Why Did Beethoven Write Music He Couldn’t Hear Performed?

Dear Mr Beato, this is genuine praise from a reverse angle, so to speak. I come from the classical music world and your video's convinced me that I have been, all that time, prejudiced against pop and rock. Your channel made me appreciate the fact that Donald Fagan, Sting, Wes Montgommery, Elton John and many more, are as art as music could ever be. Listening to you talk about Bach and Beethoven proves something very profound and universal. Please consider doing a What makes this song great about Beethoven's string quartet op.74.

Daniel Baremboim was a regular visitor to my home when I was a child. My father, Harry Franklin, was a concert pianist. Barenboim always came for dinner when he was in town to perform with the PSO. Once he came with his wife, the great cellist Jacqueline du Pré. I have several stories. I know how kucky I was to have him (and many other classical music luminaries) as part of my past.

You already know the answer: "Ah, it seemed to me impossible to leave the world until I had brought forth all that I felt was within me." - Beethoven

I'm a classically trained composer who happens to have been born hard-of-hearing. I've worn hearing aids all my life. I frequently lecutre at schools on different music topics, and the question of how a deaf person could write music often comes up. I have taken to explaining it this way: "Don't sing this out loud so that everyone has a chance, but close your eyes, take a breath, and in your mind, sing 'Happy Birthday' to yourself." I've never met a student who couldn't imagine the music in their own heads. Then I explain that there is a skill called "dictation" whereby you know how to write down the music you hear in your head. Having a firm grasp of theory and form helps! We can do the same thing with the English language, by the way. We read books and magazines and "hear" the words we are reading without speaking them out loud. Skilled musicians can do the same with sheet music. Lastly, thank you for spending some time with Beethoven. I am convinced everyone can find some Beethoven they would like if they would just give him a chance. The obvious standouts are the Moonlight Sonata (search for Beethoven Piano Sonata No. 14 in C-sharp minor, Op. 27, No. 2, first movement) and the Pathetique Sonata (search for Beethoven Piano Sonata No. 8 in C minor, Op. 13, 2nd movement). My absolutely favorite piece of Beethoven, however, is the slow movement of his last string quartet (search for Beethoven String Quartet No. 16, 3rd movement, "lento assai") which, to me, sounds like what it must sound like to enter heaven. More Beethoven, please!

If Beethoven came back today he'd be overwhelmed at how central he is to world culture and how we venerate him.

"Triumph of the human spirit" is right on the money and it should be noted that Beethoven's resolve to persevere with a life of composition was detailed in a letter written to his brothers Kaspar and Karl in a piece called the Heiligenstadt Testament in 1802. As a deaf musician myself, I take immense inspiration from the work of Beethoven and keep a portrait of him on my studio wall, so that whenever I think of giving it all up, I remember that i'm under the watchful eye of the maestro. How the 9th Symphony was even possible is beyond me.

Being a father of a Deaf and a hard of hearing sons, this hit close to home. I feel that Beethoven is what I tell him sons… Never let your disability turn into a handicap. 🤟🏼

I think Beethoven knew he was an extraordinary Composer, with unique insights into music, and he was determined to not let the wonders he created and heard in his mind go unheard by the rest of the World.

I share my birthday with Beethoven and have always been inspired by him. My piano teacher once told me that when Beethoven first realized his hearing was failing, he sawed the legs off his pianos so that he could better feel the vibrations as he composed and played. That's brilliant. The strong will makes a way, accepts no defeat, and will not cease in expressing itself.

For any musician, discovering this channel must be like winning the lottery! You can tell Rick truly lives and breathes to consume music in a way that enhances his life while also entertaining and enlightening millions of people around the world. This channel is an absolute goldmine for anyone who truly loves music, and sees it as a valuable part of their life.

The beautiful thing you have brought to this audience is that whilst you deeply enjoy and have a history with prog, rock, grunge and pop music that you lived through, you introduce like minded people to what came before. There is a long history of incredible music from composers like Beethoven.. I for one might have skipped over it, but for your channel. Now I'm listening to it. Thank you.

Beethoven has to be one of the most amazing people that ever lived. The fact that he was completely deaf, yet able to hear such complex music all in his mind is impossible for me to wrap my head around. I mean, it’s hard to understand how anyone could write such masterpieces, let alone someone who couldn’t hear.

the feeling he had is unexplainable.

As far as I am concerned, the Beethoven Piano Sonatas are the greatest music that has ever been composed. One of the greatest artistic achievements in human history. The piano sonatas have it all. In these sonatas Beethoven speaks in so many different ways. The diversity of musical expression is astounding.

Aah opus 110. As a pianist myself this is where sometimes the blurred lines of music becomes what some may say is spiritual or takes on some other 'quality' that is so difficult to explain or analyze. Op 110 was the first piece I ever played that made me feel I was in the presence of something 'outside' of merely a composer writing a great piece of music. It was a piece of art that made me question my mere exiistence on this earth and wonder is the regular day and night all we have. This is a piece of artistic endeavour that for me made more sense of my own world as a musician / pianist. It's often thought that Beethoven is the more aggressive, more imtimidating, heart on sleeve, in your face' of composers but this work reveals a higher purely melodic sense amongst his many talents - in my opinion. It has an inner reflective 'gentle' quality as shown in the slow 'free' passages and in the fugue that really is a moving commentary and becomes a triumph finale that almost matches his 'heraldry' in the 5th symphony ending - just wonderful. Trying to get it across to an audience is actually not that difficult imo Beethoven more or less does that for you in the notes alone. Ab rules!

Nearly 200 years after his death and people are still listening to, learning, performing and even analyzing his music. That alone is nothing short of astonishing. I doubt much of anyone would do the same to bands we praise and listen to these days in a 100 years.

It is easy to see and hear how Beethoven was the Titanic Bridge between the classical and romantic periods. Nice retrospective!

Beethoven making this amidst his struggles and obstacles was beautiful hear. Concrete Proof that Music transcends what we know, and that it is an amazing remedy.

Beethoven's later work is just mind-boggling. I am almost driven to tears every time I listen to the 5th piano concerto's 2nd movement. The emotions in that music is just overwhelming. The interplay between the piano and orchestra are at a new level in the 5th concerto. Genius.

Beethoven.... respect for the Classical and yet so UNDENIABLY Beethoven in character. He couldn't conceal his identity if he tried. Powerful, honest, intimate, personal... beautiful music. I'm not a pianist, but have played lots of his chamber and symphonic works on the violin.