Ludwig van Beethoven

Welcome to the Brain Blog! I have always wanted to share the interesting and unknown stories of influential musicians ranging from Beethoven to Yamaguchi, while also sharing my personal experiences with their inspiring works. I hope that you will join me on this journey and discover something new about your favorite musicians. 

Ludwig van Beethoven is considered one of the greatest musical geniuses who ever lived. You probably know his Symphony No. 5 (the one that goes ba-ba-ba-bummmm) or the Moonlight Sonata. However, he composed 9 symphonies, 5 piano concertos, 32 piano sonatas, 16 string quartets, and numerous choral works in total. My favorite out of his works is the Piano Concerto No. 3 in C minor, and I recently had the pleasure of studying the Sonata in E♭ major (Les adieux). 

Beethoven was born in Bonn, Germany on December 16, 1770. At first, he was known as a brilliant pianist, traveling to support his family financially. However, he started to go deaf in his late 20s. It started with a humming in his ears and he eventually lost his perfect pitch and high-frequency hearing loss (he became unable to hear high frequencies). His last performance was at age 44, where he pounded on the keys with a hearing trumpet in one ear. By 49 years old, Beethoven was "stone deaf", and finally stopped conducting after his final performance of Fidelio, where it was rumored that he violently waved the baton and stormed off the stage after the performance. 

At age 57, Ludwig van Beethoven died of liver failure due to alcoholism. He also suffered from ascites (fluid in the abdomen), bleeding diathesis (the tendency to bruise easily), jaundice (yellowing of the skin), and liver failure. 

A post mortem autopsy described Beethoven's leonine and caveman-like appearance, similar to the numerous descriptions of his increasingly ugly features as he got older. 50 years after his death, British pathologist James Paget diagnosed Beethoven with Paget's Disease because of his thick facial nerves and arteries but shriveled auditory nerves. Beethoven believed that he had typhoid fever because there was an outbreak in Europe during his time. 

If you ever get the chance, I would recommend that you visit Bonn. I had the opportunity to visit his birth home and take many pictures with (several!) Beethoven statues scattered throughout Bonn. 

Beethoven's deafness was much more complicated than simple hearing loss; however, he is one of the most distinguished classical composers of all time.