It turns out that the word “bedlam” originates from Bethlehem—specifically, the hospital of Saint Mary of Bethlehem. I’m reading the concert program, and there’s a phrase inspirational bedlam. That’s how Beethoven’s biographer, Edmund Morris, described the composer’s drafts.
The term bedlam comes from the name of a hospital in London, “Saint Mary of Bethlehem,” which was devoted to treating the mentally ill in the 1400s. Over time, the pronunciation of “Bethlehem” morphed into bedlam and the term came to be applied to any situation where pandemonium prevails.
Hi, I'm Rauf Aliev. 