other composers are cited as examples. However, in the 20th century there were many other authors who wrote more than nine symphonies, among them Hans Werner Henze, Eduard Tubin, David Diamond and others.
Beethoven at work at home.
Dissident Beethoven
There is a myth that Beethoven was angry with royalty and opposed the authorities. However, the Vienna Society of Music Lovers retained an authorized copy of the Third (Heroic) Symphony, dated August 1804. A copy of the score of the symphony says: "Written in honor of Bonaparte."
The composer dedicated three violin sonatas (op. 30) to Emperor Alexander I, who played the violin. The composer personally sent the author's copy of the Solemn Mass to Louis XVIII and was flattered by the gold medal he received from the king in 1824.
It is not surprising that when asked by one of his friends where to get money, Beethoven grumbled: “Write a book of poems and dedicate it to the Empress!”
Myths about Beethoven's death
There are various myths about Beethoven's death. There are versions that he died due to jaundice, due to cirrhosis of the liver or from syphilis.
In 2007, Viennese pathologist and forensic expert Christian Reiter suggested that Beethoven's demise was unintentionally hastened by his physician Andreas Wavruch, who repeatedly pierced the patient's peritoneum (to remove fluid), after which he applied lotions containing lead to the wounds. Reiter's hair studies showed that Beethoven's lead levels spiked each time he saw a doctor.
Scientists from the University of Chicago Public Health believe that a large amount of lead entered the composer's body with fish. Beethoven loved fish, and at that time, toxic lead accumulated in fish in large quantities. The reason for this is the rapid growth of heavy industry in Germany and Austria at the beginning of the 19th century.
