Musicologist: Ludwig van Beethoven began losing his hearing when he was 30. This loss continued gradually, but was not complete until late in his life. While it may seem that complete hearing loss would be a severe liability for a composer, in Beethoven’s case it gave his later music a wonderfully introspective quality that his earlier music lacked.
Summary
Beethoven gradually lost his hearing beginning at age 30. Late in his life, he completely lost his hearing. This complete hearing loss gave Beethoven’s later music a positive introspective quality that was not present in his earlier music.
Strongly Supported Conclusions
Loss of hearing can influence the nature of music one composes.
At least one aspect of Beethoven’s music changed as a result of his loss of hearing.
A
It was more difficult for Beethoven to compose his later works than his earlier ones.
Unsupported. We don’t know how difficult it was for Beethoven to compose his music at any point during his life. We’re not told loss of hearing made composing more or less difficult.
B
Had he not lost his hearing, Beethoven’s later music would have been of poorer quality than it is.
Unsupported. Although his later music probably wouldn’t have been as introspective had he not lost his hearing, that doesn’t imply it would have been worse. His music could have gained other positive qualities that would have made up for the loss of the introspective quality.
C
Had he not lost his hearing, Beethoven would have been less introspective than he was.
Unsupported. Although his later music probably wouldn’t have been as introspective had he not lost his hearing, that doesn’t imply anything about the introspection of Beethoven himself. There’s a difference between the person and his music.
D
Beethoven’s music became gradually more introspective as he grew older.
Unsupported. We don’t know whether the increased introspective quality in Beethoven’s music came gradually or suddenly. We’re told complete hearing loss gave the music an introspective quality; this doesn’t imply that partial hearing loss lead to a partial introspective quality.
E
Had he not lost his hearing, Beethoven’s later music would probably have been different than it is.
Strongly supported. We’re told that the cause of the introspective quality in his later music was complete hearing loss. This is evidence that if he hadn’t lost his hearing, his music probably wouldn’t have been as introspective.