The harp thrilled with dirges—songs of agony. Is quiet a curse or a repose? Beethoven is interesting to Heady, not for his compositions or his biography, but for the philosophical questions his output poses. John Lee Clark, a DeafBlind writer and editor of the anthology Deaf American Poetry, noted that Beethoven became an important figure for Deaf artists almost by default.
I mean, who else would they mentally identify with, from a historical perspective? For example, the harp is not an instrument closely associated with him. But Clark pointed out that Heady identified more deeply with Beethoven than many deaf artists; his ability to play the music allowed Beethoven to undergird his poetry.
This tree is music; and this rose Is laughter rippling on a stream Free-flowing into hills of dream Grown phantasmal in evening's close. The counterpoint of wind that blows In faint, elusive guests is theme For all the undertones that teem In glimmering light which fades and glows.
This woodland that is yet a world, Peopled with all that Eden held, Has one cold angel, forthwith hurled From sound to silence,—he who felled The ululation of this wound With all the instruments of sound. Here, according to Clark, the dynamic between the composer who gradually lost his hearing and the Deaf poet is more fraught. In Deaf poetry, too, Beethoven has been replaced by more intimate models.
After his hearing loss, Beethoven composed music that sounds amazing. Poetry, like music, is a hearing art—it is meant to be recited as much as it is meant to be read to yourself on the page.
In his later years, when the deafness affected his ability to compose properly, Beethoven sawed the legs off his piano, and used the floor as a sounding board. Lying with his ear to the wooden floor, and hitting the piano notes at various volumes to gauge if the volume fitted with the music he could hear in his head. Beethoven made numerous attempts to cure his deafness as to a composer and musician it was devastating.
Hicks summarizes his attempts to a cure by citing one of his letters to an old friend:. Frank wanted to tone up my body by tonic medicines and restore my hearing with almond oil, but prosit, nothing happened, my hearing grew worse and worse, my bowels remained as they had been. This lasted until the autumn of last year and I was often in despair. Then came a medical ass who advised me to take cold baths for my health; A more sensible one advised the usual lukewarm Danube bath.
That worked wonders, my belly improved, but my deafness remained and became even worse. This last winter I was really miserable, since I had frightful attacks of colic and again fell back into my previous condition.
Thus, I remained until about four weeks ago, when I went to Vering, thinking that my condition demanded a surgeon, and besides I had great confidence in him. He succeeded almost wholly in stopping the awful diarrhea. He prescribed the lukewarm Danube bath, into which each time I had to pour a little bottle of strengthening stuff.
He gave me no medicine of any kind until about four days ago when he prescribed pills for my stomach and a kind of herb for my ear. Since then I can say I am feeling stronger and better, except that my ears sing and buzz constantly, day and night. Just a few weeks ago marked years since his death, March 27, and it is thought that Beethoven himself requested an autopsy to determine why he had gone deaf.
Although the original autopsy report was destroyed, a copy of the original medical conclusions of Dr. How he dealt with this deafness is one of the great stories of humanity, not just of music. Beethoven began losing his hearing in his mids, after already building a reputation as a musician and composer. The cause of his deafness remains a mystery, though modern analysis of his DNA revealed health issues including large amounts of lead in his system.
I was deeply saddened at so hard a fate. Once his hearing was fully gone by age 45, Beethoven lost his public life with it. Giving up performing and public appearances, he allowed only select friends to visit him, communicating through written conversations in notebooks. His deafness forced him to become a very private, insular person over the course of time.
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