I love music. Classical to Rap. Beethoven is my favorite composer. I have the video Beethoven Lives Upstairs. Staring Neil Munro. Maybe you've seen it. I was just wondering. If Beethoven was deaf how was his speech. In the movie Neil Munro could speak very well.
Was Beethoven really like that? Could he speak even though he couldn't hear? The music and sound track is really great in this movie. I wish I could purchase to sound track music from this movie.

I think his deafness came as the result of a sickness, I don't think he was born deaf.

A person who has reached adulthood as a hearing person can still speak understandably even though he has become deaf.

From lvbeethoven.com --

Beethoven was born in 1770.

Doctor Marage brought up Beethoven's deafness at the conference of the French Academy of Sciences on January 9th and 23rd 1928, as well as December 2nd 1929.

He thought that Beethoven's deafness was due to a labyrinthitis of intestinal origin, that is to say that he had a lesion of the inner ear. According to Doctor Marage, who has studied Beethoven's letters, buzzing noises and other sounds started at around 1796. Deafness broke out in 1798 and Beethoven had lost 60% of his hearing by 1801. In 1816 he was completely deaf.

Doctor Marage goes on to explain that Beethoven's whole hearing system was, in effect, hyper-sensitive and that, due to this, he was more prone to illness.

Marage's theory is therefore that of the labyrinthitis: "... When deafness begins with high sounds, and overall when they are preceeded by buzzing noises, whistling noises and an exaggerated sensitivity to the screaming voice, it is due to an internal lesion, that is to say that there is a problem with the ear labyrinth and the cerebral centres, from where emerge the branches of the acoustic nerve..."

It is correct that Beethoven was not born deaf. Exactly why he went deaf is still a matter of speculation.

Oh, I love the video "Beethoven Lives Upstairs!" I have shown it to many classes that I have taught and I also love to view it again by myself! It makes me cry sometimes when watching it to realize all of the pain and suffering that this man endured both physically and mentally. And, in spite of it all, he was able to produce music that is some of the best and most enjoyable that the world has ever known! The video about Beethoven is a fictional story about a small boy who knew and was greatly influenced by Beethoven. As far as I know, the boy is a fictitious character. But, the other events/ways that Beethoven did things, would seem to be very close to the way that things were for him then.


Originally Posted by Wondergirl
A person who has reached adulthood as a hearing person can still speak understandably even though he has become deaf.

I agree with the above statement by Wondergirl. However, as concerning how Beethoven became deaf, the fact is that we really aren't quite sure. There are at least three theories that have been brought forward as to an explanation for his deafness. One might be that he had been hot and had soaked his head in some cold water. That may have lead to the deafness starting. Another states basically, because of abdominal distress of certain kinds, that is what lead to his deafness. And, yet another points to the fact that since we have extant already in the world, a number of the hairs from Beethoven's head, and because we can analyze that hair to find out more about Beethoven's health, that because of the amount of lead that has been found to be in his system as a result of the analysis of his hair, that the amount of lead that he had in his system may also have contributed to his deafness.

Concerning a soundtrack for the video. I don't think that one exists. However, at least three of the pieces that I remember from the video that were used in it were Für Elise, the 5th Symphony and the slow movement from the 7th Symphony. You will find those recordings readily available at most stores that sell a lot of CD's of many types of music.