How did Ludwig Van Beethoven could compose Classical Music if he was deaf?

Question

Was it his brilliance of Musical Intelligence? How did the vibrations reach his primary auditory cortex of his brain? What was the medium of longitudinal waves?

Answer 1

It wasn't until his mid to late life that he lost his hearing. All of his training occurred while he could still hear. Beethoven had a very good idea of what most notes and intervals sound like. Any musician develops this to a point over time. I am nowhere near the class of Beethoven's talent and ability, but even I am capable of composing with nothing more than a pencil and a piece of paper. I just know what certain intervals and chords are supposed to sound like.

His deafness was not sudden, either. It was a gradual process that I imagine must have been extremely frustrating and distressing to a musician. There are dozens of stories of him cutting the legs off his pianos so he could lay his head next to it on the floor and perceive some level of audio vibrations.

I also suspect he heard exactly what he was aiming for. If you've ever had a song stuck in your head, you're very familiar with how realistic it can sound. I think that with his previous training, he was able to "hear" exactly what he was writing. What really intrigues me is what he really "heard". What if what he wrote on paper was only a shadow of what his brain perceived? We will probably never know the sheer level of Beethoven's genius.

Answer 2

When discussing music and deafness inevitably there is reference to Beethoven. He is not always considered the greatest role model for deaf persons because he was a great composer long before his hearing loss. He learned to appreciate music at a very young age and gave his first performance at age seven. Therefore his skills as a composer were engrained by the time he became deaf. The story that he cut the legs off his piano in order to feel the vibrations of his music has been heard over and over. If a man with his talent can hear music by the vibrations it creates, one wonders how someone profoundly or even totally deaf at an early age can learn to appreciate music without ever hearing it.

Answer 3

An interesting topic is whether the music Beethoven composed after going completely deaf was different than it would have been had he retained his hearing. It's difficult to speculate, since one of the hallmarks of his art is the dramatic progression and change that occurred over time, and would have happened irregardless of his hearing.

Personally, I have always enjoyed the music Beethoven composed while still hearing far more listenable and profound than the late works. Try listening over and over as a conservatory student to the late string quartets, which are a cacophony in spite of their intellectual magnitude.

Mozart, with whom Beethoven lived for a period, was noted for having said 'he will force the world to listen to him, even if he must pound his fists on the table' (or something to that effect). Haydn, an early mentor to Beethoven, repeatedly and annoyingly kept telling him that he gravitated toward bad taste.

An idle discussion perhaps, except it is curious that I'm not alone in my predilection. Still, there is an enormous undeniable weight of gratitude at Beethoven's overall legacy.

Answer 4

Ludwig Van Beethoven was a musical genius. He was able to remember what instruments and sounds were like even after he lost his sense of hearing. I once had a professor tell me that the piano Beethoven used had no legs and he would lean over the keys and bang them in order to sense the vibration through the floor and "know" what he was playing based on that. Of course, since he'd already begun composing music before he went deaf, he had an "idea" of what each note was like embedded in his memory.

Answer 5

As is noted, Beethoven was not deaf his whole life. He was hearing and had music down plus the fact he had an aptitude for music.

I can not recall who it was, but some pianist was imprisoned and despite not being allowed a piano he came out of prison a better pianist or at least his skills did not fade. When asked how he accomplished that he said he played an imaginary piano and that kept his skills up.

Answer 6

Beethoven's skill was a combination of perfect pitch, and an ability called Audiation- where you can hear music in your head, and know exactly how to play it. Basically, when beethoven was deaf, he could hear the music in his head, and he had the ability to write it down. Ever see jazz musicians- such as piano players, guitarists, or anyone (who doesn't use their mouth for the instrument) sing while they solo? It's the same thing, it's audiation. They're hearing what they're playing, and they sing it so they can play it easier.

Answer 7

People who can sight read music can immediately sing the tune. A genius like Beethove would not have to be able to hear to 'see' the music from the notes. Quite how he managed all the orchestral parts etc is another matter but when you are Beethoven I assume that you can!

Answer 8

He wasn't deaf at birth. He probably learned theory and compositional skills while he still had most of his hearing intact, as he didn't start losing his hearing until his mid twenties.

And to the poster above me: It was never proven that Beethoven was synesthesic

Answer 9

Most of his music was composed when he could still hear well. He didn't lose his hearing until his later years, so most of his compositions were made when he could still hear. The ones that weren't, well.. I'm sure he already knew what they sounded like.

Answer 10

He only became deaf later in life, so he was able to listen to music way before it kicked in. But once he became deaf, he was able to realize his ideas in his mind and wrote them down. It was when he was completely deaf that he created his famous Ninth Symphony. Can you believe that?!