• Henley DFAS

The Genius of Beethoven Lecture

Thursday 20th May 2021 Online at 10.30am and 2.30pm
Peter Medhurst
This lecture is affiliated to the Special Interest Day on Wednesday 9th June.  Click here to go straight to that page.
 
Famously, every morning of his adult life, Beethoven measured out exactly 60 coffee beans for his breakfast.  A man who is capable of such discipline over a cup of coffee can surely apply that exactness elsewhere in his life;  and in Beethoven's case, it was applied to his compositions. 

(Please click on the blue print above to continue reading)

In fact, the detail found in his music is often so subtle that most people don't even know it's there.  The lecture explores Beethoven's genius as a writer of music, at the same time setting his extraordinary story aganst the backdrop of 19th century warfare, revolution and dramatic social changes.  Beethoven would have been 250 years old on 17th December 2020.

One of Beethoven's original manscripts

 

Peter Medhurst at the organ of Santa Maria della Vittoria in Rome

Peter appears in the UK and abroad as a musician and scholar, giving recitals and delivering illustrated lectures on music and the arts.  He studied singing and early keyboard instruments at The Royal College of Music and at the Mozarteum in Salzburg.