An article published in the journal Clinical Chemistry outlined how researchers found unusually high levels of lead in composer Ludwig van Beethoven’s body — which likely contributed to many of his ailments during his lifetime.
According to the article, two locks of Beethoven’s hair were used, known as the Bermann and Halm-Thayer Locks. The Bermann Lock was collected between 1820 and 1827, while the Halm-Thayer Lock was collected in 1826.
Researchers analyzed the hairs and found that both hairs had high concentrations of lead. Per Smithsonian Magazine, an average human hair has four micrograms or less of lead, but Beethoven’s hair had 380 micrograms and 258 micrograms, respectively.
The team also found that Beethoven’s hair had arsenic that was thirteen times above the average and mercury that was four times more than normal.
The team explains that their findings did not support the theory that Beethoven died from lead poisoning, but that it contributed to many of the sicknesses he suffered before his death.
What symptoms did Beethoven have?
According to CNN, Beethoven had hearing loss starting in his 20s, along with kidney and liver diseases. The new hair analysis explains that Beethoven’s high lead levels “are commonly associated with gastrointestinal and renal ailments and decreased hearing but are not considered high enough to be the sole cause of death.”
The article provides several reasons as to how Beethoven could have gotten such toxic levels in his system, such as “plumbed wine, dietary factors, and medical treatments.” According to CNN, Beethoven died at the age of 56 in 1827.
Ars Technica reports how Beethoven also suffered from tinnitus, jaundice and swollen limbs, among other things before his death.
Beethoven’s great achievements
It’s been 200 years since Beethoven debuted his “Ninth Symphony” in Vienna, Italy, according to Forbes. But several of his iconic pieces were composed when Beethoven was completely deaf.
According to the Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra and Chorale, Beethoven was deaf for the last 30 years of his life, but it didn’t stop him from creating great music.
They explain that “his individualistic style only intensified upon his discovery of his impending deafness, leading to some of his most beloved works, including his last three Piano Concertos and the immortal Fifth Symphony.”
Beethoven is currently considered as “the ultimate fusion composer, taking the best of the classical and Baroque eras and sending it to new dynamic, instrumental, and emotional extremes that would define the Romantic era of music in the 19th Century.”