Which composer was able to compose music in spite of becoming almost totally deaf in later life?
Correct answer: Ludwig van Beethoven
WaldoLydeker
Supposedly his deafness was caused by the lead dinnerware he used all his life. Lead is bad stuff.
JasonR1972
he layed his head on the piano and could "hear" the notes through his temporal bone.
Player #2278360
WaldoLydeker, I once read that lead contained arsenic back it the days when lead was used to make dinnerware. could be that's what e eventually killed Napoleon.
Phiend99
Stanley Kubrick was fascinated with Beethoven. He used his compositions in several movies, and in A Clockwork Orange, deliberately and purposefully used the music as an undertone to the sensory manipulation that Alex Delarge was going through in his "cure", as he felt it was an appropriate parallel.
* Seshati *
It’s interesting how he went deaf & Claude Monet went partially blind or something but luckily for him he regained his sight dunno how much but man it must be really hard to be so passionate about something & then to have the ability to make that passion & artistic expression a reality taken away it must have been emotionally & psychologically excruciating.
Nanda
LvB is my favorite composer. His pieces are amazing, but once you study his music and all of the background history (political and otherwise), you admire him and what he did with his music even more. All the respect for him!!!
Player #2928706
Surely the greatest of all time
Uninitialized
A lock of Beethoven's hair was found to have abnormal levels of lead but whether it caused his deafness is inconclusive.
Player #24358685
I don't know about "almost" completely deaf. There are accounts of him late in life--during performances of his Symphony No. 9 and Missa Solemnis--being unaware that the performance was over or even that he was receiving a standing ovation. That's about as complete as you can get!
QuixoticSage2035
P
One of my favorite composer.😘
Sanak
Player #2278360, Actually, the arsenic that killed Napoleon was due to the Paris Green in the wallpaper.
Tony T.
* Seshati *, Well said S! I guess passion does make up at least 100% of life!
Player #125843019
The greatest composer of all time, never be another one like him, he wrote the most famous 4 bars ever written
Player #125843019
Player #2928706, I agree to write music like the 9th when you are deaf is more than any other composer could do with full hearing
Dreams
Deafness caused by Paget's disease?
Olly
Mack - Shame on you for the "fg"!
SKY
wesley, ✨Groan 😏
jeff
Being a lifelong Peanuts fan I have Schroeder to thank for teaching me that fact :)
Lillian
wesley, groannnn
H34DCRUSHER
Player #2278360, actually, Napolean was exhiled and slept in a moist room with arsenic wallpaper. The moisture helped dissolve the poison, which he inhaled in his sleep. As he got weaker, he spent more time on his room, worsening the cenario!
Diana Shifley
wesley, Baaad!
wesley
shortly after his death some people were visiting his grave and heard the sound of the 5th symphony being played backwards. he was decomposing. 😵💫
Republic of China
This is the definition of "dedication" and "passion"
Vic
JasonR1972, wow,,that’s interesting,,Many great people were born German and I am glad they are still remembering the great talents from their beautiful country,
marie
so interesting..love answering the quiz.❤
Juliette
I heard that after he conducted the 9th Symphony, Beethoven could not hear the applause, so one of the violinists got up and made him turn around so he could see the audience applauding.
Player #39827330
He found he could still 'hear' his music, by biting onto a metal rod attached to his piano, and feeling the vibrations running through the bones. which is why later on, his music was intensely Forté and he was hunched over his keyboard a lot!
Ceejay
Fur elise ??? Thought that was his greatest
Player #25874027
Player Elf Council,
You’re always much more likely to heat in the other place .
Player #7432266
Player #2928706, after Wolfgang Mozart that is. Mozart wrote many more symphonies and absolutely some of the greatest operas such as Magic Flute, and Marriage of Figaro. Beethoven's one opera doesn't compare to those. Most experts would rank Mozart at the top for creativity and versatility and musical range.
Timbo
WaldoLydeker, lead led to ears that were dead.
Player. Ty
ROLL OVER
Rayfrbx718
what a shame the guy was a genius.
Player #7385627
Player Elf Council, or ever hear!!
Player Elf Council
WaldoLydeker, It's reckoned his last words were.. I shall heat in heaven.
Player #8008224gato
QuixoticSage2035, also mine