In the last couple of days, news outlets all over the world are running frantic stories about new findings from analyses of Beethoven’s hair. You could even say their hair is on fire, but I won’t. Before he died, Ludwig made it clear he wanted his cause of death to go public, not for his legacy, but for medical research. He simply didn’t want people to suffer as he had. For years, experts laid his hearing loss and other maladies to lead poisoning, but it turns out they were looking at somebody else’s hair. As it happens, however, the DNA studies have revealed more than the composer bargained for.
© 2024 John Oliver
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