Two immersive afternoons entitled ‘Beethoven: the man’ delve into the personal aspects that influenced his music [Sat 31 Oct – Canford School; Sun 1 Nov – Bristol Beacon]. Beethoven expert John Suchet– author of Beethoven: The Man Revealed – joins us to explore more, and extracts from Beethoven’s String Quartets will be played by BSO String Principals, accompanied by readings from his letters by actor Samuel West.
Percussionist, Dame Evelyn Glennie will help audiences to understand more about the musical and social implications of deafness [Beethoven became deaf at age 30]. She joins Mark Wigglesworth and broadcaster Sarah Walker in conversation. Finally, there will be an audience debate chaired by presenter Jonathan Dimbleby.
Our Chief Conductor Mark Wigglesworth – who’ll lead the two-year programme – says, “Beethoven is our Shakespeare, by which I mean we feel heard by him, we feel our thoughts, our emotions expressed by him […] he is somehow able to reveal truths, that we realise we knew before we realise we knew them”.
Mark emphasises just how human Beethoven was; a deeply complex character who swung often between dark and light. He says, “His unpredictable mood swings would certainly have been diagnosed today […] he moved house 40 times in Vienna, he was never comfortable, he was never at ease.”
“Beethoven is our Shakespeare, by which I mean we feel heard by him, we feel our thoughts, our emotions expressed by him […] he is somehow able to reveal truths, that we realise we knew before we realise we knew them”.
This, alongside the fact that Beethoven became deaf as a young adult, caused him to feel very much an outsider in society. A deeply painful experience for a naturally gregarious man, Mark says that, conversely, “the loneliness of that enabled him to bring so many people together” and the “ability to go so deep inside is what allows him to reveal these universal truths about us all”.
Mark stresses that “these conversations are not looking backwards, they’re about looking at ourselves through Beethoven’s music, through his personality and through his relationship to politics, to revolutionary ideals and to society as a whole.”
In homage to this journey, our 2026/27 season opens with a programme including Beethoven’s Symphony No. 1 in Poole [Wed 30 Sep] and Bristol [Thurs 1 Oct], and the full range of Beethoven’s nine symphonies will be played over the next two years.
Come along to deepen your understanding of Beethoven in two immersive afternoons in Poole this autumn; Sat 31 Oct [Canford School] and Sun 1 Nov [Bristol Beacon]. These events are BSL interpreted.
Our Beethoven programme continues into 2027/28, with more music and further immersive afternoons exploring the composer’s musical and revolutionary side. Keep your eyes peeled for further details.