02/16/2026
FACES ON THE WALL #2
Ludvig van Beethoven (1770 – 1827) is regarded as one of the greatest composers of all time. Beethoven acquired a hearing loss some time around the age of 30, but, despite this, continued to compose great works for the remaining 30 or so years of his life. His Ninth Symphony, for example, composed when he was over 50, is regarded by many as his greatest work. Many musicians who have developed a hearing loss are often told by well-meaning friends that they can keep on playing and enjoying music, because … “just look at Beethoven.” So, what’s the problem? Put simply, Beethoven was a genius, and it’s unfair to have him imposed as a role model. When you think of the Ninth Symphony, consider he was writing for an orchestra of around 100 players, plus solo singers and a mass choir. And all of this he “heard” in his head!
There are several pictures of Beethoven scattered around the HRF office. There’s even a plaster bust near the front door and several children seeing it have asked me ‘why is the man angry?” It’s a good question, and if you read the Heiligenstadt Testament, a letter he wrote to his brothers in 1802, you will find the answer, at least partially. In this letter, which was never sent, Beethoven confided to his brothers that he had contemplated su***de because of his declining hearing. He wrote that he found it was “impossible for me to say to people, “Speak louder, shout, for I am deaf,” believing, perhaps, that would diminish people’s regard for his music. Despite Beethoven describing himself as deaf in this letter, it seems that he was able to hear well enough to have spoken conversations until around 1812. After 1818, he was forced to carry a notebook with him so that people could write down their side of the conversation for him to read. More than 100 of these notebooks still exist, and show that the conversations he engaged in covered a wide range of subjects, not just music. Beethoven died in 1827 after several months of illness. Around 10,000 people lined Vienna’s streets to witness his funeral procession. The composer Frans Schubert, whose work was influenced by Beethoven’s, was one of his pallbearers, despite never having met him.
