Was Beethoven Really Deaf When He Wrote Much of His Music?

Поділитися
Вставка
  • Опубліковано 15 бер 2020
  • Check my other channel Biographics! / @biographics
    If there is one Ludvig van Beethoven fact everyone knows it’s that he was deaf. But just saying “he was deaf” leaves a lot of pertinent questions unanswered, such as how deaf was he? How did he communicate with people? Of course, the biggest question is how did he compose what is considered some of his greatest music while he was deaf?
    If you'd like the text version of this video and the references, you can find those here: www.todayifoundout.com/index.p... and here www.todayifoundout.com/index.p...

КОМЕНТАРІ • 366

  • @john-peterhundt5662
    @john-peterhundt5662 4 роки тому +245

    When Beethoven was told that he would never make it in the music industry beacause he was deaf, did he listen? No.

    • @ludwigvanbeethoven8050
      @ludwigvanbeethoven8050 4 роки тому +6

      funny...

    • @katj3443
      @katj3443 4 роки тому +4

      Hahahah love it!!

    • @benjisisler2579
      @benjisisler2579 4 роки тому +5

      Well by the time he was deaf he kinda already made it. But yeah lol

    • @BigGringus
      @BigGringus 3 роки тому +2

      hahaha, very clever

    • @TheSweetestScience
      @TheSweetestScience 2 роки тому

      Great comment. Im honored to be the man who made your comment reach 200 likes. 😌👍🏻

  • @TheRealGuywithoutaMustache
    @TheRealGuywithoutaMustache 4 роки тому +295

    Everybody gangsta until Beethoven says "I heard that"

    • @wolfofdawn4053
      @wolfofdawn4053 4 роки тому +7

      *wonders how you seem to be everywhere*

    • @kingfuzzy2
      @kingfuzzy2 4 роки тому +4

      He's magical

    • @Friendship1nmillion
      @Friendship1nmillion 4 роки тому +1

      *YEAH* 😅😉 👨‍🏫🗣🎹🎶🧮

    • @ronaldmacintyre567
      @ronaldmacintyre567 4 роки тому +1

      Beethoven sang along to the lyrics "I heard it thru the grapevine"

    • @bluesap7318
      @bluesap7318 4 роки тому

      Everyone gangsta until Just Some Guy without a Mustache appears in the comments.

  • @themarquess
    @themarquess 4 роки тому +117

    He should be remembered not just as a composer, but also as an entrepreneur. He basically broke with the old model of artists being supported by a wealthy benefactor, like a king and invented the idea of marketing his own celebrity and commercialized music.

    • @ronaldmacintyre567
      @ronaldmacintyre567 4 роки тому +2

      I think by running a ssi scam by pretending he was deaf. Proof when the hooker said 10 or 20 for around the world ole Beethoven pulled out a 20

    • @jegeriufanen4415
      @jegeriufanen4415 4 роки тому +3

      Ronald Macintyre what

    • @Facelauss
      @Facelauss 2 роки тому

      Man was the first twitch streamer lol

  • @digapygmy70
    @digapygmy70 4 роки тому +81

    I've sung the 9th with a choir, it's absolutely transcendent at parts, more so than just listening to it

    • @jppitman1
      @jppitman1 2 роки тому +6

      In a community orchestra I played the 3rd trombone part. To be at the back of the orchestra and in front of the chorus and with my ears being totally surrounded by the most beautiful music ever written is indescribable.

  • @TrevorduBuisson
    @TrevorduBuisson 4 роки тому +205

    I don't think people fully realise the immensity of Beethoven's capability and how astonishing his achievements. To write something so lucid and magnanimous as the 9th Symphony, not to forget his late piano sonatas and string quartets.
    It wasn't that he could just write good music, but rather the level of genius with which he did; and being deprived of the very sense for he was writing taboot.
    Beethoven's story and achievements to my mind are, quite possibly, not only the greatest in the musical history book, but one of the very greatest in the human history book.

    • @cameronvandygriff7048
      @cameronvandygriff7048 4 роки тому +17

      I dont think people underrate him hes been known as one of the greatest composers of all time for about 200 years

    • @sparkplug1018
      @sparkplug1018 4 роки тому +10

      I doubt many if anyone underrates his achievements, or would attempt to belittle them in any way. After all, around the world to this day we still know his name, we still perform his many works and composers still look to him and his contemporaries for guidance and inspiration.
      But the great question still remains, how would his compositions have developed had he not lost his hearing? Would they have continued to amaze and impress us in the same style as his first period or would they have naturally evolved as they did? Or perhaps even evolved into a much higher plane then anything he gifted us with during his life.

    • @cameronvandygriff7048
      @cameronvandygriff7048 4 роки тому +7

      @@sparkplug1018 well I feel like it couldnt have been as amazing cause we wouldnt have had the 9th symphony which is his most known work even if you've never heard the name Beethoven you've heard the 9th symphony

    • @sparkplug1018
      @sparkplug1018 4 роки тому +5

      @@cameronvandygriff7048 Thats very posible. Its also possible his works would have evolved into an entirely different plane that we can't even imagine.
      Kind of an interesting thought really.

    • @Scribe13013
      @Scribe13013 4 роки тому +1

      That's what I was gonna say

  • @franklinisthecat
    @franklinisthecat 4 роки тому +50

    I was in Vienna and told the guide I loved Beethoven so we went through some narrow streets to an old wooden gate. He said, “Touch this.” So I did. He said it was the gate that Beethoven used to get to his apartment. I geeked out.

    • @Jhein
      @Jhein 3 роки тому +2

      I almost cried reading this comment alone, i cannot imagine what would i do if i were there. I need to go to Vienna

    • @h.317
      @h.317 2 роки тому

      That is amazing! Happy for you, honestly amazing. 🙏🏼

    • @jigglybandito9505
      @jigglybandito9505 Рік тому

      Omg ! Would love to do that.

    • @shafeeknajeeb8633
      @shafeeknajeeb8633 Рік тому

      @@Jhein I know how that feels my friend 😭

  • @mechasentai
    @mechasentai 4 роки тому +87

    Beethoven: deaf and is known as one of the greatest composers of all time.
    Meanwhile society can't do shit without toilet paper.

  • @missingallmymarbles7670
    @missingallmymarbles7670 4 роки тому +86

    I used to be deaf when I was younger (it took several years and multiple surgeries to fix). Music was one of the few things that I *could* hear...through vibrations-either from holding a music box against my cheekbone or basically doing the same thing to a stereo speaker.

    • @Petrov3434
      @Petrov3434 4 роки тому +5

      Very interesting -- could you hear (interpret vibrations as music) or only tact (tempo)

    • @kingfuzzy2
      @kingfuzzy2 4 роки тому +7

      For me it was a different vibration for music than other noises when I used to not hear.( I can now)

    • @jegeriufanen4415
      @jegeriufanen4415 4 роки тому +3

      So was it like just vibrations or could you somehow actually hear it in your head. I can't begin to imagine really

    • @kingfuzzy2
      @kingfuzzy2 4 роки тому +2

      It's like when you put your hands in water and there's resistance for music. For words I thought in my head what they wer.

    • @soniczforever5470
      @soniczforever5470 2 роки тому

      Same here

  • @beaubeaukitty5301
    @beaubeaukitty5301 4 роки тому +52

    Beethoven was talented enough to write masterpieces of classical music whilst deaf. No Question about it

    • @Irisheddy
      @Irisheddy 4 роки тому +1

      He could could probable look at the notes and knew what they sounded like.

  • @gacharose1738
    @gacharose1738 4 роки тому +124

    Beethovan cut legs off his piano. Could hear through vibrations. My aunt was deaf, she e joyed when I played piano. She held her hand on Iano, felt vibration, was very happy.

    • @izzojoseph2
      @izzojoseph2 4 роки тому +2

      Lois Walsh ~ actually, that’s not true. Urban legend. Sorry.

    • @EMurph42
      @EMurph42 4 роки тому +4

      Joseph Izzo hmm. I’ve heard something similar but I can’t name the source so you might be right. I do know that when working with a quartet he would feel the floor vibrations to tell if they keeping proper time. When they lost time he would smack things with his cane & Occasionally the musicians.

    • @izzojoseph2
      @izzojoseph2 4 роки тому +12

      Erin Murphy ~ it’s true he would go by feel at times. But as far as sawing legs off piano to feel vibration, nah. Plus, people don’t realize, he understood music and the rules behind it. He knew the sounds. He (and many other ‘greats’) wrote the pieces based on the rules of writing and knew what it would sound like before performing it.

    • @jaymeanderson5121
      @jaymeanderson5121 4 роки тому +2

      I'm glad you could share that with your aunt. 🙂 I had a friend that would sit on\ touch the speakers at music concerts in order to join in on the fun. But she could also feel other vibrations, like through the floor.

    • @ludwigvanbeethoven8050
      @ludwigvanbeethoven8050 4 роки тому +2

      Hi. No I never did that. Sorry

  • @marcscordato4385
    @marcscordato4385 4 роки тому +22

    It’s hard to believe one of the greatest compositions of all time was composed by a deaf person . I give him credit for pressing on in the face of great adversity

  • @adde9506
    @adde9506 4 роки тому +11

    It's amazing to think that Beethoven genuinely couldn't keep time. I think it's even likely that he never could and was playing or conducting by ear. The conductor is the timepiece of the music, and if keeping time was a skill he possessed his deafness would not have mattered. It makes everything he did more impressive, not less.

  • @justabill5780
    @justabill5780 4 роки тому +14

    As an avid classical music fan, Beethoven has always been my favorite composer. And the 9th is my favorite composition of all time. It saddens me that it could only be brought about by the suffering of such a genius.

  • @tonyzed6831
    @tonyzed6831 4 роки тому +93

    Imagine losing hearing when your life was music.

    • @Sentient.A.I.
      @Sentient.A.I. 4 роки тому +5

      So sad

    • @crazymusicchick
      @crazymusicchick 4 роки тому

      TonyZed68 my music teacher lost half her hearing but she wasn’t nice before she lost her hearing so everyone quit

    • @SuperTicklemonsters
      @SuperTicklemonsters 4 роки тому +1

      I don't have to imagine it :(

    • @Sentient.A.I.
      @Sentient.A.I. 4 роки тому

      @@SuperTicklemonsters sorry for you maybe you can get one of those new fangled ear horns they call hearing aids. If not at least you can live online in a world of text and closed captioning.

    • @tonyzed6831
      @tonyzed6831 4 роки тому

      @@SuperTicklemonsters Oh... :(

  • @jimmyshrimbe9361
    @jimmyshrimbe9361 4 роки тому +7

    I bet he had the greatest time despite his hearing in that last performance. It sounds like it would have been absolutely amazing to witness.

  • @TheXev
    @TheXev 4 роки тому +15

    11:54 FINALLY! Proof that the word sluice EXIST. I had been made fun of since I was young for using the word, a word my Grandfather often used to to describe sewage pipes or drainage pipes that seems to have gone the way of the dodo! This is the first time I have ever seen it spelt and used in context!
    It is silly that this is the most exciting part of the video for me.

  • @skn9895
    @skn9895 4 роки тому +7

    Beethoven is by far my favorite composer, followed closely by Rachnaninoff. Both composers have written monumental pieces that could not possibly have come from mere mortals...

  • @dougjohnson3200
    @dougjohnson3200 4 роки тому +7

    Thank you for still uploading content during these times. I've always loved watching your videos and right now you're really helping the time go by.
    Stay safe, everyone.

    • @Jop3lius
      @Jop3lius 4 роки тому +1

      greatest symphonies are written with vibrator

  • @mr88cet
    @mr88cet 4 роки тому +23

    Anybody interested in Classical Music *must* find a book entitled, “Lexicon of Musical Invective,” by Nicklaus Slonimsky (IIRC). Despite the title, it is *hilarious* : It’s a ... Lexicon - a collection ... of contemporary scathing reviews of what are now regarded as extraordinary works of musical art!

  • @morganbrasee5639
    @morganbrasee5639 4 роки тому +2

    Another video about stuff I didn't know. Keep it up Simon, you are awesome!

  • @nhokonhokopuala
    @nhokonhokopuala 4 роки тому

    I have to say, this UA-cam channel always make my day, thank you for keeping the interesting subjects and making my breaks so fun. Thank you so much♥️

  • @jeniwatkins3297
    @jeniwatkins3297 4 роки тому

    Thank you! I've always been fascinated by his works and why they changed so much over time.

  • @jasmineirizarry3620
    @jasmineirizarry3620 4 роки тому +4

    Rest In Peace Ludwig Van Beethoven 😭 I’ll miss you my angel

  • @MendTheWorld
    @MendTheWorld 4 роки тому +3

    Excellent episode. very insightful, and i appreciated the excerpts from Beethoven’s writing.

    • @Friendship1nmillion
      @Friendship1nmillion 4 роки тому

      Wished Simon you had included audio {or video} clips of examples of his work. 😥👨‍🏫🎹🎶🧮🎭

  • @nolanbrown84
    @nolanbrown84 3 роки тому +2

    I loved his performance in Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure. That piano solo was amazing.

  • @deadseven3474
    @deadseven3474 4 роки тому +13

    I know I've been watching your stuff for too long when I can't tell if the video is a repost or if I heard it on one of your podcasts.

  • @glennrestvedt7143
    @glennrestvedt7143 4 роки тому +2

    The type of genius of which this world will never bare witness to again.

  • @thejudgmentalcat
    @thejudgmentalcat 4 роки тому +4

    I still get emotional when I listen to the 9th Symphony.

  • @hdgehog6
    @hdgehog6 4 роки тому +3

    I am one of the few fans of "Immortal Beloved" from '95. I hate Hollywood and actors in general, having met many when in CA, that when he accepted the Oscar for Darkest Hour I became a fan of his. His love for the US was refreshing to hear.

    • @JeanieD
      @JeanieD 4 роки тому

      Nicholas Baum , I saw that movie, and have been wanting to get my husband to watch it with me.

    • @thejudgmentalcat
      @thejudgmentalcat 4 роки тому +1

      Oldman did a great job, though the story was less than truthful.

    • @ludwigvanbeethoven8050
      @ludwigvanbeethoven8050 4 роки тому

      Cute movie....about as accurate as a 5 year old playing darts.

  • @dbmail545
    @dbmail545 4 роки тому +1

    Thanks for putting these diverse stories together

  • @RoseNZieg
    @RoseNZieg 4 роки тому +6

    some people can lose part of the high range before losing the low range as well.

  • @Special_Tactics_Force_Unit
    @Special_Tactics_Force_Unit 4 роки тому +2

    The absolute mad man ♥️♥️

  • @ArchFundy
    @ArchFundy 4 роки тому +7

    Great vid. A suggestion for a future vid. The origins of common sayings such as, "Bob's your uncle".

    • @jasonbromhead5257
      @jasonbromhead5257 4 роки тому +5

      Bob's your uncle Fanny's your aunt.

    • @Richard_Nickerson
      @Richard_Nickerson 4 роки тому +4

      You do know that Google exists, right?
      "Bob's your uncle" is a phrase commonly used in United Kingdom and Commonwealth countries that means "and there it is" or "and there you have it." Typically, someone says it to conclude a set of simple instructions or when a result is reached. The meaning is similar to that of the French expression "et voilà!" or the American "easy as pie" or "piece of cake".
      Origin
      Robert "Bob" Cecil
      The origins are uncertain, but a common theory is that the expression arose after Conservative Prime Minister Robert Gascoyne-Cecil, 3rd Marquess of Salisbury ("Bob") appointed his nephew Arthur Balfour as Chief Secretary for Ireland in 1887, an act of nepotism which was apparently both surprising and unpopular. Whatever other qualifications Balfour might have had, "Bob's your uncle" was seen as the conclusive one.
      I'm actually more curious as to why "piece of cake" is an expression now.
      Edit: It turns out "piece of cake" comes from the term "a cakewalk" which comes from the fact that cakes were often prizes for things in the 1800s.

    • @ArchFundy
      @ArchFundy 4 роки тому +2

      @@Richard_Nickerson Cool...tks for the info. Have a good day.

    • @Richard_Nickerson
      @Richard_Nickerson 4 роки тому +1

      @drew pedersen
      As one should.

  • @interwebtubes
    @interwebtubes 4 роки тому

    Nice piece,
    Thx 👍

  • @skitzcrasher
    @skitzcrasher 4 роки тому +1

    Simon, I would love to hear you do audiobook readings.

  • @TheEvilpossum
    @TheEvilpossum 4 роки тому +3

    My favorite Beethoven symphony is the 7th, which I understand was from around the time he went deaf. The opening movement is beautiful, the rest good.

  • @HerrFrankenstein
    @HerrFrankenstein 4 роки тому +1

    Any musician can tell you... a recital recalled... note for note... is an awesome gift... I expect we all possess...

  • @pedrosian7031
    @pedrosian7031 2 роки тому +1

    Something that always struck a painful chord about beethoven, when I think about him, is the extent of suffering he inevitably endured due to his condition.
    I like to think myself an artist. I certainly do try my best, albeit greatness is still very, very far from my reach. My "art" is inconsequential, unknown, and flawed in countless ways, yet the thought of possibly losing my hand, or my eyesight, terrifies me. Something that is so intrinsic to my identity being taken awaw in such irreparable, irreplaceable manner is a nightnarish thought to ponder on.
    Listening to Beethoven's work is equal parts a jubilous celebration of the man's genius and a painful, subtke understanding that if ever an artist suffered, Beethoven was that artist; from being propped up by a father that physically hurt him if he dared play a wrong note, to end up a master of his craft, yet in cruel irony unable to appreciate his own work.
    While many would envy beethoven, i think we in many ways can claim to at least be fortunate enough to hear his masterpieces, sonething the author himself could never claim. Just how screwed up is that...?
    I intended to have my grad film animation be themed around beethoven's deafness, albeit i soon realized that such a story would be spoiled by my current lack of skill, being a topic more deserving of a master, as it indeed concerns the life of a master, and any less would be disrespectful to his legacy.
    Perhaps one day.

  • @onniestone442
    @onniestone442 4 роки тому

    Wow I just want to give this guy a hug now

  • @tremorsfan
    @tremorsfan 4 роки тому +1

    There was a fascinating TV movie made in the early 90s called Beethoven Lives Upstairs. It's about a boy who's parents rent out their attic to Beethoven while he's composing his 9th symphony

  • @esotericone9101
    @esotericone9101 4 роки тому

    Great video. So sad....

  • @thngsIwtch
    @thngsIwtch 4 роки тому +10

    Can you do an episode on where the phrase "cats pajamas" came from? Or "that's the Bee's Knees". That would really be the cats pajamas if you did!!
    Thank you for your consideration.

    • @best_bud1
      @best_bud1 4 роки тому +2

      I'm also wondering how the cops got called the fuzz or the 5-0

    • @Richard_Nickerson
      @Richard_Nickerson 4 роки тому +6

      @@best_bud1
      5-0 originated with the original run of the show Hawaii 5-0. 5-0 was just a reference to Hawaii being the 50th state, but because it's a cop show, it became synonymous with cops.
      The Fuzz comes from derogatory slang in the 60s and 70s. What I've found says it started in England because cop hats were covered in felt.
      While on the topic, you may know that the term cops comes from coppers... some believe this stems from police uniforms having copper buttons, but it appears to stem from the verb "to cop" meaning "to arrest." So, coppers were people who copped.
      Also, Google is your friend. It took me less than 10 minutes to teach myself all this.

    • @ghostnoodle9721
      @ghostnoodle9721 4 роки тому +2

      R Nickerson Some people ask questions they know has interesting answers, why they dont just post the info idk

    • @molly.dog8brooke792
      @molly.dog8brooke792 4 роки тому

      Jason Brown
      I’ve never heard of that. I think the closest saying I’ve heard is “cat’s ass”... which means great?

    • @thngsIwtch
      @thngsIwtch 4 роки тому +1

      @@molly.dog8brooke792 there is most definitely old "jive" talk where they would say phrases such as, "That sure is the cats pajamas!" or "That is the Bee's knees".

  • @Titus-as-the-Roman
    @Titus-as-the-Roman 4 роки тому

    I always find it interesting and puzzling that many of the truly great artist of the world almost always seems to have some kind of tragic occurrence or some other kind of quirk in their personality, perhaps that is what drives them on to greatness ?

  • @sandramorrison99
    @sandramorrison99 4 роки тому +1

    That was so look awesome!!!

  • @ahobimo732
    @ahobimo732 4 роки тому +2

    Beethoven was one of the greatest artists our species has ever produced. His music is transcendent. His spirit was more that of a myth than a man.

  • @johngae4063
    @johngae4063 4 роки тому +1

    The kids at home will learn more from your videos than they would in a whole year of public school

  • @potatoheadpokemario1931
    @potatoheadpokemario1931 2 роки тому +1

    13:28 wow music notes looked different back then

  • @frankensteinmoneymac
    @frankensteinmoneymac 4 роки тому +1

    I noticed from the accounts in this video that Beethoven was able to communicate with others after his deafness (such as the meal where he was angry about the pay from his 9th). I was curious about how he did this...Was sign language a thing back then? Did he read lips?

    • @orb3796
      @orb3796 4 роки тому

      Oh he simply had notebooks he would write stuff into and the people he'd talk to also used this notebook to reply to him

  • @annamcfadden5485
    @annamcfadden5485 4 роки тому

    Just amazing ❣❣❣❣🎶🎶🎶🎶

  • @MrEricleblanc26
    @MrEricleblanc26 4 роки тому +2

    Beethoven and his SUPER-ORCHESTRA! Now playing at a concert hall near you! 😄😎😍
    I love Beethoven, he's the original superstar.

    • @SafetySpooon
      @SafetySpooon 4 роки тому

      It was Mozart who was the first musical superstar.

    • @orb3796
      @orb3796 4 роки тому

      @@SafetySpooon haydn?

  • @loupiscanis9449
    @loupiscanis9449 4 роки тому

    Thank you .

  • @GradyBroyles
    @GradyBroyles 4 роки тому

    19th century music critics were amazing. Such wit.

  • @markgillianlelis3528
    @markgillianlelis3528 2 роки тому +1

    You should do a Beethoven biography

  • @Richard_Nickerson
    @Richard_Nickerson 4 роки тому +25

    I'm a composer myself, and I've had tinnitus for a decade or more now. It's steadily getting worse, and I think I'm going to be completely deaf in at least one ear before I'm 50.
    Unfortunately, I'm nowhere near known, never mind famous, so it looks like I just inherited an ill-combined series of genes and traits.

    • @nickcharles6530
      @nickcharles6530 4 роки тому +10

      Relative pitch and pitch memory, combined with a good handle on transcription skills could get you a long way. I believe this had a great deal to do with Beethoven doing so well after his hearing loss.

    • @MendTheWorld
      @MendTheWorld 4 роки тому +6

      So sorry about this. i can’t imagine how frustrating it must be. I wonder if Beethoven’s personal story is more inspiring or daunting? Either way, keep at it, as long as this remains your dream.

    • @Richard_Nickerson
      @Richard_Nickerson 4 роки тому +6

      @@nickcharles6530
      Yeah, I should pick theory study back up. I haven't done much, if any, of that since leaving college.

    • @Richard_Nickerson
      @Richard_Nickerson 4 роки тому +4

      @@MendTheWorld
      I'd say it's a bit of both. I'm no prodigy the way Mozart and Beethoven were, so it can be daunting in the sense that it means more work for me in all aspects. But it's still inspiring that a man who couldn't hear at all, nor keep accurate time on top of that, could still compose such a beautiful piece of music that's over an hour in length. It shows that *knowing* is as important, if not more so, than being able to hear what you're writing.

    • @Richard_Nickerson
      @Richard_Nickerson 4 роки тому +7

      The most annoying part of the tinnitus at this stage is trying to fall asleep, or when I blow my ear out listening to something too loud (which I can't know is too loud until it happens).
      But trying to sleep with that _eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee_ is awful. Actually, so far it's been helpful with relative pitch because it's a perfect c, so it's more like a constant _cccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccc_

  • @cuttwice3905
    @cuttwice3905 4 роки тому +13

    7:22 Just a few of my favorite excerpts from reviews of the Ninth Symphony:
    1) We find Beethoven's Ninth Symphony to be precisely one hour and five minutes long; a fearful period indeed, which puts the muscles and lungs of the band, and the patience of the audience to severe trial. . . The last movement, a chorus, is heterogeneous. What relation it bears to the symphony we could not make out; and here, as well as in other parts, the want of intelligible design is too apparent. (The Harmonicon, London, April 1825)
    2) If the best critics and orchestras have failed to find the meaning of Beethoven's Ninth Symphony, we may well be pardoned if we confess out inability to find any. . . We can sincerely say that rather than study this last work for beauties which do not exist, we had far rather hear the others where beauties are plain. (Daily Atlas, Boston, February 6, 1853)
    3) The whole orchestral part of Beethoven's Ninth Symphony I found very wearying indeed. Several times I had great difficulty in keeping awake. . . It was a great relief when the choral part was arrived at, of which I had great expectations. It opened with eight bars of a commonplace theme, very much like Yankee Doodle. . . ad nausium (Quoted from a Providence, R.I., newspaper in "The Orchestra," London, June 20, 1868)
    There are many more.

    • @chadoftoons
      @chadoftoons 4 роки тому +1

      Hm, based on the reviews it seems being open to interpretation to such a point no conclusion could be made regardless of it was an active descision made for the piece was what people did not like. I guess music just had to relate to something

  • @inthesky410
    @inthesky410 4 роки тому

    i think it's very sad , as a life long musician/singer my family and hearing would be the the things i value most

  • @TreeCity43
    @TreeCity43 4 роки тому

    The middle period was what touched my soul

    • @orb3796
      @orb3796 4 роки тому

      I'd really recommend his late sonatas and string quartets, those being the string quartets 12-16 and the sonatas 28-32

  • @LambentOrt
    @LambentOrt 4 роки тому

    It was amazing what he achieved in his lifetime. Beethoven is definitely one of the greats.

  • @joewillburn
    @joewillburn 4 роки тому +4

    The classic tale of the tormented genius and the never-ending curse so many of them are saddled with.

  • @sobertillnoon
    @sobertillnoon 4 роки тому

    Not the intended takeaway, I know, but Simon, I love your neon monogram.

  • @knightwing5169
    @knightwing5169 4 роки тому +1

    When I was a kid, I went to this one daycare center where one of the staff members told me Beethoven was born deaf.
    I told her that he didn't go deaf until well into adulthood, and she said: "okay maybe he went deaf at about age 2 or 3".

  • @numerozero7820
    @numerozero7820 4 роки тому

    How did you not know this???
    I knew this as a child

  • @cskarbek1
    @cskarbek1 4 роки тому +5

    inasmuch as i love the movie Immortal Beloved with Gary Oldman, i found it very disconcerting the movie found it necessary to blame Beethoven's father for his deafness by having the father smack Beethoven the child repeatedly on the ear... This made absolutely no sense b/c the beating only occurred on one ear and Beethoven was obviously deaf in both! so glad Simon and crew never brought this egregious lamebrain idea up! another job well done, Simon!

  • @rautermann
    @rautermann 4 роки тому

    3:26 in case you were wondering: He is saying Theater am Kärntnertor ("Theater at the Carinthian Gate"), actually pronounced like "TAY-ah-tah umm CAREn't-nah-TORE".

  • @orb3796
    @orb3796 4 роки тому +1

    I think what's most remarkable is that his best music was written in the last 10-15 years of his life when he was fully deaf

    • @ludwigvanbeethoven8050
      @ludwigvanbeethoven8050 4 роки тому

      EH??? You disregard the Eroica???

    • @orb3796
      @orb3796 4 роки тому

      @@ludwigvanbeethoven8050 No. Do you disregard the late quartets and sonatas?

  • @Dazbog373
    @Dazbog373 4 роки тому +2

    Difficult to imagine the greatest musician in history composing the 9th, the hammerklavier, and the late string quartets until you imagine Michelangelo painting the Last Judgement while blind. Ludwig Van is the most extraordinary musical genius in history not only for the greatness of his music but the fact he composed it without that faculty that should be more perfect in a musician than any other human being.

    • @thejudgmentalcat
      @thejudgmentalcat 4 роки тому

      I notice how you refer to him just like Alex in A Clockwork Orange.

    • @sparkplug1018
      @sparkplug1018 4 роки тому

      He undoubtedly possessed a talent that few are blessed with. The same way some chess players can play an entire game blindfolded, and recall all of the moves made in games others played.
      Similarly I believe that even though he couldn't hear the notes played, he knew what they should sound like in his mind.

    • @Dazbog373
      @Dazbog373 4 роки тому

      @@thejudgmentalcat Well even murdering psychopaths can have good taste in music lol

  • @tripaces9929
    @tripaces9929 2 роки тому

    Moonlight was the joint tho... It's timeless. STILL GREAT TO THIS DAY! Thank God they didn't have no damn hearing aids back then or we wouldn't have that legendary piece!

  • @Lucasrainford
    @Lucasrainford 4 роки тому +1

    Going deaf is horrible for anyone but for this musical genius it must've been devastating. The fact that he produced a masterpiece deaf just blows my crust off! Imagine the same thing happening to say Da Vinci or Michelangelo going blind half way through thier careers?

  • @michaelborror4399
    @michaelborror4399 4 роки тому

    Clears up alot of confusion that I had previously heard to be wrong, thought he was deaf as a child... also a good idea to be careful about standing next to speakers, which can eventually lead to a constant annoying high pitch note... and probably a good idea to avoid joining a boy band altogether, lol... always nice to unwind with some youtube videos at lower volume though...

  • @kojiattwood
    @kojiattwood 4 роки тому +1

    12:39
    From the Heiligenstadt Testament.

  • @marissabones
    @marissabones 4 роки тому

    I did not know that

  • @tncorgi92
    @tncorgi92 4 роки тому +17

    Schindler's summation of Beethoven was nothing noteworthy, but you should see his Liszt.

  • @jinbiezel683
    @jinbiezel683 4 роки тому +26

    It's really sad that so many people from the past were so brilliant and beautiful in their craft while they were alive, yet never truly reaped the benefits. I would venture to guess though that even the most tortured of souls among them like Van Gogh, still lived and loved their lives immensely at times. What is truly disgusting though are all of the people nowadays who profit off of their work without having done a damn thing.

    • @carlosandleon
      @carlosandleon 4 роки тому +1

      Because of freedom under the laws of physics.

    • @sparkplug1018
      @sparkplug1018 4 роки тому +6

      To suggest that no one should make derivative works from these artists works is what would truly make them angry and depressed. The idea that in the future no one would feel free to perform and improve on them means their true death.
      If asked before his death if he thought that 200+ years down the road people would not only continue to enjoy, but make derivative works from these pieces, I think he truly would have answered yes. And encouraged it.

    • @jinbiezel683
      @jinbiezel683 4 роки тому +1

      Neither of you made any sense, or said anything that has to do with my comment. I said that people should not profit off of their works after their deaths. I said nothing about derivatives or whatever the hell you are talking about. FYI, you should know the definition of a word before you say it so many times. Derivative (Google it and read the Entire definition). So no, I don't thin that these Masters of their professions would appreciate this very much, but again Not what I said, Not even close.

    • @adde9506
      @adde9506 4 роки тому +2

      Your point is bizarre. You are suggesting that after a composer dies all his music should be entombed and no one should play it or be inspired by it? As a musician, I can think of nothing worse. He's dead, he doesn't care if someone profits from his work, because he is dead. If he could have an opinion, why should you think it would be anything other than relief that someone else does not have to face financial ruin as he himself did? I imagine his pride would be rewarded to know that his work has grown and withstood the test of time, not falling into obscurity with the majority of things he would recognize. Music is not like a painting, it cannot live behind glass, it cannot inspire without being heard. Why should the people who keep it alive do so out of pure charity? Should professional musicians and conductors and concert halls not exist if they cannot compose their own music? The dissemination of music is as valid a work as it's creation. Musicians and their cohort are not thieves. If they know where their inspiration come from they will say so. If they borrow from one another intentionally, they will credit it.
      I suppose I should concede that record labels can be quite greedy and predatory, but they have little to do with classical music. And on the note of modern contrivances: works predating 1900 are not copywrite and therefor no one collects royalties on the use of Beethoven's work, the work of his contemporaries, or their predecessors.

  • @BryanHo
    @BryanHo 4 роки тому

    You should do Beethoven in your biographics channel. Or any composer for that matter, I notice that’s one type of historical figure that is not represented on that channel.

  • @bryceburgart8544
    @bryceburgart8544 4 роки тому

    This one is the first Today I Found Out episode that I wept as I watched. There's a reason people of his day (and today) refer to Beethoven as "the Master".

  • @dshe8637
    @dshe8637 4 роки тому

    Heartbreaking

  • @Isaiah.278
    @Isaiah.278 3 роки тому

    Yes I became deaf at 25 I was deaf because every time I miss note my father hit me in my ears it would hurt he did it often it damaged my eardrums

  • @ZelosZelo
    @ZelosZelo 4 роки тому

    I knew of a def piano player, he had this metal bar attached to the piano and would press his jaw against it, later on he got an electric piano and had a speaker put in the bench so he could "hear" the vibrations produced. I was wondering if Beethoven used anything like this.

    • @Richard_Nickerson
      @Richard_Nickerson 4 роки тому +2

      He wouldn't have access to speakers in his day. That stuff wasn't invented for like another century after his death.
      He cut the legs off his piano and used the vibrations through the floor though.

  • @kojiattwood
    @kojiattwood 4 роки тому

    Beethoven also studied with Haydn (he originally was going to study with Mozart in Vienna, but he had died in 1791), along with seeking personal coaching with Salieri and Albrechtsberger.

    • @ludwigvanbeethoven8050
      @ludwigvanbeethoven8050 4 роки тому +1

      Haydn was a COWARD at teaching!! Though his compositions are marvelous!

    • @kojiattwood
      @kojiattwood 4 роки тому

      @@ludwigvanbeethoven8050 Such a shame you and Papa Haydn didn't get along better :)

  • @steve29roses
    @steve29roses Рік тому

    Who remembers Richard MacKenzie Bacon? Critic from 1825 who so scathingly wrote of Beethoven's 9th: "abounding more in noise, eccentricity and confusion of design." SERIOUSLY?!? Who remembers this guy? Everyone remembers Beethoven.

  • @GSVRemix
    @GSVRemix 4 роки тому

    I keep reading comments saying that he could hear his piano by biting down on a metal rod, which transferred sound vibrations directly to his inner ear, but I haven't seen anybody mentioning this. Is it true?

    • @ludwigvanbeethoven8050
      @ludwigvanbeethoven8050 4 роки тому

      I bit down on a pencil and pressed it to the piano. I tried EVERYTHING to hear

  • @NightfallShadow
    @NightfallShadow 4 роки тому

    May 7th is my birthday!

  • @richsackett3423
    @richsackett3423 4 роки тому +2

    Carl "tSher-ney" It's Czech, a very soft language.

  • @patmullarkey7659
    @patmullarkey7659 4 роки тому +1

    I read that some think the deafness was a result of congenital syphilis.

  • @hashtag415
    @hashtag415 4 роки тому +11

    Are your glasses growing a beard?

  • @twocvbloke
    @twocvbloke 4 роки тому +10

    I would hate to lose one of my senses, even though some days I wish my sense of smell could be turned off when near certain "unkempt" people... :S

    • @RegulareoldNorseBoy
      @RegulareoldNorseBoy 4 роки тому +1

      Ive lost all sense of smell after smoking tobacco for 20 years.
      God I miss smelling things

    • @Richard_Nickerson
      @Richard_Nickerson 4 роки тому +1

      @@RegulareoldNorseBoy
      Have you stopped smoking?

    • @RegulareoldNorseBoy
      @RegulareoldNorseBoy 4 роки тому +1

      @@Richard_Nickerson well
      Tried several times
      Longest time off was last month but started up again.

    • @TheStonedEvo
      @TheStonedEvo 4 роки тому +2

      twocvbloke id pick my sense of smell if I had to chose which to lose. It seems to be the least important. But than I’d probably die from a gas leak so 🤷🏻‍♂️

  • @jeffashley5512
    @jeffashley5512 2 роки тому

    To paraphrase an old opera house saying: Bach gave music the Word, Mozart gave music laughter, Beethoven gave music Fire.

  • @annescholey6546
    @annescholey6546 4 роки тому

    He thanked God during that storm for getting his hearing back before dying.

  • @drdeesnutts48
    @drdeesnutts48 4 роки тому

    That intro confused me thought I was watching Biographics.

  • @johannaschonberger6182
    @johannaschonberger6182 4 роки тому

    I would say benign tumur or like many modern musicians loss of hearing due too the loud sound

  • @rgerber
    @rgerber 4 роки тому

    Look up Robert Shaw's deleted scene from Jaws 😉👍

  • @ludwigvanbeethoven8050
    @ludwigvanbeethoven8050 4 роки тому

    I went completely deaf around 1818 after I completed my "Hammerklavier" sonata. Let's get one thing straight, ok? I wrote more than the C# minor sonata (moonlight, I didn't name it!) and the 9th symphony! Notable works I DID write when I was deaf: Last 5 string quartets, last 5 piano sonatas, Missa Solemnis, Ruins of Athens, the 2 sets of Bagatelles etc. 12:25 yes many conversation books survive and many more would have if ANTON SCHINDLER hadn't destroyed 200 of them!

  • @JonelKingas
    @JonelKingas 3 роки тому +1

    Imagine if someone went back in time and gave beethowen an hearing aid lmao

  • @hellwardclxvi1207
    @hellwardclxvi1207 4 роки тому

    MMMM, I can hear and understood music well with hearing aids.. And I dont hear words too in any music.... I still listen to metal music such as NIN or M.Manson etc.. Most of all the best I love is classical music.. Most stone deaf cant hear it at all but yeah feelin it etc . heard of hearing or half deaf couldnt follow it, because some didnt grew up listen music all of their life... Im lucky, but yeah wished i could hear their song.. o well....

  • @izzojoseph2
    @izzojoseph2 4 роки тому

    Beethoven has synesthesia. Sound also came through as color he could see.
    He called the D flat black (of course) but B flat was ‘the Orange note’.

    • @ludwigvanbeethoven8050
      @ludwigvanbeethoven8050 4 роки тому +1

      No I didn't. That was the convention at the time due to the tempering of the fortepianos. I wasn't seeing colors

    • @izzojoseph2
      @izzojoseph2 4 роки тому

      Ludwig van Beethoven ~ Hold the phone! You look great for your age. But also, that doesn’t fall in line with what you called the Db, which should have been a type of green. Can you clarify. In fact, those with synesthesia had a different color spectrum individually.
      Bach, Schubert, none of you referred to them in the typical color spectrum the same, despite what was taught, there was no consistency to your references.

  • @viscache1
    @viscache1 Рік тому

    The most common stories of the less learned, when speaking of Beethoven, consistently and confidently speak of him as being “born deaf”…just before they offer great acclaim to his musical prowess.

  • @Guitcad1
    @Guitcad1 4 роки тому

    11:21 [Beethoven completes letter to Schindler and looks over it.]
    Beethoven: "Ja! *_Das_* sollte alles zwischen uns regeln!!" ☺️
    (There! *_That_* should patch things up between us!)

  • @BadThingsInHistory
    @BadThingsInHistory 4 роки тому +3

    In addition to going deaf, he suffered from abdominal pains most of his life too. The poor guy was miserable most of the time. It's amazing he wrote such great music.

  • @ivorybow
    @ivorybow 4 роки тому

    Surely one of the most singular strokes of cruel irony in the history of humankind.

  • @chenoaholdstock3507
    @chenoaholdstock3507 4 роки тому +4

    Fricken heck I'm listening on fast forward and the background music messed me up, so I thought you were playing a VERY cruel prank on your listeners. Whoops!