How can Beethoven Create music though he was Deaf?

Question

What are the reason of anatomical possibilities of such excellence?

Answer 1

Actually people sometimes make too much about him going deaf. Composers often become so well trained in music, that they can hear it just by looking at the paper. In fact many composers prefer to write while away from a piano or other instrument, so they can only hear it in their heads.

Beethoven's deafness is unique though. Partly because he was very secretive about it, till he couldn't hide it anymore, and it added to his strange character. At one point, in 1801, he even planned to kill himself over it, but changed his mind and continued to write twice as hard as before. Had he not been deaf, his music would still be amazing today, but the idea that he wrote and went deaf- the one sense that the musician loves the most- only adds to the interesting image we have of him.

Answer 2

Beethoven was well-trained as a musician and composer from an early age. His deafness did not begin to manifest itself until around 1802, when the composer was about 32 years old. He already had many fine compositions and was a very experienced composer by this point. Most of the initial results of his deafness (which didn't fully develop until c.1819) were that he withdrew from society and became a loner. He went about composing with a deeper dedication, because that was the main thing that was left open to him - he stopped playing in public, and stopped seeing the public. His later compositions reflect a deeper, probing, searching style, some of which is difficult for the general public to understand to this day. His compositions show steady development throughout his life, and that was probably helped by his deafness, not hurt by it. Musicians do not need to hear to produce music - we hear it in our heads.

I have never heard these theories of him supposedly holding his head against the instruments, and I think I would research that before repeating it. There are excellent and exhaustive biographies of Beethoven, and I highly recommend the book by Maynard Solomon.

Answer 3

Sound is vibrations moving through the air. Our ears pick up these vibrations and our brains make tonal sense of that data. The best I can formulate is that the deaf can "hear" vibrations through their skin. The subtle differences in vibrations between musical tones would be difficult to differentiate, and it would take a truly gifted individual to be able to pull off such a feat.

A more likely explination is that Beethoven ahd such a remarkable understanding of musical theory that he did not have to hear his music to know that it was appealing and "correct." Since he played the piano, he would know that each key produced a certain tone consistently. Provided that the piano was tuned, Beethoven would likely be able to play beautiful music due to the predictablity of playing said instrument.

The answer I am most willing to accept, however, is that Beethoven was simply a magical alien from a parallel multidimension. Our simple minds could not even begin to understand the aspect and reality of the entity that was Beethoven. Same as David Blane.

Answer 4

Everyone is partially right. If you have ever taken a music theory class, you'll see that back in the day there were laws and heirarchy in music. Everything had tendences (a particular chord has to follow another, etc...) and creativity, while allowed, wasn't chaotic, but controlled. Music could have been created visually if you knew the rules.
So, in response, yes it has to do with musical vibrations, the fact that he knew what the notes sounded like before he became deaf, AND simply knowing music and how to write music like a pro.

Answer 5

He didn't really become deaf until he was in his 30s, so he already knew the sounds and what each note sounded like. It also helped that he had perfect pitch so he could hear the exact note in his head.
But yeah, I heard stories that he would cut off the legs of his piano and put his ear to the floor to hear the vibrations of the sounds. Crazy.

Answer 6

Beethoven was a God-given gift to humanity. That's all I can honestly say.

Answer 7

He became deaf, so he still heard music for sometime. He would also place the side of his head against the instrument to 'feel' the tones. He did not necessarily played all the instruments himself when 'feeling' the music after he became deaf.

Answer 8

he became deaf.

by not hearing the music, he imagines. by not hearing the music, he is able to break laws and stereotypes of how music should be.

and no clue on the anatomical question part.

Answer 9

my wise old mother, bless her soul, always said when a person had an area that was lacking (such as hearing) then God would bless another area twofold. I suppose he was blessed with a gift of talent and born with a sense of just knowing.

Answer 10

he knew allt he notes and how they sounded and he also got to write down notes on paper and people would play it on the piano etc. and the people would tell him if it sounded good. if it didnt he would try again and again.