the music is calling me home

Passionate pianist. Bizarre. 1922.

In 1802, German composer Ludwig van Beethoven wrote a heart-wrenching letter to his brothers, describing the deafness that forced him to “live like an exile” and yearn for death. Beethoven kept going for another 25 years, propelled by his music, but he begged them to have his hearing loss studied and publicized, so that “so far as possible, the world may be reconciled to me after my death.”

Two centuries later, a team of international researchers has answered that plea by sequencing Beethoven’s DNA, preserved in locks of his hair that collaborators and fans collected as treasured keepsakes.

The central ailment of Beethoven’s life was his hearing loss, which began in his mid-20s. He also suffered from debilitating gastrointestinal symptoms and attacks of jaundice. An autopsy revealed that he had cirrhosis of the liver, pancreatitis and a swollen spleen. Medical biographers have debated what killed him at the age of 56 and whether his liver disease was the result of excessive drinking or some other cause.

The scientists studying his DNA did not discover a clear explanation for Beethoven’s deafness. But they identified genetic risk factors for liver disease, and they found signs he had a hepatitis B infection that could have contributed to his cirrhosis. They also found evidence that one of Beethoven’s relatively recent ancestors had a child with someone other than their spouse.

The study, published Wednesday in the journal Current Biology, illustrates the power of DNA to explore fundamental questions about life in the distant past. But most diseases are not purely genetic, so the data is limited in what it can reveal.

Bach is an astronomer, discovering the most marvellous stars. Beethoven challenges the universe. I only try to express the soul and the heart of man.

Note: Once a musician, always a musician. If you haven't touched your viola since seventh grade, I don't care, you're still an orchestra kid. And if you joined a choir for the first time after retirement? Guess what, you're a singer!

Portrait of pianist Josephine Love. Stamped on back: "When publishing this photograph please give credit to James L. Allen." Handwritten on back: "Josephine Harreld Love."

@ Kevin Wang