Beethoven's Deafness Profoundly Affected His Music?

2 Pages 452 Words

Topic of paper: The view that Beethoven's deafness profoundly affected his music is widely held today. In view of George Ealy's findings, do you think this view is exaggerated? Why or why not?
I believe that although at the time, any hearing loss for a composer would be a terrible affliction, in the case of Beethoven it has been exaggerated. Ealy’s findings did touch on a few times that people noted and saw when Beethoven’s music was directly affected, but most of these still dwelled on social situations such as concerts of his work, for example when he did not nod at the audience applause.
Most of Ealy’s article, and my interpretation of Beethoven’s personal letters and testament, showed of a man who was deeply tortured that his personal hardship was taking him away from the social life he treasured. One of many quotes expressing this fear of social out casting in a letter to Wegeler “For two years I have avoided almost all social gatherings because it is impossible for me to say to people "I am deaf". If I belonged to any other profession it would be easier, but in my profession it is a frightful state..". From this and other letters, I see a man who does not doubt his own talent, but the opinion of others about him, and continues to compose beautiful works because of the person he is creatively, not because of deafness.
I agree with the video when they mention that his music was always passionate, and though it, he showed the listener a dramatic story of struggle through triumph. Hearing loss would have been yet another struggle in the difficult life of Beethoven. He did not loose his hearing from birth, and although some say that even more emotion was heard from his works after he had lost much of his hearing, he still would know how the piece of music should sound within himself. Writing music the way he did, involves a superb ability and understanding of logic, math, and composition of sounds on paper. This ta...