Some of these thingsthat we think of now as just part of Beethoven'spersonality, the...
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Some of these things
that we think of now as just part of Beethoven's
personality, the things that make him difficult
to deal with on a personal level, are really products
of his hearing loss. The dawning on Beethoven
that he was no longer going to be able to conceal it was a soul-shattering experience
for him. This is a letter
that Stephan von Breuning, who had been living with Beethoven
at the time, wrote in 1804 to Franz Wegeler, who hadn't seen Beethoven
in maybe half a dozen years. "You would not believe,
dear Wegeler, "what an indescribable and,
I should say, truly dreadful impact "the loss of his hearing
has had on him. "Imagine the feeling
of being unhappy "and with such a vehement nature
as his. "Add to this his shyness, distrust,
often of his best friends, "and general indecisiveness."
that we think of now as just part of Beethoven's
personality, the things that make him difficult
to deal with on a personal level, are really products
of his hearing loss. The dawning on Beethoven
that he was no longer going to be able to conceal it was a soul-shattering experience
for him. This is a letter
that Stephan von Breuning, who had been living with Beethoven
at the time, wrote in 1804 to Franz Wegeler, who hadn't seen Beethoven
in maybe half a dozen years. "You would not believe,
dear Wegeler, "what an indescribable and,
I should say, truly dreadful impact "the loss of his hearing
has had on him. "Imagine the feeling
of being unhappy "and with such a vehement nature
as his. "Add to this his shyness, distrust,
often of his best friends, "and general indecisiveness."
Full Transcript
00:00:01.000 --> 00:00:03.076
Some of these things
that we think of now
00:00:03.076 --> 00:00:06.052
as just part of Beethoven's
personality,
00:00:06.052 --> 00:00:10.000
the things that make him difficult
to deal with on a personal level,
00:00:10.000 --> 00:00:13.068
are really products
of his hearing loss.
00:00:13.068 --> 00:00:17.002
The dawning on Beethoven
that he was no longer
00:00:17.002 --> 00:00:19.024
going to be able to conceal it
00:00:19.024 --> 00:00:22.012
was a soul-shattering experience
for him.
00:00:22.012 --> 00:00:25.024
This is a letter
that Stephan von Breuning,
00:00:25.024 --> 00:00:27.008
who had been living with Beethoven
at the time,
00:00:27.008 --> 00:00:30.024
wrote in 1804 to Franz Wegeler,
00:00:30.024 --> 00:00:34.044
who hadn't seen Beethoven
in maybe half a dozen years.
00:00:34.044 --> 00:00:36.076
"You would not believe,
dear Wegeler,
00:00:36.076 --> 00:00:40.052
"what an indescribable and,
I should say, truly dreadful impact
00:00:40.052 --> 00:00:43.000
"the loss of his hearing
has had on him.
00:00:43.000 --> 00:00:45.024
"Imagine the feeling
of being unhappy
00:00:45.024 --> 00:00:48.000
"and with such a vehement nature
as his.
00:00:48.000 --> 00:00:52.048
"Add to this his shyness, distrust,
often of his best friends,
00:00:52.048 --> 00:00:54.092
"and general indecisiveness."
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Movie Summary
Marking the 250th anniversary of Beethoven's birth in 1770, a documentary series that focuses on the real, complex and often difficult man behind the great composer.
