How Did Beethoven Compose When He Was Deaf?
Show notes
How could Beethoven write for an orchestra as his hearing deteriorated? His letters, sketches and conversation books reveal a working process built on musical experience, imagination, notation and relentless revision. In the first episode of Diminished History, explore the craft behind Beethoven's Ninth Symphony and late quartets, the tools that helped him communicate, and the human cost that the familiar story of the deaf genius can overlook. AI-narrated. Watch the original episode: https://youtu.be/asFLVT_LRQc Selected sources Beethoven-Haus Bonn: letter to Franz Gerhard Wegeler, June 29, 1801 https://www.beethoven.de/en/media/view/6728307215171584 Boston University Center for Beethoven Research: sources of knowledge of Beethoven's compositional procedures https://www.bu.edu/beethovencenter/i-sources-of-knowledge-of-beethovens-compositional-procedures/ Beethovens Werkstatt: String Quartet, Op. 127 https://beethovens-werkstatt.de/op127/ Production: Diminished History. Original intro music by the channel creator.