Beethoven was deaf. So what?

This video essay, filmed at Highlands Latin School, considers a favorite topic: how to study composers. Lest you think I don’t like composers, remember that we offer a Composer-of-the-Month page, chocked with performances, segments of master classes, and commentary. You can find the composers thus far featured here. 

Below, though, I consider what happens when young-reader’s composer-biography are presented as the best (or easiest) way to learn music. Just as learning about tennis requires getting out on the court or, if not possible, watching matches, so too does music open her secrets by being heard and experienced.

By the way, for our adult readers, Maynard Solomon’s classic biography Beethoven (1977, rev. 2001) makes a fabulous read. Solomon had a knack for opening windows directly into the music while drenching the reader with fabulous, thought-provoking information. Solomon’s chapter exploring the identity of Beethoven’s mysterious lady known as “The Immortal Beloved” couldn’t be better if Sherlock Holmes had written it himself.