Composer of the Week: Beethoven: Making a Man (1770-1792)

Original version

BBC Radio 3 is a radio channel that started transmitting on the 30th September 1967. It replaced Third Programme.

BBC Radio 3

Radio 3

Migrated podcast image for: Composer Of The Week

Composer of the Week

Music: Classical

Kate Molleson

An informative guide to composers' lives and their music.

An informative and accessible guide to composers' lives and their music.

Composer of the Week: Beethoven Unleashed: Making a Man (1770-1792): Born into service

Beethoven Unleashed red and blue stripes

Born into service

Beethoven Unleashed: Making a Man (1770-1792)

BBC Radio 3 - Composer of the Week, Beethoven Unleashed: Making a Man (1770-1792), Born into service

Donald Macleod looks at Beethoven's humble beginnings as the child of a court musician.

Donald Macleod looks at Beethoven's humble beginnings as a child born into a family of court musicians, working for the Archbishop-Elector's retinue in Bonn, Germany.

Donald Macleod looks at Beethoven’s humble beginnings as a child born into a family of court musicians, working for the Archbishop-Elector’s retinue in Bonn, Germany. He showed musical talent early and followed his father and grandfather into the Elector’s employ as soon as he reached his teens.  Would he continue to follow the family pattern and retire there too?

This week, Donald Macleod’s focus is on Beethoven’s childhood and teenage years, as he looks for clues in the composer’s early life that point towards the great man he would become.

All through 2020, Donald Macleod takes an unprecedented deep dive into the compelling story and extraordinary music of Ludwig van Beethoven. In this uniquely ambitious series, told across 125 episodes of Composer of the Week, Donald puts us inside Beethoven’s world and explores his hopes, struggles and perseverance in all the colourful detail this amazing narrative deserves. Alongside this in-depth biography, Donald will also be meeting and talking to Beethoven enthusiasts and experts from across the world to discover how his music continues to speak to us in the 21st century. Through story and sound, the series builds into a vivid new portrait of this composer, born 250 years ago this year, who made art that changed how people saw themselves and understood the world.

Piano Sonata No 24 in F# major, Op 78 (2nd movement)
Zhang Zuo, piano

Fugue in D for organ, WoO 31
David Briggs, organ

Symphony No 6 (movts. IV & V)
BBC Philharmonic
Gianandrea Noseda, conductor

Violin Sonata Op 30 No 2 (2nd movement)
Jennifer Pike, violin, 
Daniel Tong, piano

String Quartet Op 18 No 4 (1st and 3rd movements)
Elias Quartet


Produced by Chris Taylor for BBC Wales

Composer of the Week: Beethoven Unleashed: Making a Man (1770-1792)

Live music and the arts: broadcasts more live music than any other radio network. Classical music is its core. Genres include world and new music, jazz, speech and drama.

This week, Donald Macleod's focus is on Beethoven's childhood and teenage years, as he looks for clues in the composer's early life that point towards the great man he would become.

Accessibility links

Programme Index

Composer of the Week

Beethoven Unleashed: Making a Man (1770-1792)

Born into service

Genres

Brand

Series

BBC Radio 3

About BBC Radio 3