Researchers investigating patterns in Beethoven's music believe the great composer may have suffered from irregular heartbeat, or arrhythmia, because they can hear what they describe as musical arrhythmias in some of his compositions. 
 
 
 
 Researchers say they can hear patterns of irregular heartbeat in Beethoven's music. Researchers say they can hear patterns of irregular heartbeat in Beethoven's music. 
 
 This surprising suggestion comes from a team that includes a medical historian, a cardiologist and a musicologist from the University of Michigan (U-M) at Ann Arbor and the University of Washington (UW) School of Medicine in Seattle. 
 
 They describe how they arrived at the idea in a paper published in the journal Perspectives in Biology and Medicine. 
 
 Beethoven lived and composed his great masterpieces 200 years ago, and there is little reliable evidence of his health and afflictions. His most often described ailment was his deafness, which the authors suggest could have heightened his awareness of his heartbeat, causing the great man to make music by literally following his heart. 
 
 There are also theories that Beethoven suffered from many other health problems, including liver disease, alcohol abuse, kidney disease, inflammatory bowel disease and abnormal bone destruction, or Paget's disease. 
 
 First author Zachary D. Goldberger, assistant professor of medicine in the Division of Cardiology at UW School of Medicine, says: 
 
 "We can't prove or disprove that Beethoven had many of the diseases he's been supposedly afflicted with because almost all of today's diagnostic medical tests didn't exist in the 18th century, and we are interpreting centuries-old medical descriptions into the context of what we know now." 
 
 'Musical electrocardiograms' reveal arrhythmia patterns in Beethoven's pieces 
 
 Arrhythmia is a condition where there is a change from the normal sequence of electrical impulses in the heart. As a result, the heart may beat irregularly (fibrillation), too fast (tachycardia), too slowly (bradycardia) or too early (premature contraction). 
 
 For the study, the team examined the rhythm of several of Beethoven's compositions and found patterns that Prof. Goldberger says match what they describe as "musical electrocardiograms," like the readout of modern heart rhythm testing equipment. 
 
 Sudden, unexpected changes in pace and keys appear to match the asymmetrical patterns of irregular heartbeat - too fast, too slow or irregular, say the researchers. 
 
 For example, one of the pieces they studied is the "Cavatina" final movement of Beethoven's String Quartet in B-flat Major, Opus 130. Beethoven said this passage made him weep. 
 
 In the middle of the Cavatina, the key changes abruptly to C-flat major. Together with the unbalanced rhythm, this sudden change evokes a dark emotion and disorientation that some have described as akin to "shortness of breath." 
 
 "The arrhythmic quality of this section is unquestionable," note the authors. 
 
 Did 'heavy of heart' mean Beethoven felt pressure on his heart? 
 
 In his directions for playing the piece, Beethoven uses the German word "beklemmt" to indicate "heavy of heart." The authors suggest that while "heavy of heart" could be taken to mean sadness, in a more literal sense it could mean a feeling of pressure, which is associated with heart disease. 
 
 The team also spotted arrhythmic patterns in some of Beethoven's other pieces. They found them in the Piano Sonata in A-flat major, Opus 110, and the opening of the "Les Adieux" Sonata opus 81a in E-flat major, which Beethoven wrote during Napoleon's attack on Vienna in 1809. 
 
 Prof. Goldberger comments: 
 
 "While these musical arrhythmias may simply manifest Beethoven's genius, there is a possibility that in certain pieces his beating heart could literally be at the heart of some of the greatest masterpieces of all time." 
 
 In August 2014, Medical News Today reported how increasing the amount or intensity of exercise can decrease risks of developing arrhythmia. This was the conclusion of a Stanford-led study of older women that found, compared with the least active, the most physically active women had a 10% lower risk of developing atrial fibrillation - a heart condition that causes arrhythmia. And this was true even if the women were obese. ||||| Whether or not music stirs inside, each of us bears a living metronome at our core. It may tick at 40 or 100 beats per minute, in three-quarter time or in six-eight, erratically or like a Swiss clock. The human heart quietly marks the rhythm of our lives. 
 
 A new study focusing on the music of Ludwig van Beethoven treats shifting musical rhythms as a sort of musical electrocardiogram. In Beethoven's dotted rhythms, tempo shifts, sudden pauses and composition notes, a trio of researchers suggest that they have gleaned the distant echo of the German composer's heart. 
 
 
 
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 FOR THE RECORD 
 
 An earlier version of this post said the study focused in part on Beethoven's Piano Sonata No. 12 in A flat major. The study focused on, among other pieces, Piano Sonata No. 31 in A flat major (Opus 110). 
 
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 Where most hear greatness, they hear cardiac arrhythmia. 
 
 Although definitive diagnoses died with him, historians have speculated that Beethoven, who died, deaf, at 56, suffered from medical conditions including alcohol-induced cirrhosis, lead poisoning and syphilis. 
 
 
 
 Beethoven's heart was found structurally sound upon autopsy in 1827. But in an article published recently in the journal Perspectives in Biology and Medicine, the authors — a cardiologist, an internal medicine specialist and a musicologist — cite the rhythmic turnabouts in three of the master's compositions to diagnose an irregular heartbeat. 
 
 What is clear from his personal letters and notes is that Beethoven began to lose his hearing around 1800, at the age of 30. He composed the bulk of his music even as the sounds of the world around him dimmed — and that, say the authors of the new study, may have made him exquisitely attuned to his own heartbeat. Some of his most haunting and ambitious works — the late string quartets, the Mass in D minor (Missa solemnis), the Ninth Symphony in D minor — were composed after he became completely deaf in 1819. 
 
 
 
 “This is entirely speculative,” said Dr. Zachary D. Goldberger of the University of Washington, the cardiologist on the team. “At least it gives us a new dimension by which to listen to his music.” 
 
 Goldberger said he and his coauthors focused on the rhythmic shifts and punctuations of three Beethoven compositions: the Piano Sonata in E flat major (Opus 81a, called “Les Adieux”), the String Quartet No. 13 in B flat major (Opus 130) and the Piano Sonata No. 31 in A flat major (Opus 110). These works have been characterized by musicologists as particularly abrupt, dramatic or unusual in music of Beethoven's time. 
 
 
 
 The authors note the “distinctive ‘galloping' rhythm” of the Sonata in E flat major's adagio section and hear slow, irregular heartbeats, followed by “racing irregular heartbeats,” in the allegro section that follows. 
 
 In the String Quartet No. 13, the authors hear, in a seven-measure section in the middle of the fifth movement (the “Cavatina”), “a short paroxysm of an atrial tachyarrhythmia.” They cite Beethoven's notation: that the passage should be played “beklemmt,” or “heavy of heart.” And they note the 2011 observation by pianist Jonathan Biss that the section always evoked a sensation of shortness of breath. 
 
 
 
 In the third movement of the Piano Sonata No. 31 in A flat major, the authors point to an “arioso dolente“ (or lamenting song) preceding one of two fugues. The left hand plays a repetitive run of notes that “bears some resemblance to rapid tachyarrhythmia,” they write. The right hand, simultaneously, plays an irregularly punctuated melody that “bears some resemblance to dyspnea,” or shortness of breath, “which would not be an unusual sensation for someone experiencing a tachyarrhythmia.” 
 
 “When your heart beats irregularly from heart disease, it does so in some predictable patterns,” said Dr. Joel D. Howell of the University of Michigan, the team's internist (who also has a PhD in the history and sociology of science). “We think we hear some of those same patterns in his music.” 
 
 Beethoven's litany of physical woes clearly predisposed him to atrial fibrillation, atrial flutter or even multifocal atrial tachycardia, Goldberger, Howell and University of Michigan musicologist Steven M. Whiting wrote in the paper. But they acknowledged that their observations are far from proof of those conditions: “Similar rhythmic intricacies” are found in other works by many composers, and cardiac arrhythmia can hardly be ascribed to all who use irregular syncopation. 
 
 “However, in highly charged passages of certain pieces, the possibility of cardiac arrhythmia can lend a quite physical aspect to one's interpretation of the music in question,” they wrote. “These passages can seem, in an unexpectedly literal sense, to be heartfelt.” 
 
 Follow me on Twitter @LATMelissaHealy and "like" Los Angeles Times Science & Health on Facebook. ||||| Tokyo, Japan (CNN) -- A once-celebrated Japanese composer who last week confessed his works were written by a ghostwriter, and subsequently had doubt cast on his claim to be deaf, now admits at least partially faking his hearing loss. 
 
 Mamoru Samuragochi, until recently hailed as a "Japanese Beethoven" for composing hit symphonies despite claiming to have been completely deaf for 15 years, made the admission in a handwritten apology sent to news organizations through his lawyers. 
 
 "I apologize from the bottom of my heart for betraying and hurting many people," he wrote, in his first public statement addressing the allegations about his hearing. 
 
 In a televised press conference last week, a Tokyo music teacher named Takashi Niigaki revealed that he had secretly been the real composer of Samuragochi's works for 18 years. 
 
 He also expressed doubt over the composer's claims of deafness -- central to his romantic public image as a genius who "felt" music he could not hear -- saying that Samuragochi had conversed with him normally, and provided critiques on the music he contracted him to write over the years. 
 
 "I've never felt he was deaf ever since we met," he said. 
 
 READ MORE: Uproar as 'Japanese Beethoven' exposed as fraud 
 
 In his written statement, Samuragochi, who is yet to publicly front over the scandal, said that he had been deaf, but in the past three years had recovered a degree of hearing. 
 
 "It has recovered to an extent where I could sometimes grasp words when someone speaks clearly and slowly close to my ears, though it sounds muffled and skewed," he wrote. 
 
 Stating that he planned to apologize to the public in person soon, Samuragochi added that he was prepared to have his hearing medically tested, and would forfeit his government-issued disability certificate if found ineligible. 
 
 The eight-page letter also contained apologies to tsunami victims, for whom his most famous symphony had become an important symbol of resilience, and to Japanese Olympic figure skater Daisuke Takahashi, who planned to perform to another ghostwritten work in Sochi. 
 
 Takahashi takes to the ice Thursday, and the Japanese Skating Federation has said that while the score will be used, the composer's name will be omitted from the program. 
 
 "I am deeply ashamed of living a life of lies," said Samuragochi's statement. 
 
 Samuragochi claimed to rely on his perfect pitch to compose his hit symphonies, movie scores and video game soundtracks after losing his hearing, telling TIME magazine in a 2001 interview that "if you trust your inner sense of sound, you create something that is truer... Losing my hearing was a gift from God." 
 
 When confessing that a ghostwriter had been involved in composing his most famous works, he claimed that he had provided the broader ideas for the music, while the collaborator had produced the finished scores. 
 
 But Niigaki said he did not believe Samuragochi was even capable of writing musical scores, and had threatened to kill himself if their arrangement was exposed. ||||| Buy Photo Brendan Ryan of Butterscotch Auction Gallery and Professor Carmelo Comberiati of Mahattanville College authenticated a music sheet of Beetthoven's King Stephen, Op. 117. (Photo: Ricky Flores/The Journal News)Buy Photo 
 
 On the surface, Mel Comberiati and Brendan Ryan make an unlikely pair of sleuths: a passionate professor of music and his former student, a composer of classical music. 
 
 What they share is a deep love and respect for the work of Ludwig van Beethoven. 
 
 Comberiati, who teaches at Manhattanville College in Purchase, was a Fulbright scholar who studied the great composer in Vienna, while Ryan, who graduated from Manhattanville in 2008, became an art and antiques appraiser, composing music in his free time. 
 
 "Beethoven is an idol for any composer," Ryan says. 
 
 He credits a class he took with Comberiati for igniting his interest. 
 
 In a confluence of events as wondrous as the cycle of Beethoven's nine symphonies, these classical "nerds" found themselves working together to solve a once-in-a-lifetime puzzle, one which brought them close to their shared idol. 
 
 In the late summer, Ryan, an appraiser for Butterscotch Auctioneers and Appraisers in Pound Ridge, discovered what appeared to be a rare Beethoven sketch leaf, framed and hanging on a wall in a Greenwich, Connecticut, home. 
 
 "I recognized the handwriting right away; it was definitely Beethoven," he says. "When I saw it, it was a test of my willpower to keep my cool." 
 
 The sketch leaf had been in the owner's family for more than 100 years, and she knew the double-sided page covered in notes and nearly illegible scribbles might be valuable. 
 
 "But no one had any idea what it was," Ryan says. 
 
 To find out, he called on his old professor. 
 
 They were both sure it was Beethoven — the fact that someone had jotted "Beethoven" in a different hand on the margin notwithstanding. ("It wouldn't be the first time someone had written 'Beethoven' on something that turned out to be totally worthless," Ryan says). The mystery was determining exactly what piece of music was inscribed on the centuries-old paper and how valuable it might be. 
 
 "We were hoping it was the Ninth Symphony," says Ryan, sitting in a plastic chair in Comberiati's classroom, an overhead projector glowing with a super-enlarged copy of the music. Similar, complete sketchbooks of Beethoven's works have sold for millions at auction. 
 
 Buy Photo Professor Carmelo Comberiati of Mahattanville College helped authenticate a rare sketch leaf from Beethoven's King Stephan, Op. 117. (Photo: Ricky Flores/The Journal News) 
 
 "But it wasn't." 
 
 The pair researched the work for three weeks, comparing it to other known pages taken from Beethoven sketchbooks, searching for clues online, and enlisting experts Comberiati knew from his work as a Fulbright scholar. 
 
 "I have held Beethoven documents in my hands," he says. 
 
 What they had, they discovered, was a rare Beethoven work in-progress — literally the first draft for what would become Beethoven's opus 117, "King Stephan" , commissioned by Emperor Francis I of Hungary for the inauguration of a new theater. It was first performed on Feb. 9, 1812. 
 
 "Beethoven was at a spa for 10 days rest when he got the commission, so he was in a bit of a rush," Camberiati explains. "So it's kind of a mess. We could see how he wrote the lines out, then dismisses the idea. He's working out the music; He writes a line, crosses it out. It's in pencil then written over in ink. The main idea for us that was so exciting is that he got from this to the final copy for the manuscript. This is a stage that set it all off." 
 
 "It's a graphic representation of the music," Ryan adds. "It's the moment you get to see inside the composer's mind." 
 
 Manhattanville Professor Carmelo Comberiati and appraiser Brendan Ryan find a worksheet of Beethoven's King Stephan Opus 117. (Video by Ricky Flores/The Journal News) 
 
 For two major fans, holding a piece of Beethoven's work in their own hands must have been nirvana. 
 
 Combierati not only teaches multiple classes on Beethoven, Chopin and Hayden, but writes book-length projects; The latest is on the music in 16th century Prague. This was different, he says. This was personal. 
 
 Pointing at the screen, he is obviously passionate: 
 
 "You can see the intensity of the artist," he says. "It's the heat of the moment." 
 
 He hums a bit of the composition, punctuating the sounds with his hands: "'bah, ba-ba-ba-ba'... you can see Beethoven working this all out in his mind." 
 
 Ryan is more understated, a music major who segued into the appraisal field after college. He has a history with history, too: His mother is the executive director of the Bedford Historical Society. Comberiati is also from Bedford and has known Ryan since he was in high school. 
 
 And while Ryan admits the process of authentication was "intense," the pair worked well together. 
 
 "This doesn't happen often, but things just start fitting together," Ryan says. "I'll say this, it was like scouring for a word in the dictionary without knowing the first letter." 
 
 A German collector bought the piece for $120,000 at auction in November; not millions but a tidy sum for the Greenwich homeowner, who prefers to remain anonymous. But what of the two detectives? 
 
 More than anything, they say, was knowing they had authenticated something special. 
 
 "A Beethoven sketch leaf of this magnitude is a very rare find,” says Comberiati. “Most are no longer in private hands.” 
 
 "It was a big job," adds Ryan. "A mammoth task was to figure out the piece of music; in terms of value that has tremendous impact. It also has tremendous value to Beethoven scholars." 
 
 But for him personally? 
 
 "With music, you only ever hear the final product," he says, playing a few quick seconds of the music from the sketch leaf on a piano in the classroom. 
 
 "No one can really understand or have the concept of what goes into creating an orchestral piece," he says. "To see firsthand, almost to be inside the composer's mind, the proof in your hand is profound." 
 
 Do you have a masterpiece hanging around your house? 
 
 Brendan Ryan says when it comes to valuable objects, there are two categories of people: those who assume their family heirlooms must be valuable, and those who never suspect that great-grandma's ugly painting, relegated to a dark hallway, is actually a masterpiece. 
 
 The former is more prevalent. 
 
 His advice: If you think you have something of value, contact an expert. "It doesn't cost anything to have an appraiser take a look," he says. "We do it for free. We take a look and make recommendations." 
 
 Ryan points to one of his previous finds as proof: He authenticated a painting long held by a Westchester family as one by Dutch golden age artist Rachel Ruysch (1664-1750). It sold for $2,040,000 in 2012. 
 
 In 2011, a Cortlandt homeowner got the shock of his life when two paintings hanging for years in the basement of his childhood rec room turned out to be lost Hudson River School painter Jasper Cropsey masterpieces. The two fetched $840,000 at auction. 
 
 Read or Share this story: http://lohud.us/1OV7UR7 ||||| TOKYO (Reuters) - A composer once known as the "Beethoven of Japan" said on Friday that tests had shown he was not legally deaf and apologized to people throughout the country for lying by using a ghost writer for his popular symphonies and other music. 
 
 Mamoru Samuragochi, a classical musician who became known as an inspirational genius for composing music despite losing his hearing, bowed deeply before a packed news conference, his first public appearance since the scandal broke last month. 
 
 "I have caused a great deal of trouble with my lies for everyone, including those people who bought my CDs and came to my concerts," Samuragochi, 50, said, his trademark flowing hair now trimmed in a typical businessman's cut. 
 
 A statement distributed to reporters said hearing tests had shown that while Samuragochi's hearing was impaired, it did not meet the requirements for legal deafness. 
 
 "I can hear sounds, but the sounds are twisted," he said. "Hearing conversations is extremely difficult and I still need an interpreter." 
 
 German composer Ludwig van Beethoven began suffering hearing loss from about age 30 and withdrew from public performances while continuing to write music. He was almost totally deaf for the last decade of his life. 
 
 Samuragochi collaborated with part-time university professor Takashi Niigaki for 18 years to compose his music after suffering hearing loss. 
 
 He said on Friday that he and Niigaki would meet in a coffee shop in the Shinjuku entertainment district of western Tokyo and work out how Niigaki would compose the music. Niigaki, he said, kept negotiating for higher fees. 
 
 "I wrote out what I wanted and the general plans, then Niigaki wrote the music," he said. 
 
 "If ultimately that means I defrauded people who bought my CDs, then yes, I did," he said, biting his lip. 
 
 Samuragochi gained international fame for his "Hiroshima Symphony", a tribute to the victims of the 1945 atomic bombing of the Japanese city. 
 
 He also apologized to television stations and newspapers which had supported his career as well as figure skater Daisuke Takahashi, who used Samuragochi's music in his short program at the Sochi Winter Olympics just days after the scandal broke. 
 
 "I worried that it might have had a bad impact on his skating ... I felt a terrible sense of responsibility," Samuragochi said, adding that he didn't watch the Olympics because it was too painful. Takahashi ultimately finished sixth. 
 
 "I know that it was wrong to use a ghost writer, but it is true that I wanted to use my music to bring light to people who were having tough times," Samuragochi said. 
 
 The scandal has riveted Japan, with two television stations broadcasting live the first 30 minutes of the news conference, which went on for nearly three hours. 
 
 Music industry analysts say part of his popularity was the result of promotion by an industry eager to put a human face to classical music and retain a shrinking market share as Japan ages. 
 
 (Additional reporting by Chris Meyers, editing by Ron Popeski) ||||| Image caption He joined the viola section of the ROH orchestra in 2002 
 
 A viola player who suffered a life-changing hearing injury at a rehearsal of Wagner's Die Walkure in 2012 has won a landmark High Court judgment against the Royal Opera House (ROH). 
 
 The case won by Chris Goldscheider has huge implications for the industry and the health and safety of musicians. 
 
 It is the first time a judge has scrutinised the music industry's legal obligations towards musicians' hearing. 
 
 The ROH said it was "surprised and disappointed" by the judgment. 
 
 It is also the first time 'acoustic shock' has been recognised as a condition which can be compensated by a court. 
 
 On 1 September 2012, Mr Goldscheider was seated directly in front of the brass section of the orchestra for a rehearsal of Wagner's thunderous opera Die Walkure in the famous orchestra pit at the Royal Opera House. 
 
 During that rehearsal, the noise levels exceeded 130 decibels, roughly equivalent to that of a jet engine. His hearing was irreversibly damaged. 
 
 Image caption Chris Goldscheider said he was "overjoyed" by the judge's decision 
 
 Mr Goldscheider claimed damages for acoustic shock, a condition with symptoms including tinnitus, hyperacusis and dizziness. 
 
 He told the BBC: "With this condition if you are exposed to normal sounds, unfortunately they become incredibly painful. 
 
 "I suppose the nearest analogy is if you imagine for a normal person to walk on normal ground and then you imagine walking barefoot on glass." 
 
 Mr Goldscheider, from Bedfordshire, has to wear ear defenders to carry out everyday household tasks such as preparing food. 
 
 Especially upsetting is that he had been unable to listen to his 18-year-old son Ben - one of the country's outstanding young French horn players. 
 
 The Royal Opera House argued that acoustic shock does not exist, and that if it did, Mr Goldscheider did not have it. 
 
 Their case was that he had developed an entirely natural hearing condition, known as Meniere's disease, at exactly the same time as the super-loud, high intensity noise burst behind his right ear. 
 
 However, Mrs Justice Nicola Davies took a different view, stating: "I regard the defendant's contention that Meniere's disease developed at the rehearsal as stretching the concept of coincidence too far." 
 
 The ROH also argued a balance had to be struck between preserving the artistic integrity of the music while doing everything possible to reduce the risk of damage to musicians' hearing, that was an inevitable feature of playing long-term in an orchestra. 
 
 Image caption The Royal Opera House had argued that some hearing loss was justifiable 
 
 Mrs Justice Davies disagreed, ruling that "the reliance upon artistic value implies that statutory health and safety requirements must cede to the needs and wishes of the artistic output of the Opera company, its managers and conductors. 
 
 "Such a stance is unacceptable. Musicians are entitled to the protection of the law, as is any other worker." 
 
 Reacting to the ruling, Mr Goldscheider said: "As you can imagine a law suit of this magnitude takes its strain on everyone. Not just on me but my family, my children. 
 
 "Here we are today and I'm just so overjoyed at the judge's decision and I hope it will prevent any more musicians being injured from today onwards." 
 
 Speaking of the impact of the decision, Mr Goldscheider's solicitor, Chris Fry of Fry Law, said: "This case has huge significance and will send shockwaves across the music business. 
 
 "It has considered itself exempt from the same regulatory requirements as all other sectors because of the artistic nature of its output. 
 
 "This, in our view, has always been a dismissive view from an industry which creates and sells 'noise' as a product." 
 
 The Royal Opera House and other orchestras will now need to re-assess policies and procedures and the design of orchestra spaces and could face claims against them by other musicians. 
 
 Sound 'not a by-product' 
 
 In a statement, the ROH said the expert medical advice it had consistently received was that long-term hearing damage could not be caused by an isolated incident of exposure to live music. 
 
 "We have been at the forefront of industry-wide attempts to protect musicians from the dangers of exposure to significant levels of performance sound, in collaboration with our staff, the Musicians' Union, acoustic engineers and the Health and Safety Executive," it continued. 
 
 "Although this judgment is restricted to our obligations as an employer under the Noise Regulations, it has potentially far-reaching implications for the Royal Opera House and the wider music industry. 
 
 "We do not believe that the Noise Regulations can be applied in an artistic institution in the same manner as in a factory, not least because in the case of the Royal Opera House, sound is not a by-product of an industrial process but is an essential part of the product itself. 
 
 "This has been a complex case and we will consider carefully whether to appeal the judgment." 
 
 Image copyright EPA Image caption Goldscheider once played on stage with Kylie Minogue 
 
 According to Help Musicians UK, the leading UK charity for professional musicians: "The unfortunate circumstances surrounding Chris's tragic hearing loss reflect a growing number of hearing related issues, as highlighted in our 2015 hearing survey, where 59.5% of musicians said they had suffered hearing loss and 78% said working as a musician was a contributor to their hearing loss." 
 
 Mr Goldscheider began playing the violin at the age of five and the viola from about 21. He studied in Prague and the UK and played with the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic and BBC Symphony orchestras. 
 
 In 2002 he joined the viola section of the ROH orchestra as number eleven viola and was promoted to number six. Career highlights included playing on stage with Kylie Minogue and with the Three Tenors to 100,000 people in Barcelona. 
 
 "Following my injury I spent 18 months trying to recover, recuperate and get back to playing, and unfortunately I couldn't do it," he said. 
 
 Mr Goldscheider left the ROH in July 2014 as a result of his injuries. 
 
 Damages will be assessed at a later date.
– As Beethoven went deaf, he may have started listening to his heart. In a new study published in Perspectives in Biology and Medicine, a cardiologist, an internal medical specialist, and a musicologist point out that three of the German composer's works exhibit "rhythmic shifts and punctuations" that weren't typical of music during his time but that closely resemble various forms of heart arrhythmia. Although the Los Angeles Times notes that Beethoven's heart was found "structurally sound" in an autopsy, no one knows for sure what medical conditions he suffered from. The study analyzed Beethoven's Piano Sonata in E flat major, the String Quartet No. 13 in B flat major, and the Piano Sonata No. 12 in A flat major. In the first sonata, researchers noticed a "distinctive 'galloping' rhythm" in one section, and another section evoking irregular heartbeats both slow and fast; in the string quartet, the "shortness of breath" evoked is like a "short paroxysm of an atrial tachyarrhythmia"; and in the second sonata, a "repetitive run of notes … 'bears some resemblance to rapid tachyarrhythmia.'" In what co-author Zachary Goldberger acknowledges is "entirely speculative," they theorize as Beethoven went deaf, he may have become more "attuned" to his heartbeat, though they admit "similar rhythmic intricacies" are present in other musicians' compositions. "While these musical arrhythmias may simply manifest Beethoven's genius, there is a possibility that in certain pieces his beating heart could literally be at the heart of some of the greatest masterpieces of all time," Goldberger says, per Medical News Today. (A music teacher recreated a Beethoven piece lost for 200 years.)