LvB suffered at Bohemian spas...

[euphony131]

This comes from Jan Caeyers's bio on the master. He goes into depth on what the spa towns that Beethoven vacationed in were like: ritualized drinking of horrid medicine while rotating "like ponies on a carousel" to it being a "grisly social wringer" where the high-class were scrutinized and written about in tabloids --

The "Muzak" played in the colonnades, furthermore, must have driven him half mad, and the booming chatter of the indoor baths have tortured his poor ears -- ordinary conversation was often more than he could bear, let alone hours of reverberating small talk.

Sounds like me when I'm at the mall!

It was also at Teplitz (spa town) that LvB had his famed meeting with Goethe, who was a fan of the spas, unlike our Beethoven.

[Peter]

Begs the question, why then did he keep returning each year? Truth is he enjoyed his escapes from the bustling city - it was in Vienna that he was subjected to the 'reverberating small talk and muzak' which were a common feature of his daily visits to taverns and coffee houses. An example of this Muzak would be the populat waltzes of Michael Pamer frequently played in the tavern Zur Goldenen Birne where Beethoven often went.

[Quijote]

Begs the question, why then did he keep returning each year? Truth is he enjoyed his escapes from the bustling city - it was in Vienna that he was subjected to the 'reverberating small talk and muzak' which were a common feature of his daily visits to taverns and coffee houses. An example of this Muzak would be the populat waltzes of Michael Pamer frequently played in the tavern Zur Goldenen Birne where Beethoven often went.

After a couple of beers, two or three glasses of white wine and a schnapps to finish I'm sure that Beethoven probably ended up singing along with this muzak !

[euphony131]

After a couple of beers, two or three glasses of white wine and a schnapps to finish I'm sure that Beethoven probably ended up singing along with this muzak !

Actually, in the letters to his physician (who ordered the spa visits), LvB complained bitterly about his time there.
He did meet some friendly aristocrats, who were fans but (as Cayers writes): "As a rule, though, Beethoven gave the bath's bustling social scene a wide berth."
The picture that emerges is not of a drunken loudmouth (as some have written), but an introvert, an obsessive and cerebral person.
I wouldn't be surprised if he had OCD and certain rituals that had to be performed.
I read somewhere he'd count out the exact number of coffee beans each morning, for example.

[Peter]

I wouldn't be surprised if he had OCD and certain rituals that had to be performed.
I read somewhere he'd count out the exact number of coffee beans each morning, for example.

That's nothing compared to Bruckner's OCD!!