How did the tomb of Austria's great composer come to contain not one skull, but two? The story of Haydn's head leads us into the murky world of 19th-century medicine, complete with grave robbing and some gruesome pseudo-science. Be warned, this episode contains descriptions that some listeners might find disturbing.
Original music was written by Thomas Hewitt Jones (@thewittjones).
Tim Lihoreau can be found on Twitter (@TimLihoreau) and the Classic FM team can be found @ClassicFM. You can get in touch about the show at classicfm.com and find out more about this episode at classicfm.com/casenotes
The recordings featured in this episode are:
The Creation – Haydn performed by Collegium Vocale Gent and the Orchestre des Champs-Élysées conducted by Philippe Herreweghe (Phi)
'London' Symphonies – Haydn performed by Orchestra della Svizzera Italiana, conducted by Howard Shelley (Hyperion)
The 'Joke' Quartet – Haydn performed by The London Haydn Quartet (Hyperion)
The Queen of the Night’s aria from The Magic Flute – Mozart performed by Sabine Devieilhe (soprano), Pygmalion conducted by Raphaël Pichon (Warner Classics)