Beethoven

Latest Episodes

• Season 1 Episode 3: Faith and Fury

  The final part of the docu-drama focuses on the composer's tragic latter years, when he revolutionised the musical world despite his deafness with works including the Hammerklavier Sonata, the Missa Solemnis, and the late string quartets. He also became embroiled in a court battle to gain custody of nephew Karl from his widowed mother - a decision that had serious repercussions for them both. Presented by Charles Hazlewood

• Season 1 Episode 2: Love and Loss

  Charles Hazlewood continues to investigate the composer's life and turns his attention to Beethoven's prolific middle years, a period during which he wrote five symphonies, four concertos and his only opera, Fidelio. However, while his musical achievements went from strength to strength, he remained largely unfulfilled in his personal life, as his hearing deteriorated further and his increasingly volatile rages made it harder for him to form meaningful relationships

• Season 1 Episode 1: The Rebel

  New three-part docu-drama charting the life of composer Ludwig van Beethoven, which uses eyewitness accounts to illustrate the man and his music. It begins by focusing on the Moonlight Sonata, and examining his teenage years, when he made the decision to reject his abusive father, going on to become an accomplished pianist in Vienna. However, his personal life was blighted by a series of failed romances and the realisation that he was gradually going deaf. Presented by Charles Hazlewood