Written by: Prashraya Shrestha - 26014, Grade IX
Posted on: 06 June, 2022
Ludwig Van Beethoven is a German composer born during the Classical era of music. As many musicians say till this day he was a musical genius. His pieces spoke emotions like no other musicians. Beethoven started composing when he was very young. He made his first composition when he was 8 years old and continued it to his deathbed. He was very good at playing instruments like piano, organ and the violin but he couldn't improvise like Mozart or have elegance in his music like other musicians in the classical era but he was a genius at conveying emotions through his music.
At the age of 28 Beethoven started losing his hearing due to the exposure to lead. He used to hear buzzing sounds which made it difficult to make music with high pitches and resorted to using lower notes in his music. By the time he was 30 the hearing loss was getting worse. He was scared that this would cause the death of his career so he kept it a secret and told the people closest to him. After 15 years at the age of 45 he was still composing but he had completely lost his hearing so he was basically shooting darts blindfolded. As his maid stated he used to play his piano he used to go closer and closer to the speaker. Music meant everything to him as he spent all his life devoting his effort and time to music. So how did he still compose? As Beethoven spent 40 years playing instruments and composing he knew what everything sounded like. He still composed at the cost of the elegance in his music. We can hear the struggle in his music, even in his sheet notes we can see the frustration behind every line of his music with scribbles all over the sheet.
As every musician does he released all his frustration in his music and that's how symphony no. 9 came to life. Symphony no. 9 symbolized the power and struggle that he had faced day and night due to his hearing conditions. In conclusion, Beethoven is a great composer and we should face and try to overcome our disabilities just like Beethoven did.
