BBC R3 Documentary - \'Total Eclipse\' sp7

BBC R3 Documentary - Total Eclipse
Presented by Simon Heighes
Broadcast August 20, 2009
Coded from a digital source at 128/44.1

BBC Blurb
Simon Heighes and Professor Daniel M Albert, an opthalmic surgeon with a special
interest in the history of medicine, to discover the story of the flamboyant English
doctor who blinded the two greatest figures in Baroque music - Bach and Handel.

John Taylor was a charlatan - a charismatic, womanising practitioner who lied his
way to treat popes, royalty and anyone else who could afford his high fees. He
treated Bach, after the composer's failing sight prevented him from continuing to
work on The Art of Fugue, performing a procedure known as 'couching' - using a
needle to pierce the composer's eyes and displace his cataracts. Some months
after his operation - after days filled with pain, fever and vivid hallucinations - Bach
died, leaving his great work incomplete.

When Taylor was called upon to treat the eyes of London's foremost musical celebrity,
Handel, he completely blinded him and the composer never wrote music again.
BBC Blurb unquote
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