23-07-2013, 14:07
I'm back, SteveO, to lend you my opinion on Beethoven's deafness. He wasn't born deaf. He was victim of some sort of illness which brought about sclerosis in his acoustic apparatus. Therefore he had listened to music and studied it, very hard and with passionate committment. I believe he could 'hear' his own music inside him. Heard it play in his soul. I've heard music played inside my soul, even in my dreams, because I know it well. Beethoven knew it even better. How could he have composed the Ninth Symphony without knowing what the musical result would be? But the sad thing is, he never heard his great composition played by an orchestra and chorus. He was stone deaf when the ninth was presented for the first time in Vienna. Incredible, really.