We continue our series of articles in which we learn about Beethoven’s deafness. We have already seen in an earlier piece that Beethoven was not born deaf, but later became one. This article investigates if he was deaf in both ears or just one. Beethoven was not born deaf, but lost his hearing continuously from about the age of 27, …
Unfortunate for us, we do not have a photograph of the famous composer. He just missed out on this wonderful invention. We must be content with the paintings that were made of him. The most famous of them all is the one by Joseph Karl Stieler. This article discovers the origin and fate of this famous portrait. Joseph Karl …
The composer and pianist Ludwig van Beethoven (baptized 17 December 1770 – 26 March 1827) was born in Bonn (today Germany), but the family is rooted originally in the territories across the border, in modern day Belgium (Flemish territory). His grandfather, who had the same name, came to Bonn from the town of Mechelen, Austrian Duchy of Brabant at the …
The Heiligenstadt Testament is Beethoven’s famous letter he wrote to his brothers in 1802. In the letter the composer puts on paper his frustration with his growing hearing problem, at the same time attributing his gradual withdrawal from people to this illness. In the letter he also plays with the idea of suicide. The Heiligenstadt Testament marks the turning point …
1. How Beethoven related to nature? Like so many other 19th century artists, Beethoven was a fan of nature and drew a lot of inspiration from it. He thought the city, society and human communities were all saturated with contradictions, conflicts, or sins; but nature was pure and harmonious. The Sixth Symphony commemorates this joyful and peaceful feeling. 2. Did …
The question we try to answer in this article is about the role of the soloist player in a keyboard concerto. Should this musician conduct the performance as well or just play the part? Who does what and how the traditions changed during the history of music? The genre of the keyboard concerto was relatively new by the time Beethoven …