麻豆社

It is 250 years since the birth of Beethoven. He is thought of as the revolutionary genius who tragically lost his hearing, but the autopsy carried out after his death reveals a far more complex story about Beethoven鈥檚 health.

麻豆社 presenter Georgia Mann and neurosurgeon Henry Marsh explore the theories that alcoholism, congenital syphilis, an irregular heart beat and even ADHD may explain some of Beethoven鈥檚 suffering, and the music he wrote, music which resounds across the ages and the world.

(Photo: German composer Ludwig van Beethoven (1770 - 1827) composing the Missa Solemnis, February-April 1820. Oil painting by August Klober. Credit: Universal History Archive/Getty Images)