I rarely comment on youtube videos but this one, I had to. I am a musician, singer/songwriter, pianist, operatic trained singer, a singing teacher and piano teacher for the past 15 years, I've multiple degrees, studied music all my life, and preparing my PhD proposal as we speak. I am also arranging and producing my own music, and write music for theatre and dance. I also performed Beethoven's Opus 110 piano Sonata for my soloist graduation exams (he was utterly completely deaf when he composed this - it is such a miraculous work of art, brings you to tears, especially if you figure out that it only happened in his head.. and he never actually heard it, in reality). I had a major injury at some students' concert, while kneeling in front of a speaker, that just blew up in my face, when I lost most of my high frequencies, from my right ear. I have now also severe tinitus and extra hearing loss due to severe loss of B12 vitamin that is ruining my nervous system, and my doctors are trying to figure it out. We just now came to the conclusion that B12 is what actually caused more frequencies' loss, and extra and louder tinitus ( i hear what you displayed, plus white noise, all the time, unstoppably). It is sometimes very hard to tune myself and sing, when i play live, and my in ear monitors sometimes help, sometimes cause me such distress that i cry (luckily for me, my music is dark and sad, so nobody notices). All this, to say this. If music is what you are, you will keep doing it. It hurts like hell. Yes, you constantly think of Ludwig, if you start having hearing issues. Although to me, Ravel's end is the most scary one, if you are an artist. i don't know if he indeed had perfect pitch. To my experience, people who deal with music to such depth, tend to .. memorize pitches and they somehow seem to develop a sort of acquired perfect pitch. And ear training gets to be able to dictate music at such ease, yes it does. The most fascinating thing about Beethoven is, that in his writings it seems as if he got more philosophical and futuristic as he got deaf, and maybe that is because he freed himself of the .. earthly insecurities, since it all just happened in his head, and so did all the criticism. If you ever study the 109, 110 and 111 Sonatas, which to me are one huge Sonata all together, you will probably feel like this man is actually foreseing the future, while commenting on the past and present to such depth, it makes you feel small, and gigantic at the same time. I hope more people did videos like this, and explained to the rest of the world how incredibly tough it is to be a musician, and what it's like to struggle with all that. I know it's not the topic of the channel, but it would be so lovely if you could do a video on what it was like for Ravel to suffer the way he did, as a musician. thank you, you who may read this. sorry if I took too long, this video made me cry.. by the way, today, december 17th, is Beethoven's Baptism day, back in 1770 (it's kinda like his birthday)
Lia, hard to find the right words to tell you how much I appreciate your post. My heart goes out to you. Music is the most powerful thing I know. I agree, that Beethoven's writing became much more introspective, and philosophical with age, temperance and ultimately deafness. Yet - just a personal opinion, I have always preferred #6, #7 and #8 as far as his symphonies go to the big 9th. And yes, a tragic tale of Ravel's final years.
Lia and Rick, I have to say a big "thankyou" for you both. This video and this comment from Lia had Just raised the overall level of this place called RUclips.
Try propping up the leg you don't pedal with against the soundboard. You will feel the vibrations in your knee. I also just invented a new device. Really. Just now. Sometime in the future it may help you.
I hadn't heard of that letter, either. But I'm not surprised. I think his feelings showed through in some of his later works. Listen to the 2nd mvt. of Symphony no. 7, and I think you'll see/hear what I mean. Fred
Beethoven's deafness just seems like a cruel joke. Music is clearly what he loved most in life, and he's one everyone's short list of the greatest ever composers. And yet he was denied the ability to enjoy it. So much about Beethoven seems tragic.
What happened to Stephen Hawking is [almost] on the same level. He was diagnosed with a motor neurone disease (ALS) in his 20's that gradually started to paralyse his body and confined him to a wheel chair most of his life. Hawking was a theoretical physicist and could still use his mind to contribute in his field but calling him lucky would still be a stretch, even compared to Beethoven. It's not really possible to compare their "greatness", but the resemblance of their respective destiny is striking. I've had tinnitus on both ears for the last 20'ish years (was a DJ in the 90's), but i consider myself very lucky to still be able to listen to music. It actually helps to listen to music, silence is much worse. When i start to feel sorry for myself for not being able to enjoy silence, i think of Beethoven and Hawking.
You remember the scene from Amadeus when Constanze showed Amadeus' work to Salieri? He read the score and was able to hear it inside his head. All composers of these times were able to do this.
@@brianwilliams4467 Yeah, poor Jason :( ... He was a legend and would be even more succesful if not that ALS... He still makes music tho... If youre strong enough, it doesnt matter what life throws at you, you will still find a way to do what you love the most.
I was born with my left ear being deaf. Last year, I was fitted with a Widex Hearing aid in my right ear, because I have significant hearing loss in my right ear as well. I've been writing music since I was a teen, and this is an amazing video - in fact it made me cry. Hearing loss is incredibly isolating and the hearing aid is giving me a little more time to hear music. Its not perfect, but it sure is amazing. I LOVE Beethoven because of his perseverence in spite of his hearing loss. Thanks for posting this!
Im actually tearing up too because Im 39 years old now. I began losing high frequencies about 10 years ago. On my right hear, I cant hear anything above 4k now. I finally got hearing aids and they changed my life. Im a singer. Im grateful to have access to hearing aids now. This problem still makes me feel quite isolated as music is my life. But Im trying to cope. And it helps to know what Beethoven went thru before we had the technology we have now. I sure hope in the future we will find a way to cure hearing loss.
This hits home for me too. I lost hearing in the low frequency range when I was very young, and as I get older, I can tell that my overall hearing is starting to decline. I wonder everyday what music is ‘really’ supposed to sound like. Hearing loss has had a profound impact on my life, from the music I like, to how I interact with people. I love music and playing the guitar. I hope that one day a cure or hearing aid will be available that can help with my particular situation. But if not, I am still trying to enjoy what hearing I have left. Really enjoyed this video.
I can relate to hearing impairment. I don't why, but my family has hereditary hearing loss, from my Father. He never knew his Father, so there is no way to trace the path, beyond my Father. My Father was hard of hearing. Of the 5 children my parents had, 4 were born with hearing loss. Only one daughter has normal hearing, and my Mother. The hearing loss has been passed on to my siblings children and even their children. As a child, I had about 15% hearing loss in both ears. Now at the age of 57, I only retain about 20% hearing, in the low frequency range. It's a hidden disability, and it's tough just to have a conversation with someone, more especially with this mask mandate.
More of this. If even just for me. Love the vibe and everything about this Rick. FASCINATING and impossible to imagine. And that last part .. hearing it a 1/2 step down.......
i spent 25 years as a union sheet metal worker and i wore hearing aids every minute! I had foreman tell me to take them out. They learned quickly that i could hear them just fine for with their hearing loss going on it was easy for they had to shout. If you are a musician and you work as a tradesman please take the hearing protection seriously they can save your ears for your senior years :)
A lot of recordings exist of his symphonies (and other works) played at lower pitches, but not because of that - rather it was because there was no universal standard pitch at the time.
Actually, the British Library owns one of Beethoven's tuning forks. It resonates at A = 455.4 HZ, over a half tone higher than modern concert pitch. Perfect pitch or absolute has nothing to do with how Beethoven or the musicians of his time wrote and played music.
As someone who’s 14 with tinnitus and possible hearing loss, I’m completely devastated, especially because I want to write music. I haven’t learned any of the instruments I want to either, which scares me because I want to remember how they sound so that I can imagine them more. I haven’t spayed these instruments to much , but I can imagine entirely made up songs in my head when it’s quite, even with tinnitus, so I hope before I completely go deaf, if I am, I can expand my ability to hear more music in my head by learning to play the instruments with my hearing right now.
I just can sing a bit and enjoy it. I think enjoying music by yourself or making making for friends and family gives so much satisfaction. Trying to be the best or famous can ruin your pleasure. Try to enjoy music the most in the first place. If you have great talent it will come too you. Music is for the heart. That's why the best musicians give their private concerts in the shower for a small public.
I was just telling a musician today that I can't imagine music in my head unlike some / other songwriters. I hear of people having the sound they want in their head. I can make songs but I can't do that. It seems you are one of the people who can.
@@thai-pc4jy Do you want to become famous/get rich out of music? Or do you just want to make music to get some enjoyment out of it? Now I'm not trying to be rude, but saying you don't have the skills is a lousy reason, noone has the skills before they learn. Also, what do you mean by not having the right tools? If you don't have an instrument then you must get one, that's the first step of learning an instrument. You're only 14 which is actually a pretty common age for someone to start learning an instrument, though not classical training perhaps.
When a musician complained about the difficulty in playing his music, Beethoven retorted, “I’m writing music for God and you’re complaining about a bunch of notes?!“ He took his music very seriously.
@Rahul Radhakrishnan In expressive uses, especially in those times, the idea of "God" was more intertwined with nature, mankind, the world, and expression.
@@rahulradhakrishnan5591 He did, and you don't know very much about Beethoven if you think so. Research his own notes on the matter, he was a fervent theist, albeit in a more "personal" way. He wasn't very fond of the orthodox Catholicism of the time and he very seldomly participated in the Church life for this, but he clearly believed in an intelligent and personal power as a benign Creator, and his most intense quest was, in fact, in being able to write the most solemn hymn to God possible and to this end he took countless notes about monastic church chorals and strophes in the most correct translations he could come in contact with, and he was constantly in search for the perfect prosody in psalms and hymns.
As a speech-language pathologist and audiologist, this is one of the best yet simple practical explanations about hearing loss I've ever seen til now. And a great tribute to one of the most brilliant, overtalented songwriters of all. ❤ Cheers from Brazil
As a pianist this is the worse thing that could happen to him... Not being able to listen to this beautiful instrument when your soul is connected to it, it's like air to breathe was snatched away... Yet he didn't give up, such an inspiration
"Sound does not lie." "Your sound is your soul itself." After knowing Beethoven's story and listening to his pieces, I think I can finally understand those words.
Worth noting that much of Beethoven's music, even when he was deaf, was bubbling over with optimism and joy. How appropriate that the last movement of his last symphony is known as 'Ode To Joy' and is a musical representation his vision of universal brotherhood.
Same here! Total silence. Freaked me out. At first I thought you, (Rick) were messing with us. I turned the volume way up and could hear 3 soft clicks. Then I tried again using my iPhone. I could hear it then. I can’t figure that out. I love and listen to music but don’t play any. I’ve always wanted a way to reproduce the high pitched undulating whine I hear all the time.
Me too. I didn't hear anything until I turned the volume all the way up and held the phone close to my ear. Then it just sounded like what I hear most of the time.
I work in a large operating room in VA. Yesterday I was fortunate enough to observe a procedure where a patient that had experienced deafness as an adult, and had a cochlear implant installed to restore their hearing. During the case the co-ordinator for the neuro/ent case showed me a second implant they had on standby in case the first one didn’t work. I told him jokingly that he should put it on EBay, and he replied the implant alone cost $28k. Another nurse in the room said that was really expensive for something so small, and he and I replied that it was a bargain at $28k because it replaced something that’s priceless.
@@lew0013 true, but it was covered by insurance. I personally believe 100% in socialized medicine, and think the rest of the world thinks we are chumps in the US because we don’t have it and every other westernized nation in the entire world does.
A Cochlear Implant doesn't restore hearing , it takes months for the brain to learn the digital sounds to be understood as "speech". C.I. are progressing. People think it gives back hearing, which unfortunately is not true. Cool you got to observe that.
In my opinion, Beethoven's 9th Symphony is the greatest piece of music ever created in the history of music. Every note is perfect. Every dynamic is perfect. The entire arrangement is perfect. It's very unlikely humanity will ever achieve that level of perfection in art ever again.
I couldn't even hear the noise. This was one of my fave vids because of the way it was laid out and explained. My wife was watching with me and she was telling me to make sure I "liked" the video.
@@JohnBrown-z2u At 17 to sometime in my 20's it was, "If it's too loud you're tool old." But lucky for me I wised up and started wearing hearing protection, but in my mid-50's now some of that shows up, But it could have been a lot worse.
I was awestruck by Beethoven ever since I was a child. I read everything I could get my hands on about him. I watched every documentary I could find about him and his music. This video here is a fresh perspective and is a great glimpse into the greatness that was Beethoven. It brought back the feelings of wonder and amazement I had 30+ years ago when I first found about him. I can’t thank you enough Rick.
If you haven’t seen the film Immortal Beloved, staring the great English actor Gary Oldman, as Beethoven, see it. There are some errors and fictional details, etc, but the “Ode to Joy,” when Beethoven is standing there deaf (which you hear for a few seconds) as his last great masterpiece is played, is one of the most heartbreaking and lovely moments imagined in film.
Beethoven, the overcomer. I was aware of his issues with hearing loss, however, this video gives me a greater appreciation of his determination and perseverance to create magnificent art that is appreciated to this very day. His imagination was far greater than his physical handicap. Now it is time for me to go listen to Beethoven's 9th with new admiration. What an interesting subject for a video, thank you for your hard work!
In addition to deafness, Beethoven was virtually always suffering from stomach troubles, diarrhea and exhaustion. And, he could still create masterpieces.
It’s hard to imagine the world of music without Beethoven’s music as a part of it. And it’s hard not to get a strong sense of the divine when you listen some of his pieces. I think Beethoven knew all this deeply and that’s why he persisted in his efforts at creating this music even though he couldn’t enjoy it from a listeners point of view. Remarkable human being!
I had an ear infection that required tubes put through my eardrums. As a musician it changed songs to where I thought they were separate renditions but they were the actual recordings that I heard differently. My hearing was speckled with missing frequencies. It's all back now
I too had tubes put in my ears at 9 years old. This was way back in '75. I had frequent ear infections up to then, and man they were painful! I was told my right eardrum collapsed completely, and my left one just partially. Tubes, along with removing my adenoids and tonsils helped clear up the problem for the most part. I've had occasional ringing in my ears, along with temporary attenuation in my hearing that would come back usually within a minute or so. Hearing can be so finicky! That was 45 years ago and thankfully still hear well enough. Glad your hearing is ok now, Scrap!
I had tubes in my ears and now have pretty severe tinnitus - my higher frequencies and lost ones never came back and I'm gradually losing my hearing because of it. My son is a fabulous musician with great hearing and I quietly live through his joy.
You should do some more classical music in your "what makes this song great" series, it would be fascinating to have you analyse certain segments of the great pieces! Greetings from Down Under!
Do you think Rick’s audience would really care about musical form, counterpoint, and theoretical structure? Just saying, they’re not very exciting topics for a general audience.
I'm 63, and have been a musician at least 55 of those years. I had too many years of unprotected trombone playing, with the bell right next to my left ear, or sitting in front of the trumpet section, or singing in a choir located amidst pipe organ chambers. I've lost much of the hearing top end, and the missing sibilant sounds make understanding speech difficult without hearing aids. Noisy bass-loaded environments are a chaotic cacophony. Silence is much easier to take, but my love of music drives me to compensate and keep trying to listen and perform.
As great as the 9th symphony is, I think his Missa solemnis (written around the same time as the 9th) is an even greater achievement. The fact he wrote the 9th, Missa solemnis, the late quartets and the last 4 piano sonatas whilst being almost totally deaf is indeed remarkable.
Im not a super big fan of the real late sonatas. I prefer the mid to late ones. Appassionata, Pathetique, Moonlight, Tempest, etc. For some reason I just cant get into the Hammerklavier. That is a late one I think?
@@TheHeroRobertELee , yes, that's No. 29. Personally, when I listen to 28-32, I feel like I'm hearing the thoughts of someone who has transcended all human experience. The man had a direct line to the Infinite. Give those amazing works time, hopefully some day you'll find yourself more in tune with their expressive world
As a songwriter with hearing loss, tinnitus and hyperacusis, I found this riveting. And very inspiring. This is what we do. We love music so much that we find ways to work around our disabilities. To keep going. No matter what. But man, Beethoven really took it to a whole other level!
I have the same afflictions as you Rick,getting a set of HD650 headphones and a ifi Zen Dac(with the Burr Brown chip),allowed me to listen to beautiful sounds that are warm and detailed,without the aggravation and the worsening of symptoms.This is a winning combo especially if you have hyperacusis ,trust me .
@@spandel100 Thanks for the info, Paul! There is a hyperacusis support group on Facebook. There’s usually a lot of good information there, and people who understand what you’re going through.
This was fantastic. My father was a huge Beethoven fan, especially the late string quartets.He passed away last week. We played the 15th string quartet at his funeral. He would have loved this kind of analyses. Thanks for this!
My Dad taught me to love classical music and he loved Beethoven too. I played the final movement of the 9th Symphony in his room when he died. My deepest sympathies for your loss.
That kind of musical imagination is remarkable. Many of us can play by ear or play parts or songs in our heads but to have everything; every note and nuance is on a different level all together.
I got into Beethoven as a result of a movie called The Competition (Richard Dreyfuss,1980). He got a Razzie Award for that one, but there WAS a great scene where he, as a concert pianist in competition, objects to the conductor's interpretation of Beethoven's Fifth Piano Concerto, third movement. Because of that scene I bought a copy of the Fifth Piano Concerto and never looked back. I later found a Deutsche Gramophone 200th anniversary set of everything Beethoven wrote. 87 albums(!) for $135 in an antique shop. I listened to the 9th symphony for an entire year and got about 8 different versions because of the wildly different sound and emphasis of each. When you dig deep into something/anything, there are always subtleties invisible to the casual observer. And that's just Listening!
He truly was someone that the music lived inside him and he released it out into the world. Happy (almost) 250th birthday, Ludwig. The world wouldn't have been the same without you.
His late string quartets were dismissed as people thought his hearing meant he couldn't write 'properly' any more. Only decades later were they acknowledged for the works of profound genius that they are.
It's only within the last year that I heard Beethoven's 9th in full and.. I was in awe. "Ode to Joy" has become something of a trope courtesy of its comedic use in movies and the like, but when you listen to the entire work and the build up to that point, once it breaks into that motif, it really washes over you. It feels like ecstatic release. It's an incredible piece of work. The circumstances of its creation make it even more miraculous.
If there was a "What Makes This Song Great?" for the 9th Symphony, it would be much more than notes, scales and progressions. It would be the depth of a man's heart, mind and his very soul, and near 200 years later it still swells the heart and moves the soul.
Hello Rick. I'm a symphonic composer who grew up with Cinema Show and Supper's Ready. Your face expression as you're listening to this grandiose Symphony (9th) says it all. My heart crumbles each time I hear this beautiful fugato. The bassoon counter melody is the icing on the cake. Genius!!!! Thanks so much for all you do for the music community!!!
my theory as to why beethoven's compositions opened up after completely losing his hearing, is that he wasn't distracted by what little of what he could still hear. he was a creative genius.
Nicely presented. Rick is a tremendous teacher and has so much knowledge yet he explains everything in an interesting vivid way. I hope I will be as knowledgeable as he is
I felt a sense of dread and almost could not breathe, when you explained that Beethoven wrote this music and never be able to hear them out loud, ever. To a musician like myself, that is the most horrifying thing to experience.
I can't believe I missed this episode when you released it. As the resident audiologist follower of your videos, I want to thank you for talking about this and doing a pretty good job of representing hearing loss, how it progresses and how it affects people. Nice job with this segment.
I'd never considered how the range of pitches Beethoven was able to hear impacted his note choices as his hearing diminished, and how it opened up again following complete hearing loss. Fascinating exploration!
Thank you for this Rick! Everything Beethoven-related makes my heart hurt. My Mom adored his music, she would weep while listening. She also shared his birthday (Dec 16) and even looked like him. But nothing makes me cry like contemplating his last years, a mind and heart overflowing with music that he couldn't hear.
Just the thought of never hearing music again makes me want to cry. Beethoven must have been in such anguish to experience losing that slowly every day. But what a blessing to be able to think back on music by memory.
I have tinnitus in both ears. Grateful the ring is the same pitch is the same in both ears. I’m 68 and played unprotected rock and roll and a 40+ year career as an aircraft mechanic. Jet engines, APUs and propellers. Young and fearless, “won’t happen to me”. Youthful ignorance and paying for it now.
All the scholarly articles about Beethoven and his composing music while deaf but I've never heard anyone suggest it's a half tone off from what he imagined. Really interesting idea.
Brilliant work!!! Beethoven's 9th is one of my all-time favorites, it's grand, majestic, epic, regal, valiant and fantastically sensational!!! My father is a classical guitarist. We would listen to Beethoven, Bach, Mozart, Sor, Tchaikovsky and many others for hours, we also listened to a lot of Andres Segovia and Christopher Parkening. I am very fortunate to have been taught how to play guitar and all about music by him!!! I'm very blessed and very appreciative, thankful and grateful for him!!!!!!! He'd written a bunch of songs many years ago, sadly all of our music and everything we owned burnt up in a wildfire in Paradise California. We are looking for a place to live now and will be re-recording our music soon!!!!!!!! I crave it day and night. Soon I will share my music with the world.
Rick, I am slowly losing my hearing and have attenuated frequencies in the higher range. I also have tinnitus. When I first started losing my hearing around the age of 60, I was devastated, having played music since I was 12 years old. Luckily, the folks at Shure turned me on to an audiologist who worked with me and tuned some hearing aids from Oticon to help me begin to hear again. These hearing aids are able to cancel most of my tinnitus and also have a programmed algorithm that makes up for the lost frequencies. They are not inexpensive, but they work. I have had to relearn how to hear. I am currently, slowly, working through your ear training course and it has helped a lot. I am only writing this to encourage fellow musicians who might be in the same situation. Again, the hearing aids are not cheap, but they are easy to wear and they do make a difference.
I’ve never been a big Classical music fan unless it was Looney Tunes or a few film scores. I decided to listen to the whole 9th Symphony on Apple Music recorded by Herbert Von Karajan and the Berlin Philharmonic. I think it was recorded in 1962. Holy freaking cow! That 3rd movement had me in tears. I’ve never had music move me to this deep of a level. I cannot fathom how he wrote something so beautiful being deaf. This music and video is life changing. Thank you for this. Please do more videos like this one.
I have only around 50 classical CDs. However I have thousands of jazz and rock. The third CD I purchased was Beethoven's Ninth. It really is rock as classical music. Pure greatness. And it's in my favorite movie "A Clockwork Orange" and I too was turned onto classical via Bugs Bunny et al.
I introduced a friend to the ninth some time ago. She started crying about a minute in, and by the end of the work was probably suffering from dehydration. :-)
I had always heard that Beethoven had gone deaf, and it was amazing to me that he could still compose. But your explanation was so much more compelling that it drove me to tears; The sheer genius and determination of the man! Thank You for this. Please, make more like this!
I was waiting for this video for years. For me, Beethoven 9th will always be a miracle of civilization, especially when you listen to it live. Whenever I have the chance I listen to it live, like the Mozart Requiem. I have luck that I live in Europe, few hours of driving to Vienna.
Rick this video made me sob. To me the difference between Beethoven and Mozart, such geniuses who both led tragic lives, was that Mozart had “captured” music with his brilliance. Beethoven FELT music like a fiery javelin through the heart. (Not to mention Bach who had a very happy marriage and home life, unusual for a genius musician lol, worked quietly at his middle-class job as Kappelmeister, and wrote masterpieces like Shakespeare every few weeks for work purposes. Oh, and he played the organ, like Shakespeare directed and acted in his plays…)
One of the high points in my life was being able to be part of the chorus performing the last movement of Beethoven’s 9th Symphony at the LA Arboretum in 1997. They asked for people from local church choirs to join in with a regional choir and I brought my humble, 7th grade middle school choir trained alto for something I had considered a dream I might never achieve. I’m no musician... I know what all the letters are but music is an enormous struggle for me. My talents lie very much elsewhere. About the only thing I brought to the party was a smattering of German and knowledge of how to pronounce it. But I adore music and that piece was a favorite. Actually, I had one more bonus... I was 7 months pregnant by the time we performed and curiously this actually made me able to open up my lungs like never before or since. Guess she was holding my rib cage open or something. I was also struggling with panic attacks, but I knew there was a chance that a stay at home mom painter would never run into an opportunity like this... being allowed into a choir to sing that piece, without having to audition. ;) I knew I’d regret it if I let the chance get away. And I could tell my daughter could hear something through all those layers, probably similar to what Beethoven heard, based on her squirming when we really got going!
When listening to Beethoven’s music you feel your mind, heart, and soul be uplifted towards Heaven. His music is universal, and it touches me in a way that few other composers’ music can. His music is an expression of God.
10 years ago while I was listening to Beethoven's 7th symphony, 2nd movement allegretto, I suddenly started sobbing. Unspeakably beautiful. I became spooked, but in the best way, as while I listened I realized that I was *inside* Beethoven's mind and I was profoundly struck and swept over with emotion. Here I was listening to a preservation of his heart, soul, and mind, so distinct it was tangible. Like handling a relic. After that, I have heard music in an entirely different way. When you hear sound, sound physically moves your eardrum. When you hear music, the composer / musician moves your ear drum and is literally touching you. Spooky eerie astonishing in the most joyous way!!! The world is amazing.
@@MarkLAsche I don't know, but I kinda feel you phoned this description in. We are talking about Beethoven's 7th after all. Amazing human emotions discovered through music perhaps?? I never had a piece of music hit me and I thought "OMG!!! That was some unexpected harmonic twists there!!" But hey, could just be me. Life, love, light , and music.
What a great video. And a testament to RUclips. We’ve heard about Beethoven’s deafness our whole lives, but who has heard such an intimate, comprehensive take on it? His ability to write while deaf finally makes sense.
The most impressive part it the fact that not only could he imagine all these symphonies in his head while struggling with tinnitus and hearing loss but to put all the music on paper is just outstanding. By the way Incredible video Rick
It is also reported Max Reger once visited an Art Gallery and hours after he left it he was able to describe every little detail of the various Paintings ...
Rick, I’m so glad you did this episode. When I describe my hearing loss to people I try to explain that it kinda works like an EQ. You demonstrated it very well in your video. I was diagnosed with Ménière’s disease 15 years ago. Devastating to me as a musician. I have severe hearing loss in my right ear; and it could eventually affect my other ear as well. I have constant tinnitus that is accompanied by a static sound, much like the hiss from a distorted amp. It took me about a year to get used to the tinnitus, and when I am sitting alone with no background noise and in total silence is when the Tinnitus is the worst. Eventually we adapt.
My mom introduced me to classical music by giving me a tape of Beethoven's 9th when I was in my early teens. I don't know why she did but it was turning point in my life where I was immediately became obsessed with classical music because of all of the different sounds especially with that tape of Beethoven's 9th. It was powerful, captivating, and enlightening. I still have that tape. Beethoven's 9th changed my life.
First time viewer, Rick, at my son's suggestion. WAY cool, and so very relevant. I've been a singer all my life - now in my mid-60's - and the struggles / challenges I've faced with both hearing loss and tinnitus are exactly as you've described. Side bar: we must be dealing with the same frequency of tinnitus (mine is constant...) because I couldn't even hear your example, no matter how loud I turned up the laptop speakers! As for Beethoven, what a thoughtful, engaging presentation - THANK YOU. Keep up the great work...looking forward to more!
Dear Rick ! as a (classical, electric and bass) guitarist turned orchestra conductor I wish to thank you very much for making this wonderful video. A couple of months ago I visited the little museum in the Heiligenstadt ("holy city") district of Vienna where Beethoven wrote this letter, and there they have an interactive exhibit very much similar to what you were demonstrating: the progressive Deterioration of his hearing. Sounded there just like yours! A great fan of your channel, thanks for being such an inspiration in your love to good music of all kinds, and happy new year from Vienna.
Ode to Joy has such a beautiful melody and I can see how he could write a melody while deaf. But how can he hear the harmony of all those instruments and blend the voicings with counterpoint True genius.
as exclusively a consumer I watch in wonder at the process hinted at in the films "Immortal Beloved," "Amadeus," and the multi part German produced series on Bach. I assume it's a powerful feeling to be able to make real one's imagination in that way.
My favorite symphony of Beethoven's is his 7th. I find it, for me is his most inspiring and beautiful. Everytime I hear it, I hear the joy of living. It's hard to explain.
I personally believe that Beethoven's 9th is not only his greatest achievement, but quite possibly the greatest piece of music ever written. I don't know where you are, but here in L.A., we have one classical radio station, KUSC, broadcasting from the University of Southern California. It's a non-commercial station, NPR I believe, and at the end of every fundraiser, they play a version of this symphony. I listen to it every time, and I've seen it performed live twice. The intricacy and the delicacy just simply blow my mind every time. But what really blows my mind is that he was stone deaf when he wrote it. I also understand that singers begged him to write it in c minor instead of d minor because they couldn't reach that high d toward the end. He told them to learn how to reach it, and now it's reachable by all who sing it. Truly beyond amazing. It brings tears to my eyes every time, as is this video. I've also heard, and don't know how true it is, that he was very promiscuous, and may have had syphilis, which contributed to his hearing loss. And hey, isn't today his birthday? Or is it tomorrow?
Scientists have found high amounts of led when they analyzed his hair, but not mercury, which was used to treat syphilis. It is likely that even his hardness of hearing has derived from that led. It is said that he had severe mood swings which also indicates that he had a led poisoning. Despite all of this he was a musical genius and will not be forgotten in time.
Yes, his ability to imagine pitches was important and powerful, but you can’t forget that Beethoven was also a master composer who was able to develop his ideas in logical and inspired ways. A lot of pre-hearing musical elements is having a deep awareness of what all your options are for developing your material. Some involves pre-hearing but a lot is also experience in working with your material and knowing what compositional tools you’ve used before may work well in the spot you’re currently working on. And the best hearing composers are able to pre-hear material, too. Many composers can write at a desk with pencil and paper and no piano or computer in sight.
Sitting at a desk with pencil and paper and no piano (why anyone would need a computer is beyond me), is what any music student does in an exam. It's nothing special - I did it for an Advanced Level music exam at age 18. And there is absolutely nothing "logical" about music, unless you're talking about merely following a structure like the sonata.....which, of course, he never did.....
@@CharlieMcowan There is plenty of logic in how Beethoven or any other good composer develops themes and material, or in how any great improviser functions. Listen to Sonny Rollins play and you hear logic in real time. The second movement of Beethoven Nine is developed out of the simple statement of an octave. And just because musical ideas are logical doesn't mean they aren't inspired and magical also.
the most impressive thing is that even after hearing loss. He still wanted to make music. That is true love of music right there. I know most of us would just find a new job right then and there
6:26 I've often tried to imagine how he heard his own music with his profound hearing loss but I have never seen it so viscerally demonstrated before like you did here. Got me right in the feels.
Tinnitus is an old friend of mine too! I'm not deaf but 60 years old so I get that hearing diminishes. I'm amazed at Beethovens mental imagery and clarity.
I rarely comment on youtube videos but this one, I had to. I am a musician, singer/songwriter, pianist, operatic trained singer, a singing teacher and piano teacher for the past 15 years, I've multiple degrees, studied music all my life, and preparing my PhD proposal as we speak. I am also arranging and producing my own music, and write music for theatre and dance. I also performed Beethoven's Opus 110 piano Sonata for my soloist graduation exams (he was utterly completely deaf when he composed this - it is such a miraculous work of art, brings you to tears, especially if you figure out that it only happened in his head.. and he never actually heard it, in reality). I had a major injury at some students' concert, while kneeling in front of a speaker, that just blew up in my face, when I lost most of my high frequencies, from my right ear. I have now also severe tinitus and extra hearing loss due to severe loss of B12 vitamin that is ruining my nervous system, and my doctors are trying to figure it out. We just now came to the conclusion that B12 is what actually caused more frequencies' loss, and extra and louder tinitus ( i hear what you displayed, plus white noise, all the time, unstoppably). It is sometimes very hard to tune myself and sing, when i play live, and my in ear monitors sometimes help, sometimes cause me such distress that i cry (luckily for me, my music is dark and sad, so nobody notices).
All this, to say this. If music is what you are, you will keep doing it. It hurts like hell. Yes, you constantly think of Ludwig, if you start having hearing issues. Although to me, Ravel's end is the most scary one, if you are an artist. i don't know if he indeed had perfect pitch. To my experience, people who deal with music to such depth, tend to .. memorize pitches and they somehow seem to develop a sort of acquired perfect pitch. And ear training gets to be able to dictate music at such ease, yes it does. The most fascinating thing about Beethoven is, that in his writings it seems as if he got more philosophical and futuristic as he got deaf, and maybe that is because he freed himself of the .. earthly insecurities, since it all just happened in his head, and so did all the criticism. If you ever study the 109, 110 and 111 Sonatas, which to me are one huge Sonata all together, you will probably feel like this man is actually foreseing the future, while commenting on the past and present to such depth, it makes you feel small, and gigantic at the same time.
I hope more people did videos like this, and explained to the rest of the world how incredibly tough it is to be a musician, and what it's like to struggle with all that. I know it's not the topic of the channel, but it would be so lovely if you could do a video on what it was like for Ravel to suffer the way he did, as a musician.
thank you, you who may read this. sorry if I took too long, this video made me cry..
by the way, today, december 17th, is Beethoven's Baptism day, back in 1770 (it's kinda like his birthday)
Lia, thank you for your true and great words. I'm going to pull out my Beethoven collection in your honor.
Lia, hard to find the right words to tell you how much I appreciate your post. My heart goes out to you. Music is the most powerful thing I know.
I agree, that Beethoven's writing became much more introspective, and philosophical with age, temperance and ultimately deafness. Yet - just a personal opinion, I have always preferred #6, #7 and #8 as far as his symphonies go to the big 9th. And yes, a tragic tale of Ravel's final years.
Lia and Rick, I have to say a big "thankyou" for you both. This video and this comment from Lia had Just raised the overall level of this place called RUclips.
Try propping up the leg you don't pedal with against the soundboard. You will feel the vibrations in your knee. I also just invented a new device. Really. Just now. Sometime in the future it may help you.
@@tarp11z when you're done listening to all three sonatas, and you'd love to exchange ideas about it, i'd love to!
That letter is heartbreaking. I knew about his deafness, but I did not know about his feelings.
You thought perhaps he didn’t mind too much losing his most precious sense?
Alpha Andromeda lmaooo gold comment
I hadn't heard of that letter, either. But I'm not surprised. I think his feelings showed through in some of his later works.
Listen to the 2nd mvt. of Symphony no. 7, and I think you'll see/hear what I mean.
Fred
I got tears in my eyes when he was reading that letter
Me too
Beethoven's deafness just seems like a cruel joke. Music is clearly what he loved most in life, and he's one everyone's short list of the greatest ever composers. And yet he was denied the ability to enjoy it. So much about Beethoven seems tragic.
What happened to Stephen Hawking is [almost] on the same level. He was diagnosed with a motor neurone disease (ALS) in his 20's that gradually started to paralyse his body and confined him to a wheel chair most of his life.
Hawking was a theoretical physicist and could still use his mind to contribute in his field but calling him lucky would still be a stretch, even compared to Beethoven.
It's not really possible to compare their "greatness", but the resemblance of their respective destiny is striking.
I've had tinnitus on both ears for the last 20'ish years (was a DJ in the 90's), but i consider myself very lucky to still be able to listen to music. It actually helps to listen to music, silence is much worse.
When i start to feel sorry for myself for not being able to enjoy silence, i think of Beethoven and Hawking.
You remember the scene from Amadeus when Constanze showed Amadeus' work to Salieri? He read the score and was able to hear it inside his head. All composers of these times were able to do this.
@@sperl42 i can imagine musical geniuses like them basically breath music
I feel worse for Jason Becker. To be that talented at 19 and be diagnosed with ALS.
@@brianwilliams4467 Yeah, poor Jason :( ... He was a legend and would be even more succesful if not that ALS... He still makes music tho... If youre strong enough, it doesnt matter what life throws at you, you will still find a way to do what you love the most.
As a guy in his 20's with severe hearing impairment who loves composing music, this is very inspiring (and tear-jerking).
Hey, Nick Beethoven has a nice ring to it ;)
Chin up lad 👊🏾
So poignant.
Do you have perfect pitch?
Welcome to the club. I’m a deaf bassist and I’ve been playing for a long time. Keep playing and believe in yourself.
I was born with my left ear being deaf. Last year, I was fitted with a Widex Hearing aid in my right ear, because I have significant hearing loss in my right ear as well. I've been writing music since I was a teen, and this is an amazing video - in fact it made me cry. Hearing loss is incredibly isolating and the hearing aid is giving me a little more time to hear music. Its not perfect, but it sure is amazing. I LOVE Beethoven because of his perseverence in spite of his hearing loss. Thanks for posting this!
Im actually tearing up too because Im 39 years old now. I began losing high frequencies about 10 years ago. On my right hear, I cant hear anything above 4k now. I finally got hearing aids and they changed my life. Im a singer. Im grateful to have access to hearing aids now. This problem still makes me feel quite isolated as music is my life. But Im trying to cope. And it helps to know what Beethoven went thru before we had the technology we have now. I sure hope in the future we will find a way to cure hearing loss.
This hits home for me too. I lost hearing in the low frequency range when I was very young, and as I get older, I can tell that my overall hearing is starting to decline. I wonder everyday what music is ‘really’ supposed to sound like. Hearing loss has had a profound impact on my life, from the music I like, to how I interact with people. I love music and playing the guitar. I hope that one day a cure or hearing aid will be available that can help with my particular situation. But if not, I am still trying to enjoy what hearing I have left. Really enjoyed this video.
I can relate to hearing impairment. I don't why, but my family has hereditary hearing loss, from my Father. He never knew his Father, so there is no way to trace the path, beyond my Father. My Father was hard of hearing. Of the 5 children my parents had, 4 were born with hearing loss. Only one daughter has normal hearing, and my Mother. The hearing loss has been passed on to my siblings children and even their children. As a child, I had about 15% hearing loss in both ears. Now at the age of 57, I only retain about 20% hearing, in the low frequency range. It's a hidden disability, and it's tough just to have a conversation with someone, more especially with this mask mandate.
Welcome to the hearing impaired musically creative family
Brian Wilson wrote his most amazing music only hearing out of one ear as well!! You are in great company.
More of this. If even just for me. Love the vibe and everything about this Rick. FASCINATING and impossible to imagine. And that last part .. hearing it a 1/2 step down.......
Michael and Rick in one place. It’s like my subscription page is evolving 🤣
Thanks Michael 🙏🏻
Blown away by this vid, absolutely compelling.
i spent 25 years as a union sheet metal worker and i wore hearing aids every minute! I had foreman tell me to take them out. They learned quickly that i could hear them just fine for with their hearing loss going on it was easy for they had to shout. If you are a musician and you work as a tradesman please take the hearing protection seriously they can save your ears for your senior years :)
Yes, yes, yes this was in incredibly insightful Rick. Thank you so much.
The fact that Symphony No. 9 possibly could’ve been intended to be in Db rather than D is mind blowing and we are not making a big enough deal of this
A lot of recordings exist of his symphonies (and other works) played at lower pitches, but not because of that - rather it was because there was no universal standard pitch at the time.
Yeah, an incredible insight by Rick! Wonder when the first performance of a transposed 9th will be!
There is also the fact that tunings in general were a bit lower at the time (but not by an entire half step).
Actually, the British Library owns one of Beethoven's tuning forks. It resonates at A = 455.4 HZ, over a half tone higher than modern concert pitch. Perfect pitch or absolute has nothing to do with how Beethoven or the musicians of his time wrote and played music.
@@alejandrogonzalezgonzalez462 - Wow, interesting! Thank you.
As someone who’s 14 with tinnitus and possible hearing loss, I’m completely devastated, especially because I want to write music. I haven’t learned any of the instruments I want to either, which scares me because I want to remember how they sound so that I can imagine them more. I haven’t spayed these instruments to much , but I can imagine entirely made up songs in my head when it’s quite, even with tinnitus, so I hope before I completely go deaf, if I am, I can expand my ability to hear more music in my head by learning to play the instruments with my hearing right now.
I just can sing a bit and enjoy it. I think enjoying music by yourself or making making for friends and family gives so much satisfaction.
Trying to be the best or famous can ruin your pleasure. Try to enjoy music the most in the first place. If you have great talent it will come too you. Music is for the heart. That's why the best musicians give their private concerts in the shower for a small public.
I was just telling a musician today that I can't imagine music in my head unlike some / other songwriters. I hear of people having the sound they want in their head. I can make songs but I can't do that. It seems you are one of the people who can.
Have you checked out any of the natural treatments for tinnitus? The internet has numerous suggestions. Good luck!
@@johnharvey4448 I believe you meant that you can't make up songs in your mind. Though imagining a known existing music in your mind is not difficult.
@@thai-pc4jy Do you want to become famous/get rich out of music? Or do you just want to make music to get some enjoyment out of it? Now I'm not trying to be rude, but saying you don't have the skills is a lousy reason, noone has the skills before they learn. Also, what do you mean by not having the right tools? If you don't have an instrument then you must get one, that's the first step of learning an instrument. You're only 14 which is actually a pretty common age for someone to start learning an instrument, though not classical training perhaps.
When a musician complained about the difficulty in playing his music, Beethoven retorted, “I’m writing music for God and you’re complaining about a bunch of notes?!“ He took his music very seriously.
I want this quote on my wall ahahaha
I've heard tell that he was very hard on his students. It seems eminently plausible.
Fred
That is not an actual quote. Beethoven didn't write music specifically for god, it was about mankind and expressions.
@Rahul Radhakrishnan In expressive uses, especially in those times, the idea of "God" was more intertwined with nature, mankind, the world, and expression.
@@rahulradhakrishnan5591 He did, and you don't know very much about Beethoven if you think so. Research his own notes on the matter, he was a fervent theist, albeit in a more "personal" way. He wasn't very fond of the orthodox Catholicism of the time and he very seldomly participated in the Church life for this, but he clearly believed in an intelligent and personal power as a benign Creator, and his most intense quest was, in fact, in being able to write the most solemn hymn to God possible and to this end he took countless notes about monastic church chorals and strophes in the most correct translations he could come in contact with, and he was constantly in search for the perfect prosody in psalms and hymns.
As a speech-language pathologist and audiologist, this is one of the best yet simple practical explanations about hearing loss I've ever seen til now. And a great tribute to one of the most brilliant, overtalented songwriters of all. ❤
Cheers from Brazil
This is why you have 2M subscribers Mr Beato.
As a pianist this is the worse thing that could happen to him... Not being able to listen to this beautiful instrument when your soul is connected to it, it's like air to breathe was snatched away... Yet he didn't give up, such an inspiration
"Sound does not lie."
"Your sound is your soul itself."
After knowing Beethoven's story and listening to his pieces, I think I can finally understand those words.
Worth noting that much of Beethoven's music, even when he was deaf, was bubbling over with optimism and joy. How appropriate that the last movement of his last symphony is known as 'Ode To Joy' and is a musical representation his vision of universal brotherhood.
I couldn’t hear the tinnitus demonstration over my own tinnitus.
Same here. I heard "silence".
Same here! Total silence. Freaked me out. At first I thought you, (Rick) were messing with us. I turned the volume way up and could hear 3 soft clicks. Then I tried again using my iPhone. I could hear it then. I can’t figure that out.
I love and listen to music but don’t play any. I’ve always wanted a way to reproduce the high pitched undulating whine I hear all the time.
Me too. I didn't hear anything until I turned the volume all the way up and held the phone close to my ear. Then it just sounded like what I hear most of the time.
@@RealWallyGator I had to do the same thing.
Same for me. Can`t hear above 2Khz at 70db, on bout ears.
You answered all my questions about Beethoven. Thank You Our minds are as strong as our soul.
Don’t tell him I’m not deaf
@@Isaiah.278 your gay, qho can conquer the world by sending tanks in my basement
I work in a large operating room in VA. Yesterday I was fortunate enough to observe a procedure where a patient that had experienced deafness as an adult, and had a cochlear implant installed to restore their hearing.
During the case the co-ordinator for the neuro/ent case showed me a second implant they had on standby in case the first one didn’t work.
I told him jokingly that he should put it on EBay, and he replied the implant alone cost $28k.
Another nurse in the room said that was really expensive for something so small, and he and I replied that it was a bargain at $28k because it replaced something that’s priceless.
True but it's still a fuck tonne of money for something people shouldn't have to pay for
@@lew0013 true, but it was covered by insurance. I personally believe 100% in socialized medicine, and think the rest of the world thinks we are chumps in the US because we don’t have it and every other westernized nation in the entire world does.
A Cochlear Implant doesn't restore hearing , it takes months for the brain to learn the digital sounds to be understood as "speech". C.I. are progressing. People think it gives back hearing, which unfortunately is not true. Cool you got to observe that.
Sounds like they are just taking advantage of people in dire-straights
In my opinion, Beethoven's 9th Symphony is the greatest piece of music ever created in the history of music. Every note is perfect. Every dynamic is perfect. The entire arrangement is perfect. It's very unlikely humanity will ever achieve that level of perfection in art ever again.
watch me
Then listen to Günther "Sex Myself" !
Have you not heard Gangnam Style?
@@jan861 🤮🤮🤮
@@RichieW90210 😂😂😂
I couldn't even hear the noise.
This was one of my fave vids because of the way it was laid out and explained. My wife was watching with me and she was telling me to make sure I "liked" the video.
That tunnitus noise was piercing. Very uncomfortable. I was with my headphones on, volume turned down. Ouch. Great video by the way
@@JohnBrown-z2u At 17 to sometime in my 20's it was, "If it's too loud you're tool old." But lucky for me I wised up and started wearing hearing protection, but in my mid-50's now some of that shows up, But it could have been a lot worse.
I couldn't hear it either. Guess I must have it, too.
@@lawrencetaylor4101 I don't know about frequencies, but to my ear it sounded like a very high F#
I was awestruck by Beethoven ever since I was a child. I read everything I could get my hands on about him. I watched every documentary I could find about him and his music. This video here is a fresh perspective and is a great glimpse into the greatness that was Beethoven. It brought back the feelings of wonder and amazement I had 30+ years ago when I first found about him. I can’t thank you enough Rick.
Adaa iigu horeya Somali Beethoven yaqaana. I thought I was the only one 🙌🏿
If you haven’t seen the film Immortal Beloved, staring the great English actor Gary Oldman, as Beethoven, see it. There are some errors and fictional details, etc, but the “Ode to Joy,” when Beethoven is standing there deaf (which you hear for a few seconds) as his last great masterpiece is played, is one of the most heartbreaking and lovely moments imagined in film.
Love when you cover the Classical and Baroque composers
Beethoven, the overcomer. I was aware of his issues with hearing loss, however, this video gives me a greater appreciation of his determination and perseverance to create magnificent art that is appreciated to this very day. His imagination was far greater than his physical handicap. Now it is time for me to go listen to Beethoven's 9th with new admiration. What an interesting subject for a video, thank you for your hard work!
In addition to deafness, Beethoven was virtually always suffering from stomach troubles, diarrhea and exhaustion. And, he could still create masterpieces.
Rick, this was one of the best things you've done on this channel. I enjoyed this immensely.
It’s hard to imagine the world of music without Beethoven’s music as a part of it. And it’s hard not to get a strong sense of the divine when you listen some of his pieces. I think Beethoven knew all this deeply and that’s why he persisted in his efforts at creating this music even though he couldn’t enjoy it from a listeners point of view. Remarkable human being!
I had an ear infection that required tubes put through my eardrums. As a musician it changed songs to where I thought they were separate renditions but they were the actual recordings that I heard differently. My hearing was speckled with missing frequencies. It's all back now
Had the same thing as a kid, but the buildup of scar tissue has left permanent frequency loss for me.
I’m the same, I hear very different frequencies on each ear, it really sucks!!!
I too had tubes put in my ears at 9 years old. This was way back in '75. I had frequent ear infections up to then, and man they were painful! I was told my right eardrum collapsed completely, and my left one just partially. Tubes, along with removing my adenoids and tonsils helped clear up the problem for the most part. I've had occasional ringing in my ears, along with temporary attenuation in my hearing that would come back usually within a minute or so. Hearing can be so finicky! That was 45 years ago and thankfully still hear well enough. Glad your hearing is ok now, Scrap!
I had tubes in my ears and now have pretty severe tinnitus - my higher frequencies and lost ones never came back and I'm gradually losing my hearing because of it. My son is a fabulous musician with great hearing and I quietly live through his joy.
@@MrJhonbaker Sorry to hear that. I wish you the best.
You should do some more classical music in your "what makes this song great" series, it would be fascinating to have you analyse certain segments of the great pieces! Greetings from Down Under!
Yes this! do this Rick!
great idea.
Please! Could go on for years.
Do you think Rick’s audience would really care about musical form, counterpoint, and theoretical structure? Just saying, they’re not very exciting topics for a general audience.
@@michaelwu7678 Rick has a flair for it that could make it interesting to the layman. It could create a lot of converts.
I'm 63, and have been a musician at least 55 of those years. I had too many years of unprotected trombone playing, with the bell right next to my left ear, or sitting in front of the trumpet section, or singing in a choir located amidst pipe organ chambers. I've lost much of the hearing top end, and the missing sibilant sounds make understanding speech difficult without hearing aids. Noisy bass-loaded environments are a chaotic cacophony. Silence is much easier to take, but my love of music drives me to compensate and keep trying to listen and perform.
Yes. As a symphony chorus member, we were often less than 2' behind brass, blasting our ears out.
ok
As great as the 9th symphony is, I think his Missa solemnis (written around the same time as the 9th) is an even greater achievement. The fact he wrote the 9th, Missa solemnis, the late quartets and the last 4 piano sonatas whilst being almost totally deaf is indeed remarkable.
Don't forget the Diabelli Variations
The last 4 piano sonatas? Which ones were those?
@@Alpysf Sonatas 29 to 32
Im not a super big fan of the real late sonatas. I prefer the mid to late ones. Appassionata, Pathetique, Moonlight, Tempest, etc.
For some reason I just cant get into the Hammerklavier. That is a late one I think?
@@TheHeroRobertELee , yes, that's No. 29. Personally, when I listen to 28-32, I feel like I'm hearing the thoughts of someone who has transcended all human experience. The man had a direct line to the Infinite. Give those amazing works time, hopefully some day you'll find yourself more in tune with their expressive world
As a songwriter with hearing loss, tinnitus and hyperacusis, I found this riveting. And very inspiring. This is what we do. We love music so much that we find ways to work around our disabilities. To keep going. No matter what. But man, Beethoven really took it to a whole other level!
You look like Herb from Two and a half men
I have the same afflictions as you Rick,getting a set of HD650 headphones and a ifi Zen Dac(with the Burr Brown chip),allowed me to listen to beautiful sounds that are warm and detailed,without the aggravation and the worsening of symptoms.This is a winning combo especially if you have hyperacusis ,trust me .
@@spandel100 Thanks for the info, Paul! There is a hyperacusis support group on Facebook. There’s usually a lot of good information there, and people who understand what you’re going through.
In jesus name i command rick hearing be healed right now!! :D
This was fantastic. My father was a huge Beethoven fan, especially the late string quartets.He passed away last week. We played the 15th string quartet at his funeral. He would have loved this kind of analyses. Thanks for this!
My Dad taught me to love classical music and he loved Beethoven too. I played the final movement of the 9th Symphony in his room when he died. My deepest sympathies for your loss.
@@katherineg9396 Thanks. 🙏🏻😔
Do a "what makes this song great" with some of Beethoven
Some? Like maybe a fifth?
What makes this *piece great
@@miguelpereira9859 that's what I was going to say haha
It would be a 3 hour video.
Not sure he could get the isolated tracks. 😂
That kind of musical imagination is remarkable. Many of us can play by ear or play parts or songs in our heads but to have everything; every note and nuance is on a different level all together.
I got into Beethoven as a result of a movie called The Competition (Richard Dreyfuss,1980). He got a Razzie Award for that one, but there WAS a great scene where he, as a concert pianist in competition, objects to the conductor's interpretation of Beethoven's Fifth Piano Concerto, third movement. Because of that scene I bought a copy of the Fifth Piano Concerto and never looked back. I later found a Deutsche Gramophone 200th anniversary set of everything Beethoven wrote. 87 albums(!) for $135 in an antique shop. I listened to the 9th symphony for an entire year and got about 8 different versions because of the wildly different sound and emphasis of each. When you dig deep into something/anything, there are always subtleties invisible to the casual observer. And that's just Listening!
That was an awesome movie!
He truly was someone that the music lived inside him and he released it out into the world. Happy (almost) 250th birthday, Ludwig. The world wouldn't have been the same without you.
His late string quartets were dismissed as people thought his hearing meant he couldn't write 'properly' any more. Only decades later were they acknowledged for the works of profound genius that they are.
It's only within the last year that I heard Beethoven's 9th in full and.. I was in awe. "Ode to Joy" has become something of a trope courtesy of its comedic use in movies and the like, but when you listen to the entire work and the build up to that point, once it breaks into that motif, it really washes over you. It feels like ecstatic release. It's an incredible piece of work.
The circumstances of its creation make it even more miraculous.
Love this Hypes! Very old school “Everything Music” topic.
Thanks Hypes🙏🏻
If Beetoven were alive today, he would be in a metal band.
@@randypowell7526 ummmmmmm...... nope.
@@randypowell7526 - maybe "deaf metal"
(sorry, couldn't resist)
@@HenritheHorse
Deaf Jam Records
This video was one of your most profound and interesting I've ever watched so far...not only on this channel..thank you
If there was a "What Makes This Song Great?" for the 9th Symphony, it would be much more than notes, scales and progressions. It would be the depth of a man's heart, mind and his very soul, and near 200 years later it still swells the heart and moves the soul.
Hello Rick. I'm a symphonic composer who grew up with Cinema Show and Supper's Ready. Your face expression as you're listening to this grandiose Symphony (9th) says it all. My heart crumbles each time I hear this beautiful fugato. The bassoon counter melody is the icing on the cake. Genius!!!! Thanks so much for all you do for the music community!!!
As a German I thank you very much for this video Today, 250 years ago, Beethoven was born! - what a great day for mankind.
YES Rick! I was really interested in this particular subject.
Same. I need a break from politics 👍🏻
I can't believe a man like him existed in this world. This brings tears to my eyes...
and mine
@@robweeks1974 and mine, every single time. Immortal beloved was such a great movie, I hope they make another soon covering his entire life.
Me too
I love the late quartets. The change in perfect pitch with age and what that means for what he left us is fascinating. Thanks Rick!
my theory as to why beethoven's compositions opened up after completely losing his hearing, is that he wasn't distracted by what little of what he could still hear. he was a creative genius.
Nicely presented. Rick is a tremendous teacher and has so much knowledge yet he explains everything in an interesting vivid way. I hope I will be as knowledgeable as he is
I felt a sense of dread and almost could not breathe, when you explained that Beethoven wrote this music and never be able to hear them out loud, ever. To a musician like myself, that is the most horrifying thing to experience.
Mozart probably didn't ever hear his last three great symphonies or many of his other late works. So sad.
@@gerrycoogan6544 And Mozart's last symphonies were his best. 40, 41. 38 is also pretty good.
But he heard them in his head, and I'll bet he was just fine with that.
I had never read that letter before, and it actually brought me to tears. That would be absolute torture
Well, he probably didn't write that letter in English.
I can't believe I missed this episode when you released it. As the resident audiologist follower of your videos, I want to thank you for talking about this and doing a pretty good job of representing hearing loss, how it progresses and how it affects people. Nice job with this segment.
I'd never considered how the range of pitches Beethoven was able to hear impacted his note choices as his hearing diminished, and how it opened up again following complete hearing loss. Fascinating exploration!
My dad, my sister and I love to watch your channel. We are obsessed with music
Thank you for this Rick! Everything Beethoven-related makes my heart hurt. My Mom adored his music, she would weep while listening. She also shared his birthday (Dec 16) and even looked like him. But nothing makes me cry like contemplating his last years, a mind and heart overflowing with music that he couldn't hear.
Just the thought of never hearing music again makes me want to cry. Beethoven must have been in such anguish to experience losing that slowly every day. But what a blessing to be able to think back on music by memory.
I'm not crying I just have something in both my eyes.
I could listen Rick talking about Beethoven for hours without getting bored.
I have tinnitus in both ears. Grateful the ring is the same pitch is the same in both ears. I’m 68 and played unprotected rock and roll and a 40+ year career as an aircraft mechanic. Jet engines, APUs and propellers. Young and fearless, “won’t happen to me”. Youthful ignorance and paying for it now.
Please don't stop educating a new generation, and all the best to you sir.
By far the most powerfully moving piece ever written; every moment, every movement. Gives me chills every time I hear it.
All the scholarly articles about Beethoven and his composing music while deaf but I've never heard anyone suggest it's a half tone off from what he imagined. Really interesting idea.
Brilliant work!!! Beethoven's 9th is one of my all-time favorites, it's grand, majestic, epic, regal, valiant and fantastically sensational!!! My father is a classical guitarist. We would listen to Beethoven, Bach, Mozart, Sor, Tchaikovsky and many others for hours, we also listened to a lot of Andres Segovia and Christopher Parkening. I am very fortunate to have been taught how to play guitar and all about music by him!!! I'm very blessed and very appreciative, thankful and grateful for him!!!!!!! He'd written a bunch of songs many years ago, sadly all of our music and everything we owned burnt up in a wildfire in Paradise California. We are looking for a place to live now and will be re-recording our music soon!!!!!!!! I crave it day and night. Soon I will share my music with the world.
Rick, I am slowly losing my hearing and have attenuated frequencies in the higher range. I also have tinnitus. When I first started losing my hearing around the age of 60, I was devastated, having played music since I was 12 years old. Luckily, the folks at Shure turned me on to an audiologist who worked with me and tuned some hearing aids from Oticon to help me begin to hear again. These hearing aids are able to cancel most of my tinnitus and also have a programmed algorithm that makes up for the lost frequencies. They are not inexpensive, but they work. I have had to relearn how to hear. I am currently, slowly, working through your ear training course and it has helped a lot. I am only writing this to encourage fellow musicians who might be in the same situation. Again, the hearing aids are not cheap, but they are easy to wear and they do make a difference.
this was a profound story. it made me sad. this humanized an icon for me. thanks for putting this out there. love your channel.
I’ve never been a big Classical music fan unless it was Looney Tunes or a few film scores. I decided to listen to the whole 9th Symphony on Apple Music recorded by Herbert Von Karajan and the Berlin Philharmonic. I think it was recorded in 1962.
Holy freaking cow! That 3rd movement had me in tears. I’ve never had music move me to this deep of a level.
I cannot fathom how he wrote something so beautiful being deaf.
This music and video is life changing. Thank you for this. Please do more videos like this one.
I have only around 50 classical CDs. However I have thousands of jazz and rock. The third CD I purchased was Beethoven's Ninth. It really is rock as classical music. Pure greatness. And it's in my favorite movie "A Clockwork Orange" and I too was turned onto classical via Bugs Bunny et al.
I introduced a friend to the ninth some time ago. She started crying about a minute in, and by the end of the work was probably suffering from dehydration. :-)
Great taste! The 3rd movement is often overlooked but so beautiful.
Beethoven is the only musician whose work moves me to tears. It’s so beautiful.
Karajan’s version is great!
I had always heard that Beethoven had gone deaf, and it was amazing to me that he could still compose. But your explanation was so much more compelling that it drove me to tears; The sheer genius and determination of the man! Thank You for this. Please, make more like this!
I was waiting for this video for years. For me, Beethoven 9th will always be a miracle of civilization, especially when you listen to it live. Whenever I have the chance I listen to it live, like the Mozart Requiem. I have luck that I live in Europe, few hours of driving to Vienna.
Rick this video made me sob. To me the difference between Beethoven and Mozart, such geniuses who both led tragic lives, was that Mozart had “captured” music with his brilliance. Beethoven FELT music like a fiery javelin through the heart. (Not to mention Bach who had a very happy marriage and home life, unusual for a genius musician lol, worked quietly at his middle-class job as Kappelmeister, and wrote masterpieces like Shakespeare every few weeks for work purposes. Oh, and he played the organ, like Shakespeare directed and acted in his plays…)
What a lovely 250th birthday present for the maestro. Thanks Rick.
He must have felt a bit like Job.
What he had accomplished is a lesson in resilience determination. Amazing.
One of the high points in my life was being able to be part of the chorus performing the last movement of Beethoven’s 9th Symphony at the LA Arboretum in 1997. They asked for people from local church choirs to join in with a regional choir and I brought my humble, 7th grade middle school choir trained alto for something I had considered a dream I might never achieve. I’m no musician... I know what all the letters are but music is an enormous struggle for me. My talents lie very much elsewhere. About the only thing I brought to the party was a smattering of German and knowledge of how to pronounce it. But I adore music and that piece was a favorite.
Actually, I had one more bonus... I was 7 months pregnant by the time we performed and curiously this actually made me able to open up my lungs like never before or since. Guess she was holding my rib cage open or something. I was also struggling with panic attacks, but I knew there was a chance that a stay at home mom painter would never run into an opportunity like this... being allowed into a choir to sing that piece, without having to audition. ;) I knew I’d regret it if I let the chance get away. And I could tell my daughter could hear something through all those layers, probably similar to what Beethoven heard, based on her squirming when we really got going!
Thats awesome thanks for sharing! Sounds like quite an amazing experience you were blessed to be a part of!
Thank you! I love everything about your comment. Really appreciate the spirit of gratitude & being blessed in your words.They blessed me. Be well...
Wonderful and moving description. Your profound reverence for what Beethoven accomplished is evident. Thank you for giving us this.
When listening to Beethoven’s music you feel your mind, heart, and soul be uplifted towards Heaven. His music is universal, and it touches me in a way that few other composers’ music can. His music is an expression of God.
Right, and I feel exactly the same about JS Bach.
I feel the same, man. This symphony is GOD talking to us.
Agreed. Beethoven's moonlight sonata 1st movement is very heart touching for me. Still can't believe he was deaf.
Hope Ludwig's not a blocker
Pubic domain
WHAAAT I can’t hear nothing!
JAJJAAJ GREAT COMMENT!
His music may be public domain, but orchestral recordings are not.
I bet Ludwig has an office full of people scanning the internet for his recordings just like Don Henley.
10 years ago while I was listening to Beethoven's 7th symphony, 2nd movement allegretto, I suddenly started sobbing. Unspeakably beautiful. I became spooked, but in the best way, as while I listened I realized that I was *inside* Beethoven's mind and I was profoundly struck and swept over with emotion. Here I was listening to a preservation of his heart, soul, and mind, so distinct it was tangible. Like handling a relic. After that, I have heard music in an entirely different way. When you hear sound, sound physically moves your eardrum. When you hear music, the composer / musician moves your ear drum and is literally touching you. Spooky eerie astonishing in the most joyous way!!! The world is amazing.
Indeed it is
Life, love, light, music, all are god's vibrations.
Killer movement. Some neat and unexpected harmonic twists.
@@MarkLAsche I don't know, but I kinda feel you phoned this description in. We are talking about Beethoven's 7th after all. Amazing human emotions discovered through music perhaps?? I never had a piece of music hit me and I thought "OMG!!! That was some unexpected harmonic twists there!!" But hey, could just be me. Life, love, light , and music.
What a great video. And a testament to RUclips. We’ve heard about Beethoven’s deafness our whole lives, but who has heard such an intimate, comprehensive take on it?
His ability to write while deaf finally makes sense.
The most impressive part it the fact that not only could he imagine all these symphonies in his head while struggling with tinnitus and hearing loss but to put all the music on paper is just outstanding.
By the way
Incredible video Rick
It is also reported Max Reger once visited an Art Gallery and hours after he left it he was able to describe every little detail of the various Paintings ...
Rick, I’m so glad you did this episode. When I describe my hearing loss to people I try to explain that it kinda works like an EQ. You demonstrated it very well in your video. I was diagnosed with Ménière’s disease 15 years ago. Devastating to me as a musician. I have severe hearing loss in my right ear; and it could eventually affect my other ear as well. I have constant tinnitus that is accompanied by a static sound, much like the hiss from a distorted amp. It took me about a year to get used to the tinnitus, and when I am sitting alone with no background noise and in total silence is when the Tinnitus is the worst. Eventually we adapt.
Sorry
Not only had imagined that in his head, imagine putting together 10 different parts in your head and listening to them at the same time. Unbelievable.
My mom introduced me to classical music by giving me a tape of Beethoven's 9th when I was in my early teens. I don't know why she did but it was turning point in my life where I was immediately became obsessed with classical music because of all of the different sounds especially with that tape of Beethoven's 9th. It was powerful, captivating, and enlightening. I still have that tape. Beethoven's 9th changed my life.
One of the most moving pieces of music ever - worth everything to anyone who can hear and or feel.
I'm so happy to see how your love for music has no boundaries!! Take care and stay safe my friend !!
This video is a perfect example of why Rick has become social media's premier educator.
Amazing job Rick 👍
First time viewer, Rick, at my son's suggestion. WAY cool, and so very relevant. I've been a singer all my life - now in my mid-60's - and the struggles / challenges I've faced with both hearing loss and tinnitus are exactly as you've described. Side bar: we must be dealing with the same frequency of tinnitus (mine is constant...) because I couldn't even hear your example, no matter how loud I turned up the laptop speakers! As for Beethoven, what a thoughtful, engaging presentation - THANK YOU. Keep up the great work...looking forward to more!
wait until beethoven hears about this
I hope this becomes one of the most liked comments here
buahaha
Goddammit 😂😂😂
@@someperson9052 they will
Don't worry, he's not a blocker.
I’ve loved almost all of your videos, this one is in another level. Thank you, seriously, thank you!
Dear Rick ! as a (classical, electric and bass) guitarist turned orchestra conductor I wish to thank you very much for making this wonderful video. A couple of months ago I visited the little museum in the Heiligenstadt ("holy city") district of Vienna where Beethoven wrote this letter, and there they have an interactive exhibit very much similar to what you were demonstrating: the progressive Deterioration of his hearing. Sounded there just like yours! A great fan of your channel, thanks for being such an inspiration in your love to good music of all kinds, and happy new year from Vienna.
4:40 -the music is so powerful it gives literally tears in my eyes... can't BELIEVE someone would compose this without hearing it !!
Ode to Joy has such a beautiful melody and I can see how he could write a melody while deaf. But how can he hear the harmony of all those instruments and blend the voicings with counterpoint True genius.
Immortal Beloved was Gary Oldman's greatest role. Such a great movie.
I knew this, but as a composer myself, I was moved to tears by this. Well done
as exclusively a consumer I watch in wonder at the process hinted at in the films "Immortal Beloved," "Amadeus," and the multi part German produced series on Bach. I assume it's a powerful feeling to be able to make real one's imagination in that way.
My favorite symphony of Beethoven's is his 7th. I find it, for me is his most inspiring and beautiful. Everytime I hear it, I hear the joy of living. It's hard to explain.
Beethoven's music is timeless. A true legend of his time.
@Undercoverbus It means that something transcends (or is not affected by) the passage of time.
I am a non-musician that subscribes to Mr. Beato’s channel. He has many great videos but I think this one is my very favorite.
12:59 'Ode to joy"... We were celebrating the 250th anniversary of his birth. Great video!
These analysis videos are amazing Rick, more of these please!!
Your teaching and knowledge make my world bigger. Thank you!
I personally believe that Beethoven's 9th is not only his greatest achievement, but quite possibly the greatest piece of music ever written. I don't know where you are, but here in L.A., we have one classical radio station, KUSC, broadcasting from the University of Southern California. It's a non-commercial station, NPR I believe, and at the end of every fundraiser, they play a version of this symphony. I listen to it every time, and I've seen it performed live twice. The intricacy and the delicacy just simply blow my mind every time. But what really blows my mind is that he was stone deaf when he wrote it. I also understand that singers begged him to write it in c minor instead of d minor because they couldn't reach that high d toward the end. He told them to learn how to reach it, and now it's reachable by all who sing it. Truly beyond amazing. It brings tears to my eyes every time, as is this video.
I've also heard, and don't know how true it is, that he was very promiscuous, and may have had syphilis, which contributed to his hearing loss.
And hey, isn't today his birthday? Or is it tomorrow?
Scientists have found high amounts of led when they analyzed his hair, but not mercury, which was used to treat syphilis. It is likely that even his hardness of hearing has derived from that led. It is said that he had severe mood swings which also indicates that he had a led poisoning. Despite all of this he was a musical genius and will not be forgotten in time.
I disagree. For me his "Große Fuge" for string quartet is his superior work. But then I prefer J.S. Bach to Beethoven.
@@xavierxeon Gotta love Bach. I actually consider Bach the first true heavy metal artist. Especially when I hear Tocatta and Fugue in d minor.
I think if Beethoven, Mozart and Bach were alive today they would be composing, recording and playing (progressive/symphonic) metal.
@@jimmycampbell78 And movie scores.
Yes, his ability to imagine pitches was important and powerful, but you can’t forget that Beethoven was also a master composer who was able to develop his ideas in logical and inspired ways. A lot of pre-hearing musical elements is having a deep awareness of what all your options are for developing your material. Some involves pre-hearing but a lot is also experience in working with your material and knowing what compositional tools you’ve used before may work well in the spot you’re currently working on. And the best hearing composers are able to pre-hear material, too. Many composers can write at a desk with pencil and paper and no piano or computer in sight.
Sitting at a desk with pencil and paper and no piano (why anyone would need a computer is beyond me), is what any music student does in an exam.
It's nothing special - I did it for an Advanced Level music exam at age 18.
And there is absolutely nothing "logical" about music, unless you're talking about merely following a structure like the sonata.....which, of course, he never did.....
@@CharlieMcowan There is plenty of logic in how Beethoven or any other good composer develops themes and material, or in how any great improviser functions. Listen to Sonny Rollins play and you hear logic in real time. The second movement of Beethoven Nine is developed out of the simple statement of an octave. And just because musical ideas are logical doesn't mean they aren't inspired and magical also.
Glad to see such enthusiasm for Beethoven, my absolute favorite musician of all time.
the most impressive thing is that even after hearing loss. He still wanted to make music. That is true love of music right there. I know most of us would just find a new job right then and there
I would suggest that he *had* to make music!
That's the difference between a job and a purpose...he was only on this planet for one thing
6:26 I've often tried to imagine how he heard his own music with his profound hearing loss but I have never seen it so viscerally demonstrated before like you did here. Got me right in the feels.
I'm a musician with perfect pitch, and even I'm astounded at how Beethoven managed to compose music in his head.
Tinnitus is an old friend of mine too! I'm not deaf but 60 years old so I get that hearing diminishes. I'm amazed at Beethovens mental imagery and clarity.