So if Beethoven was completely deaf ...

... how did he compose?

By ClassicFM London

Ludwig was still pumping out the masterpieces - even when he was completely deaf. Here's how he did it.

"For the last three years my hearing has grown steadily weaker..." - so wrote Beethoven, aged 30, in a letter to a friend.  

The young Beethoven was known as the most important musician since Mozart. By his mid-20s, he had studied with Haydn and was celebrated as a brilliant, virtuoso pianist.

By the time he turned 30 he had composed a couple of piano concertos, six string quartets, and his first symphony. Everything was looking pretty good for the guy, with the prospect of a long, successful career ahead. 

Then, he started to notice a buzzing sound in his ears - and everything was about to change.

How old was Beethoven when he started going deaf?

Around the age of 26, Beethoven began to hear buzzing and ringing in his ears. In 1800, aged 30, he wrote from Vienna to a childhood friend - by then working as a doctor in Bonn - saying that he had been suffering for some time: 

"For the last three years my hearing has grown steadily weaker. I can give you some idea of this peculiar deafness when I must tell you that in the theatre I have to get very close to the orchestra to understand the performers, and that from a distance I do not hear the high notes of the instruments and the singers’ voices… Sometimes too I hardly hear people who speak softly. The sound I can hear it is true, but not the words. And yet if anyone shouts I can’t bear it."

Beethoven tried to keep news of the problem secret from those closest to him. He feared his career would be ruined if anyone realised.

"For two years I have avoided almost all social gatherings because it is impossible for me to say to people 'I am deaf'," he wrote. "If I belonged to any other profession it would be easier, but in my profession it is a frightful state."

Once Beethoven was out for a country ramble with fellow composer Ferdinand Ries, and while walking they saw a shepherd playing a pipe. Beethoven would have seen from Ries's face that there was beautiful music playing, but he couldn't hear it. It's said that Beethoven was never the same again after this incident, because he had confronted his deafness for the first time.

Beethoven could apparently still hear some speech and music until 1812. But by the age of 44, he was almost totally deaf and unable to hear voices or so many of the sounds of his beloved countryside. It must have been devastating for him. 

Picture: Still from 'Das Leben des Beethoven' (1927)

Why did Beethoven go deaf?

The exact cause of his hearing loss is unknown. Theories range from syphilis to lead poisoning, typhus, or possibly even his habit of plunging his head into cold water to keep himself awake.

At one point he claimed he had suffered a fit of rage in 1798 when someone interrupted him at work. Having fallen over, he said, he got up to find himself deaf. At other times he blamed it on gastrointestinal problems.

"The cause of this must be the condition of my belly which as you know has always been wretched and has been getting worse," he wrote, "since I am always troubled with diarrhoea, which causes extraordinary weakness."

An autopsy carried out after he died found he had a distended inner ear, which developed lesions over time.

Here's Beethoven's famous Symphony No.5, written in 1804. Its famous opening motif is often referred to as 'fate knocking at the door'; the cruel hearing loss that he feared would afflict him for the rest of his life. 

Quiz: How well do you REALLY know Beethoven's 5th? >

What treatment did Beethoven seek for his deafness?

Taking a lukewarm bath of Danube water seemed to help Beethoven's stomach ailments, but his deafness became worse. "I am feeling stronger and better, except that my ears sing and buzz constantly, day and night."

One bizarre remedy was strapping wet bark to his upper arms until it dried out and produced blisters. This didn't cure the deafness—it only served to keep him away from his piano for two weeks.

After 1822, he gave up seeking treatment for his hearing. He tried a range of hearing aids, such as special hearing trumpets. Take a look:

If he couldn't hear, how did he write music?

Beethoven had heard and played music for the first three decades of his life, so he knew how instruments and voices sounded and how they worked together. His deafness was a slow deterioration, rather than a sudden loss of hearing, so he could always imagine in his mind what his compositions would sound like.

Beethoven's housekeepers remembered that, as his hearing got worse, he would sit at the piano, put a pencil in his mouth, touching the other end of it to the soundboard of the instrument, to feel the vibration of the note.

Did Beethoven's deafness change his music?

Yes. In his early works, when Beethoven could hear the full range of frequencies, he made use of higher notes in his compositions.  As his hearing failed, he began to use the lower notes that he could hear more clearly. Works including the Moonlight Sonata, his only opera Fidelio and six symphonies were written during this period. The high notes returned to his compositions towards the end of his life which suggests he was hearing the works take shape in his imagination.

Here's Beethoven's Große Fuge, Op. 133, written by the deaf Beethoven in 1826, formed entirely of those sounds of his imagination.

Did Beethoven continue to perform?

He did. But he ended up wrecking pianos by banging on them so hard in order to hear the notes.

After watching Beethoven in a rehearsal in 1814 for the Archduke Trio, the composer Louis Spohr said: "In fortepassages the poor deaf man pounded on the keys until the strings jangled, and in piano he played so softly that whole groups of notes were omitted, so that the music was unintelligible unless one could look into the pianoforte part. I was deeply saddened at so hard a fate."

When it came to the premiere of his massive Ninth Symphony, Beethoven insisted on conducting. The orchestra hired another conductor, Michael Umlauf to stand alongside the composer. Umlauf told the performers to follow him and ignore Beethoven's directions.

The symphony received rapturous applause which Beethoven could not hear. Legend has it that the young contralto Carolina Unger approached the maestro and turned him around to face the audience, to see the ovation.

This is how the moment might have looked, with Gary Oldman playing Beethoven in the film, Immortal Beloved:

Did you know Bernstein borrowed a tune ...

...from Beethoven for West Side Story?

Beethoven - 5th Piano Concerto 'Emperor' (Zimerman, Bernstein, Wiener Philharmoniker)

41:25

By Maddy Shaw Roberts

Here’s the proof that 'Somewhere', one of the most beautiful tunes in this Bernstein musical was very much inspired by Beethoven…

West Side Story is the 1957 Broadway musical that broke all our hearts – and at least a smattering of our Leonard Bernstein-shaped tears can be attributed to its poignant ballad, ‘Somewhere (There’s a Place for Us)’.

But did you know that its main tune (‘there’s a place for us’) was taken from the second movement (Adagio un poco moto) of Beethoven’s ‘Emperor’ Piano Concerto No. 5?

That's this bit, in the Beethoven: 

In Beethoven’s version, the ‘us’ sinks back down to the F sharp, returning to the note on which the phrase began. But in Bernstein’s composition, the ‘us’ is slightly higher – like this:

'Somewhere' appears in West Side Story at a moment when Tony has just stabbed Maria’s brother Bernardo to death at the rumble. Maria realises she still loves him and the problem is not them, but what is around them.

Considering the subject matter, perhaps Bernstein’s choice to move the ‘us’ a little higher is a moment of hope in amongst the painful longing of the song.

There’s also the minor seventh between ‘there’s’ and ‘a’ – an interval Bernstein took directly from Beethoven’s ‘Emperor’ Concerto. It isn’t quite an octave, and the fact that it just falls short of that neat, satisfying interval means the melody captures a feeling of despair. The ‘place for us’ is a utopia Maria and Tony long for, but it’s just out of arm’s reach. [cries forever]

> 10 reasons why Tony from West Side Story is the most perfect man ever

It’s perhaps less noticeable, but ‘Somewhere’ also takes a longer phrase from the main theme of Tchaikovsky’s Swan Lake.

Here’s the tune to Swan Lake:

And here’s the third line of ‘Somewhere’:

Despite the difference in rhythm, the ascending line moving up to the dotted quaver (a dotted crotchet in the original) is a clear nod to the heart-breaking theme of the Russian composer’s ballet.

Bernstein knew what he was doing with his nods to this great works for Romantic music. And they are a small but important part of the emotional impact of his famous musical. 

Want to know more about the pure brilliance of West Side Story? Here’s how it bridged the gap between opera and musical theatre.

Aram Khachaturian - His Music and His Life

Armenian Russian classical composer An outstanding representative of the Russian school of composition, Khachaturian was a unique artist for whom folklore was the inspiration for his music. His ballets, symphonies, and other works are permeated by the intonations and rhythms of folk songs and dances of the East. They brought a fresh voice to the Russian music of the twentieth century. Born: June 6, 1903; Tbilisi, Georgia, Russian Empire (now in Georgia) Died: May 1, 1978; Moscow, Russia, Soviet Union (now in Russia)  Also known as: Aram Ilich Khachaturian (full name) Principal works ballets (music): Schast’ye, Op. 43, 1939 (Happiness; scenario by Gevorg Ovanesian; choreography by Ilya Arbatov); Gayan?, Op. 50, 1942 (scenario by Konstantin Derzhavin); Gayan? Suite No. 1, Op. 53, 1943; Gayan? Suite No. 3, Op. 55, 1943; Gayan? Suite No. 2, Op. 54, 1945; Spartak, Op. 82, 1956 (Spartacus; scenario by Nikolai Volkov; choreography by Yuri Grigorovitch); Gayan?, Op. 89, 1957 (scenario by Boris Pletnev). cello work: Sonata-fantaziya, Op. 104, 1974 (Sonata-Fantasy in C Major). chamber works: Elegy in G Minor, Op. 4, 1925 (for cello and piano); Pesnya stranstvuyushchego ashuga, Op. 2, 1925 (The Roaming Ashug’s Song; for cello and piano); Dance No. 1, 1926 (for violin and piano); The Dream, Op. 3, 1926 (for cello and piano); Pantomime, Op. 13, 1927 (for oboe and piano); Allegretto, Op. 18, 1929 (for violin and piano); String Quartet, Op. 23, 1931; Mass Dance, Op. 25, 1932 (for bayan); Sonata, Op. 29, 1932 (for violin and piano); Trio, Op. 30, 1933 (for clarinet, violin, and piano). choral works: Mer Hayrenik, Op. 60, 1944 (Our Fatherland; national anthem of the Armenian Soviet Socialist Republic; lyrics by Armenac Sarkisyan under the pseudonym A. Sarmen); Oda radosti, Op. 88, 1956 (Ode to Joy; for female soloist, chorus, violins, harps, and orchestra; lyrics by S. Smirnov); Ballada o Rodine, Op. 97, 1961 (Ballad of the Motherland; for soloist and symphony orchestra; lyrics by Ashot Garnakerian). orchestral works: Baghdasar akhpar, 1927 (Uncle Baghdasar; incidental music for Hakob Paronian’s play); Arevelian atamnabuzh, Op. 17, 1928 (The Eastern Dentist; incidental music for Paronian’s play); Khatabala, Op. 15, 1928 (incidental music for Gabriel Sundukian’s play); Dance Suite, Op. 32, 1933 (Tantseval’naya syuita); Macbeth, Op. 33, 1933 (incidental music for William Shakespeare’s play); Symphony No. 1, Op. 35, 1935; Piano Concerto in D-flat Major, 1936; Violin Concerto in D Minor, Op. 46, 1940; The Widow of Valencia, Op. 45, 1940 (incidental music for Lope de Vega’s play); Masquerada, Op. 48, 1941 (incidental music for Mikhail Lermontov’s play); Symphony No. 2 in E Minor, Op. 56, 1943 (Simfoniya s kolokolom; The Bell Symphony); Russkaya fantaziya, Op. 59, 1945 (The Russian Fantasy); Cello Concerto in E Minor, Op. 65, 1946; Symphony No. 3, Op. 67, 1947 (Symphony-Poem); Oda pamyati Lenina, Op. 71, 1948 (Ode in Memory of Vladimir Ilich Lenin); Stalingradskaya bitva, Op. 74, 1949 (The Battle of Stalingrad ); Macbeth, Op. 84, 1955 (incidental music for Shakespeare’s play); Spartacus Suite No. 1, Op. 82a, 1955; Spartacus Suite No. 2, Op. 82b, 1955; Spartacus Suite No. 3, Op. 82c, 1955; King Lear, Op. 92, 1958 (incidental music for Shakespeare’s play); Privetstvennaya uvertyura, 1958 ( Salutatory Overture); Suite from Lermontov, Op. 94, 1959; Concerto-Rhapsody in B-Flat, Op. 96, 1962 (for violin and orchestra); Concerto-Rhapsody, Op. 99, 1963 (for cello and orchestra); Concerto-Rhapsody in D-flat Major, Op. 102, 1968 (for piano and orchestra). piano works: Poem, Op. 1, 1925; Andantino, Op. 5, 1926; Waltz-Caprice in C-sharp Minor, Op. 8, 1926; Waltz-?tude, Op. 6, 1926; Poem in Csharp Minor, Op. 12, 1927; Toccata in E-flat Minor, Op. 24, 1932; Dance No. 3, Op. 31, 1933; March No. 3, Op. 34, 1934; Khoreograficheskiy val’s, Op. 58, 1944 (Choreographic Waltz); Children’s Album Book I, Op. 62, 1947; Waltz from Masquerade, 1952; Sonatina in C Major, Op. 93, 1958; Sonata in E-flat Major, Op. 95, 1961; Children’s Album Book II, Op. 100, 1965; Seven Recitatives and Fugues, Op. 101, 1966. The Life Aram Ilich Khachaturian (ah-RAHM IHL-yihch kah-chah-TOO-rih-ahn) was born on June 6, 1903, in Kodjori, a suburb of Tbilisi. He grew up in an environment filled with folk music, his first musical impressions formed by the artistry of Ashugs, folk poets and singers of the Caucasus who fused all the best stylistic traits of Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, and Persia. His first encounter with classical music, at the age of sixteen, was an opera, Abesalom and Eteri (1918) by Georgian composer Zakharia Paliashvili. At that same time, he began to play the trumpet by ear in an amateur band. In 1921 Khachaturian moved to Moscow to attend the university as a biology major.Hesoon realized his uncontrollable attraction to music and left the university to enroll in the Gnesin Institute of Music, studying cello with Andrei Borisyak and composition with Mikhail Gnesin. In 1929-1934 he studied composition with Nikolai Myaskowski at the Moscow Conservatory, acquiring the best of Russian and Western European traditions. During his graduate studies (1934-1936) his tendency toward a virtuosic style was evidenced in concerti for piano (1936) and violin (1940) with bright harmonic “colors,” emphatic rhythms, and expressive melodies. At the same time, he began an active performing career and became a member of the Composers’ Union. The 1940’s were associated with a great Soviet patriotism, as demonstrated in The Bell Symphony, a tragic piece depicting terrible times. He also composed a cello concerto, the Gayan? ballets, and Our Fatherland, considered the national anthem of the Armenian Republic. In 1950 Kachaturian became a professor at both the Moscow Conservatory and the Gnesin Institute and began his conducting career. In 1951 he was awarded the title of National Artist of the U.S.S.R. During a trip to Rome, Khachaturian conceived an idea that led him to compose the ballet Spartacus, for which received the Lenin Prize in 1959. He received many honorary titles thereafter. In the 1970’s, as Khachaturian’s health began to decline, he often spoke about wishing to be buried in Yerevan, in his Armenian homeland. After his death on May 1, 1978, his wish was fulfilled. The Music Khachaturian was first to use Asian themes in large, symphonic forms, thus enriching Western music. His music is marked by modern images and means of expression based on the folk motifs of the peoples of the Caucasus. Early Works. Khachaturian’s first compositional attempts were combined with great challenges: his lack of training in music theory and his age (he entered the conservatory at twenty-six). However, his hard work and purposefulness prevailed. His early works include a toccata for piano, a clarinet trio, and an orchestral dance suite, in which Eastern colors merge with academic strictness of form. His Symphony No. 1, a graduation project, won a gold medal. Violin Concerto in D Minor. The Violin Concerto in D Minor marked the composer’s artistic credo: brightness of musical images, an emphasis on folklore sources, a distinct foundation in dance, and a lack of dramatically emphasized conflicts. Thiswork, filled with musical materials resembling Armenian folk songs and dances, depicts scenes from people’s lives and poetic sketches of Armenian nature. Dancelike, ecstatic outer movements surround a lyrical second movement. The concerto premiered on November 16, 1940, conducted by its dedicatee, David Oistrakh. Gayan?. Composed in 1942, this ballet was the first Armenian work in the genre. It features three main elements: dance, drama (bordering on tragedy), and lyricism. The main characters are farmers and Red Army soldiers. Their happiness, resulting from the nation’s prosperity, is boundless. Through difficult struggle against evil and unfairness, Gayan? finally finds her happiness. She exposes the perpetrators (among them her husband) who set fire to a collective farm’s warehouse, an act that almost costs her her life. The ballet concludes with a national celebration. In Gayan? Khachaturian used the best numbers from his first ballet, Happiness. Perhaps Gayan? is most famous for the fiery “Saber Dance” of the fourth act. Arranged for various instrumental ensembles, this piece would become a standard in concert programs. In 1943 Khachaturian received the State Prize for Gayan?. Spartacus. Inspired by ancient Rome, Khachaturian composed this ballet, in which he shows the conflict between the opposing forces of Spartacus and the gladiators, and the aristocratic world of the Roman patriarchs. This opposition is heard in the prologue as Thracians pull the victor-commander’s chariot. Heavily, with somber solemnity, sounds the march of the victors. This is Rome, a powerful, imperious, and brutal empire. Opposing it is Spartacus’s heroic theme, conveying strength, nobility, and, at the same time,worry and sorrow. Premiering in 1956, Spartacus became one of the most prominentworks of the Soviet ballet. Later Khachaturian created three suites using this ballet’s most important fragments. Musical Legacy The stylistic individuality of Khachaturian’s works lies in the inseparability of what is his own music and what is borrowed. Since even the authentic folk melodies are altered, it is nearly impossible to detect where traditional motifs end and the composer’s work begins. Most of Khachaturian’s works are saturated with centuries-old motifs of Armenian culture. The traditions of folk music were sustained and developed by many national composers, such as Armenian Soghomon Soghomonian (Komitas) and Georgian Paliashvili, but Khachaturian was the first of the trans-Caucasian composers to weave these motifs into large, symphonic forms and, by enriching these classical forms with ethnic music, elevate the latter in the classic

Karl Loewe - His Music and His Life

The German Karl Loewe was born in Loebejuen near Halle on November 30, 1796 as 12th child of a simple school teacher.

Loewe was able to study because of King Jerome's generous scholarship. In Stettin, Loewe became musical director. In this position, he was at work for 46 (!) years.

Loewe composed chamber music and five operas. "The Three Wishes" premiered in Berlin in 1834. Loewe's oratorios are popular until today - "Jerusalem's Destruction" (1829), "Hiob" (1848) or "Lazarus' Wake" (1863).

Among 150 compositions, Karl Loewe's ballads rmained as incredible and convincing performances, i.e. "Die Glocken von Speyer" (The Bells from Speyer), "Mr. Oluf" or "The Fall into a Ruin Mill".

Loewe passed away in Kiel on April 20, 1869.