Hearing Beethoven

“[The book] deepens readers’ knowledge of Beethoven’s artistic life while broadening their understanding of hearing and loss. Highly recommended.” —Library Journal

We’re all familiar with the image of a scowling Beethoven, struggling to overcome his rapidly progressing deafness. That Beethoven continued to play and compose for more than a decade after he lost his hearing is often seen as an act of superhuman heroism. But the truth is that Beethoven’s response to his deafness was entirely human. And by demystifying what he did, we can learn a great deal about Beethoven’s music. No one is better positioned to help us do so than Robin Wallace, who not only has dedicated his life to the music of Beethoven but also has close personal experience with deafness. Wallace’s late wife, Barbara, lost her hearing. Despite receiving a cochlear implant, Barbara didn’t overcome her deafness or ever function again like a hearing person.

Beethoven also never overcame his deafness. But the composer accomplished something even more challenging: he adapted to his hearing loss and changed the way he interacted with music, revealing important aspects of its very nature in the process. Wallace tells the story of Beethoven’s creative life, interweaving it with his and Barbara’s experience to reveal aspects that only living with deafness could open up. The result makes Beethoven and his music more accessible, helping us see how a disability can enhance human wholeness.

“A convincing and moving probe into Beethoven’s essence. . . . one senses the author’s profound love and admiration for his lost wife and for Beethoven himself.” —Harvey Sachs, author of The Ninth: Beethoven and the World in 1824