The Medical Sonata

When Ludwig van Beethoven died in March 1827 he was acknowledged as the pre-eminent composer of his generation. Twenty thousand people attended his funeral to honour his memory. Unfortunately, his mortal remains were not treated with quite the same dignity. His body was subjected to a disfiguring autopsy in an effort to evaluate his organs of hearing. Locks of his hair were retrieved by many as souvenirs, to the extent that one close acquaintance noted that not much hair was left by the time of his interment.

One of these locks undertook a curious journey, ultimately falling into the hands of American investigators. In 1996, a few strands of this lock were subjected to a chemical analysis that demonstrated extremely elevated levels of lead. Was Beethoven the victim of lead poisoning? This is but the latest question about Beethoven’s health added to the long list generated by the descriptions of his illnesses in his letters, in the accounts of his physicians and...