Ludwig van Beethoven
1770 - 1827
1770 - 1827
Beethoven's father and grandfather were
professional musicians, so it is no surprise that Beethoven entered the field of
music, too. In fact, it had been the custom for hundreds of years for
children to enter the professions of their parents.
By the time Beethoven was 28 he began to notice a hearing loss. At first it was slight. He couldn't hear the church bells ringing in the distance. As he got older his hearing loss worsened. By the time he was 50 he was completely deaf. How sad and strange that one of the world's greatest composers could not hear his own music! Even more amazing is that he wrote some of the world's greatest music even though he could not hear a note of it.
Beethoven's violent temper and moodiness can be blamed in part
on his hearing loss. He was so angry and sad over his deafness that he
thought of killing himself. He even wrote a suicide note to his brother
explaining why he was going to kill himself. Thankfully, he didn't go
through with it. He would learn to cope with his handicap and would go on
to write some of the world's greatest music.
To hear sounds, Beethoven cut off the legs of his piano and
placed the instrument on the floor. He did this to feel the vibrations in
the floor when he played.
Beethoven wrote lots of piano music. Listen to Moonlight
Sonata to get a musical idea of how sad Beethoven must have felt over
his deafness. Listen to Bagatelle in
G Minor to hear his fiery passion.
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