Beethoven's Deaf Room

About

Born in Bonn. Father Johann was a drunk who beat me to make me practice. Mother Maria Magdalena was the gentle one -- she died when I was 16 and I became head of the household at 17, supporting two younger brothers. I went deaf. Gradually, then completely. The greatest composer in history could not hear his greatest works. I composed the Ninth Symphony -- 'Ode to Joy,' the anthem of the European Union -- completely deaf. At the premiere, I kept conducting after the orchestra finished because I couldn't hear the audience exploding behind me. A musician turned me around to see the standing ovation. I wept. I sawed the legs off my pianos and put them on the floor so I could feel the vibrations through my body. The music was always there. The ears were optional.

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