A Family Business
Beethoven makes the fateful decision to ask his volatile younger brother, Caspar Carl, to act as his agent. Presented by Donald Macleod.
Beethoven was discovering that dealing with his publishers was consuming more of his time and energy. Frustrated and overwhelmed with work, the composer turned to his younger brother for help in managing his business relationships. It’s a job for which the volatile Casper Carl van Beethoven was eminently unsuited.
All this week, Donald Macleod traces Beethoven’s story through the momentous years of 1802 and 1803. It was a time that saw remarkable developments in Beethoven’s creativity as he pursued a self-declared ‘new path’ for his music. He undertook his most ambitious works yet, pouring his whole self into his art. At the same time his personal life was reaching a crisis point that would plunge him to the darkest depths of despair and threaten to ruin all his carefully laid plans for the future.
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.
String Quartet No 1 in F Op 18 No 1, III. Scherzo
Danish String Quartet
Violin Sonata in G major Op 30 No 3, I. Allegro assai
Esther Yoo, violin
Zhang Zuo, piano
Piano Sonata No 18 in E flat major, Op 31 No 3
Christian Hadland, piano
String Quintet in C, Op 29, I. Allegro moderato
Elias Quartet
Malin Broman,viola
Gellert Lieder, VI. Busslied
Olaf Bär, baritone
Geoffrey Parsons, piano
Last on
Music Played
-
![]()
Ludwig van Beethoven
String Quartet in F major, Op 18, No 1 (3rd mvt)
Ensemble: Danish String Quartet. -
![]()
Ludwig van Beethoven
Sonata in G major, Op 30, No 3 for violin and piano (1st mvt)
Performer: Esther Yoo. Performer: Zhang Zuo. -
![]()
Ludwig van Beethoven
Piano Sonata No 18 in E flat major, Op 31, No 3
Performer: Christian Hadland. -
![]()
Ludwig van Beethoven
Quintet in C major, Op 29 for Strings (1st mvt)
Performer: Malin Broman. Ensemble: Elias String Quartet. -
![]()
Ludwig van Beethoven
6 Songs Op 48 (No 6, Busslied)
Performer: Geoffrey Parsons. Singer: Olaf Bär.- EMI : CDC-754879-2.
- EMI.
- 11.
Broadcast
- Thu 21 May 2020 12:00Â鶹ԼÅÄ Radio 3
Vaughan Williams Today
Programmes, concerts and features celebrating Vaughan Williams's 150th anniversary.
Beethoven Unleashed – the box set
The complete set of Radio 3 Beethoven Unleashed podcasts, with Donald Macleod.
What was really wrong with Beethoven?
Georgia Mann and neurosurgeon Henry Marsh examine the composer's numerous health problems
Composers A to Z
Visit the extensive audio archive of Radio 3 programmes about Composers and their works.
Who knew? Five eye-opening stories from Composer of the Week
The production team reflects on 5 of Donald Macleod’s best stories from the last 20 years
Five reasons why we love Parry's Jerusalem
What is the strange power of Jerusalem which makes strong men weep?
A man out of time – why Parry's music and ideas were at odds with his image...
The composer of Jerusalem was very far from the conservative figure his image suggests.
Composer Help Page
Find resources and contacts for composers from within the classical music industry.