Being Deaf and the Essence of Music

Around 1796 Ludwig van Beethoven began to lose his hearing which made it hard for him to perceive and appreciate music. For one thing one of the most beloved Classical composer has not always been deaf, he was born normal and created numerous pieces of music that created a beautiful world for him. Many of his symphonies spoke of vibrant tones in his stories that played out in the concert halls. Beethoven being deaf didn't stop him to continue to make many of his most famous symphonies. After being deaf, he created one of my favorite and famous piece, 9th Symphony, "Ode to Joy." When the 9th Symphony was played before audiences after it was completed, it received world renowned praises. It had a choral at the end singing praises to the native country of Austria and it had universal appeal of brotherhood. It was the first symphony to have words being sung against the background of lively music. It was a symphony within a symphony. In retrospect, it was the most musical piece of music ever written, it was a combination of vibrant colors and tones being played out and the audience was soaking it up. Only then Beethoven could hear it in his mind for it was his creation; it was the essence of music that was within him to accept that the silence world around him couldn't possibly falter his passion for creating such awesome music.

"Caroline Unger walked over and turned Beethoven around to accept the audience's cheers and applause. According to one witness, 'the public received the musical hero with the utmost respect and sympathy, listened to his wonderful, gigantic creations with the most absorbed attention and broke out in jubilant applause, often during sections, and repeatedly at the end of them.' The whole audience acclaimed him through standing ovations five times; there were handkerchiefs in the air, hats, raised hands, so that Beethoven, who could not hear the applause, could at least see the ovation gestures. The theatre house had never seen such enthusiasm in applause."*

Now I can see how Beethoven could "hear" the applause as he saw the audience waving their handkerchiefs in the air. For this is why I adore Beethoven as my favorite classical artist, his essence of music has given me inspiration to love music no matter if I can't hear it like he couldn't during his 9th Symphony performance. Now this leads to my discussion about being Deaf and the essence of music.

When I listen to music, I can hear it with the assistance of hearing aids, but music is more about just hearing it. It's about feeling it through the heart and soul. To be able to absorb those vibrations through sounds and the waves that these musical pieces creates led me to appreciate music so much more. Music is all about feeling and the effects that it creates when one listens to music. Put on Beethoven's 9th Symphony, listen carefully to how he would have heard the music without hearing it but feeling it through his soul, his heart, and most of all through the vibrations that music creates. Lovely music that fills the room with vibrant tones and colors, music that enthralls and fills the soul with beauty. Beethoven is simply this and so much more; the essence of his music and his piece of "Ode to Joy" is simply that: Joyful sounds and vibrant noise that I can feel through vibrations and emotions. For those who never really understood classical music, one has to sit and listen to Beethoven's 9th Symphony to be able to understand how not having ears that work can enjoy music in it's essence. The wholeness of music is entirely on the imagination of the listener -- to be able to imagine and feel what the composer wanted one to feel what he was going through when the piece was written. Imagine: being deaf and not hearing music, but knowing there is an orchestra in Beethoven's mind continuously being played and it's as if the orchestra has always been alive in his mind even when he could hear. That is how I hear music as well. It's in my mind, my heart, and my soul. Not all music can be enjoyed through the simplicity of hearing, but loving the sounds of Beethoven's 9th Symphony through the way the music moves you.

That my friends, is the essence of music and being Deaf in a world of sounds. A world that takes sounds for granted -- a world of music that is all around us. Either we see it, hear it or feel it -- music continues to live in each and every one of us. That's what Beethoven has done for me. Being Deaf and the essence of music don't really go hand in hand, but if you understand music through emotions and vibrations it can always and only be a part of something more in our lives. Ode to Joy! Live on, the music lives on, and that is the essence of music.

*June 29, 2008. Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ludwig_van_Beethoven
Photo Permisson: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/6/6f/Beethoven.jpg/180px-Beethoven.jpg