Episode 3 – Family Ties

Family influences all of us – but what impact did Beethoven’s family play in his young life? John tells the story of how Beethoven’s much-loved grandfather first introduced Ludwig to music, and discovers the piece that he seemed driven to write by grief after losing him. John also explores why the failures of Beethoven’s father led to the boy becoming the main breadwinner when only a teenager, and plays the piece of music that Ludwig composed when he was 13, and already re-writing the musical rules. All the Beethoven pieces featured in this podcast are taken from the 90-disc Naxos box set, the Complete Beethoven Edition. You can buy yours by heading to Presto Classical and Europadisc.