After Ludwig von Beethoven died in 1827, a thorough autopsy confirmed what had long been apparent about his health. His auditory nerves were “shriveled and marrowless,” while the neighboring arteries were “dilated to more than a crow’s quill, and like cartilage.” By then, his hearing loss was unmistakable. He had been completely deaf for almost a decade, following a gradual decline that began as early as 1800.
Beethoven’s deafness remains one of the most compelling topics in music history, as he continued composing masterpieces despite his loss. The Imaginative Conservative website shares an unsent letter known as the Heiligenstadt Testament, where he revealed his inner turmoil. In the throes of despair, he wrote: “I would have ended my life—it was only my art that held me back. ... It seemed to me impossible to leave the world until I had produced all that I felt was within me, as if my art had been entrusted to me by God.”
