The hidden Gaelic melodies behind songs by Beethoven.

Chapter 1: Òrain Ghàidhlig Beethoven (Beethoven's Gaelic Songs) - 85 min
When piper Allan MacDonald revealed Beethoven's song Enchantress, Farewell was a reworking of Gaelic song Mnathan ? Ghlinne Seo, German Gaelic-learner Michael Klevenhaus turned detective. We follow his quest to discover more works by the maestro based on traditional music of Gaeldom. Michael reveals that the melodies' origins were deliberately hidden from Beethoven and the public by Edinburgh publisher George Thomson, who commissioned the arrangements from the composer.

With the 1745 Jacobite Rebellion still within living memory, Thomson wanted to strip the Gaelic songs of their titles, lyrics and the 'taint' of Jacobitism.

Discovering a wealth of Beethoven's forgotten Gaelic songs, Michael and Allan MacDonald stage a concert featuring both Beethoven's and the ancient Gaelic versions.

Chapter 2: Beethoven: A' Chuirm Ghàidhlig (Beethoven: The Gaelic Concert) - 55 min
The discovery that Beethoven's arrangement of the song Enchantress Farewell was a reworking of a Gaelic song, Mhnathan a' Ghlinne Seo, led German scholar Michael Klevenhaus to search for more connections between old Gaelic melodies and the great German composer.

This concert, featuring both traditional and classical musicians, highlights more of the Gaelic songs that Michael discovered had found their way to Beethoven and the classical repertoire. The featured musicians are:

Traditional singers Mairi MacInnes and Michael Klevenhaus.
Scots piper Allan MacDonald and German piper Thomas Z?llner.
Scottish classical singers Lorna Anderson (soprano) and Jamie MacDougall (tenor).
And the classical instrumentalists Verena Stourzh, Franz Ortner, Clemens Zeilinger of the Trio Van Beethoven.