It started with tinnitus, then there were areas with limited hearing, perhaps even no hearing at all, described Ted Albrecht, professor emeritus of musicology at Kent State University in Ohio and author of a recently published Book about the Ninth Symphony Beethoven, once the musical master’s hearing problem. Until 1814 – Beethoven was 44 years old at the time – it did not affect him too much, but “in 1818 he began to carry empty books around with him”. In the latter, the conversation partner was supposed to write down what they wanted to say to him.
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In his book, Albrecht also describes a concert from 1824, three years before the composer’s death, at which the audience burst into loud cheers and applause, while Beethoven – with his back to the listeners – is said not to have even noticed this .
DNA analysis: On the trail of a disease
To this day, it is still a mystery why Beethoven lost his hearing and why he was plagued by constant stomach cramps, flatulence and diarrhea. For example, there has been debate in the past about Paget’s bone disease, which can also affect hearing in the head area. According to some speculations, this could have been combined with irritable bowel syndrome, but possibly also with syphilis, pancreatitis, diabetes or kidney disease.
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Last year they wanted to crack the mystery using modern DNA analysis to find out what illnesses the maestro suffered from. The results at the time – also a hair analysis – indicated a hereditary susceptibility to liver cirrhosis and an infection with hepatitis B, as reported in the specialist magazine “Current Biology” was called. His excessive alcohol consumption led to liver failure. Beethoven finally died of the latter in 1827 at the age of 56. The analysis at the time did not provide a genetic explanation for the composer’s deafness or gastrointestinal problems.
High lead levels in hair
Now the Australian Kevin Brown, who owns three locks of Beethoven’s hair, had the musical genius’s hair tested again. The physicist and businessman reports on the Page by music historian William Meredith how he accidentally “stumbled” into Beethoven’s life on a flight to London in 1991, and the more he listened to his music and read about his life, “the more fascinated I became to the point where I am today Passion is”. According to Meredith, there are a total of five authentic Beethoven locks – in addition to the three that are in Kevin Brown’s collection, a fourth is kept in the Ira F. Brilliant Center for Beethoven Studies in California, the fifth is in the Beethoven House in Bonn, the composer’s birthplace.
Brown ultimately sent two of his locks to a specialized lab at the Mayo Clinic. According to the head of the laboratory there, Paul Jannetto, one of Beethoven’s locks contained 258 micrograms of lead per gram of hair, the other 380 micrograms, as he said in an interview with the “New York Timessaid. A normal lead content in hair, on the other hand, is less than four micrograms of lead per gram. “It definitely shows that Beethoven was exposed to high lead concentrations,” quoted the US media Jannetto. These are the highest levels of hair he has ever seen. “We get samples from all over the world, and these values are an order of magnitude higher.”
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Did the wine rob him of his hearing and his life?
Beethoven’s hair also had a 13 times higher arsenic content and four times higher mercury content than normal. In particular, the high amounts of lead could have been the cause of many of his complaints, said Jannetto, who, together with Brown and Meredith, published an analysis of the results in the journal “Clinical Chemistrypublished. It states: “Although the concentrations determined do not support the assumption that lead exposure caused Beethoven’s death, it may have contributed to the documented ailments that plagued him for most of his life.” Last year, the same team had lead poisoning is actually ruled out.
In fact, a high concentration of lead in the body would explain both Beethoven’s gastrointestinal problems and possibly his deafness, as lead can affect the nervous system and the composer’s hearing could have been destroyed in this way. This was also confirmed by a toxicologist from the New York newspaper who was not involved in the analysis.
Although lead is a heavy metal that is toxic to humans, it was often added to wine until the 19th century. The so-called lead acetate has a strong sweetening effect, as stated by the Chemical and Veterinary Examination Office Stuttgart (CVUA) is called. However, long-term use leads to chronic lead poisoning. It is known that Beethoven liked to drink wine often. Expect to drink one bottle a day, and even more later in life. Beethoven is said to have believed that the wine was good for his health. Of course, he may have become addicted to it at a certain point.