Adventures with Beethoven

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What was Beethoven’s hearing loss like?

When we imagine losing our hearing, it is often like a light switch turning off. One day you can hear, one day you can’t. Or perhaps we imagine that it’s like we’ve simply turned down the volume on the TV and everything is still there, just quieter. However, hearing loss is much more gradual. 

In Beethoven’s case, his first sign of hearing loss was a ringing and roaring in his ears. This sound was a constant background noise for Beethoven every day. This can sometimes sound like a high pitch whistle or like the low roar of ocean waves or a train. As Beethoven’s hearing loss progressed, he was eventually unable to hear very high and very low pitches. The two extremes of our hearing range require the most sensitivity. The nerves in the ear that were still working tried to compensate for the ones that no longer worked. As the remaining nerves work harder, paradoxically some things actually sounded louder, especially in the middle range where Beethoven could still hear relatively well. Eventually everything gradually became more and more muffled, like listening to music underwater. 

By most accounts, Beethoven was completely deaf by age 44-45, around 1814, in the middle of one of his most creative periods. However, some scholars believe that Beethoven could still hear in his left ear, although very poorly, until the very end of his life. In the conversation books, Beethoven made references to his hearing until toward the end of his life. Although an interesting avenue of study, it requires further research to see what we can learn from this important source. 

Beethoven tried almost everything to restore his hearing. He used ear-trumpets to amplify the sound. He visited various spas and baths, hoping that the minerals in the water would do something to cure his hearing. He spent time away from the noisy city, most notably in Heiligenstadt to rest his ears. Some doctors suggested leaches and bloodletting, which were used commonly in medicine at the time. Both of these “cures” tried to remove toxic blood from the system, thus restoring his hearing loss. Beethoven also tried some truly bizarre ideas such as cotton balls soaked in almond oil which he placed in the ears. For a while he put the bark of a tree on his skin. Unfortunately the tree was toxic to humans and caused itchiness and incredibly painful blisters. Beethoven also tried a new treatment called galvanism where a mild electric shock was administered to the ailing body part in order to remind the body what to do. Needless to say none of these “cures” worked to restore Beethoven’s hearing.