The silent symphony of Ludwig van Beethoven (1770-1827)

This year is the 250th anniversary of Ludwig van Beethoven's birth. His life was strongly affected by an important health problem: the hearing loss. Since the age of 26 years, the composer became aware of his sensorial deficit. From his correspondence emerges that Beethoven suffered from a progressive1 and fluctuating hearing loss,2 starting with difficulties to hear high tones ( “I do not hear the high notes of the instruments and voices”) and associated to tinnitus (“buzzing and humming”) and recruitment phenomenon (“if someone yells, it is unbearable to me”).
Source: The American Journal of Medicine - Category: General Medicine Authors: Tags: Medical Humanities Source Type: research