Chapter 04 of 5
Conversation Books
A deaf genius, notebooks full of chatter, and a secretary who rewrote history.
- The Last Show
Final performance
In 1814 Beethoven played piano in public for one of the last times. Witnesses said he could no longer hear himself play.
- The Trumpets
Ear trumpets
He tried ear trumpets, some made by inventor Johann Maelzel, who also helped develop the metronome.
- The Metronome
Exact speeds
Beethoven was among the first composers to mark exact metronome speeds on his music. Musicians still argue over them today.
17 more cards in this chapter
Could you answer this?
What did researchers discover about Beethoven's conversation books in 1977?
🎹 The Composer Who Couldn't Hear
- 01The Boy from BonnA harsh father, a hard childhood, and a teenager who had to hold his family together.
- 02A Secret SilenceVienna's star pianist begins to go deaf, and tells almost no one.
- 03The Heiligenstadt TestamentA secret letter of despair, then the most defiant music he ever wrote.
- 04Conversation BooksA deaf genius, notebooks full of chatter, and a secretary who rewrote history.
- 05Ode to JoyThe Ninth Symphony's premiere, a famous moment of applause, and a tune the world adopted.