In Ep. 18a, Beethoven pt. 10 "The Candle in the Wind", first part of our massive grand finale(!) we start Beethoven on the last leg of his life. As a new father, and aging man with ill health, life would become more and more difficult for our great composer. His compositional life would prove more cumbersome as well, as massive new works that took a considerable amount of time to complete were now at the forefront of his mind: the "Hammerklavier" Sonata, the Missa Solemnis, the Diabelli Variations, and of course the Ninth Symphony in D minor. ---------------- For all things GCP Please rate, review, and subscribe on iTunes! The App!  https://apps.apple.com/us/app/the-great-composers-the-gcp/id1465809545?fbclid=IwAR0tQTElluT8I3jn6SYFcQst70IY0Ym52LjEz1Z3DR11oq5ZGDLV_URNyHk&ls=1 Like our Facebook page! https://www.facebook.com/thegreatcomposerspodcast/ A complete bibliography for all episodes can be found on my website: www.kevinnordstrom.com Introductory poem: "The Consolation of Philosophy" Boethius bk. 1, pg. 18-19, trans. Victor Watts (Penguin Books 1999, London.) Music heard in this episode in order of appearance: 1. String Quartet in A minor mvt. 5 op. 132 - Pascal Quartet 2. String Quartet in A minor mvt. 3 (selection) op. 132 - Pascal Quartet 3. Sonata for Piano in B-flat major op. 106, "Hammerklavier"  4. Thirty-three Variations on a Waltz by Anton Diabelli op. 120, "theme" - Neal O'Doan, piano 5. Sonata for Piano in C minor op. 111, mvt. 1 (selection) - Neal O'Doan 6-9. Symphony in D minor op. 125, mvt. 1-4 (selections) https://archive.org/details/BeethovenQuartetNo.15InAMinorOp.132 https://musopen.org/music/33466-diabelli-variations-op-120/ https://musopen.org/music/57-piano-sonata-no-32-in-cm-op-111/ All productions of The Great Composers Podcast are intended for educational purposes only. The Great Composers Podcast is a classical music podcast