“it seems a mystery that Beethoven became more

original and brilliant as a composer in inverse

proportion to his ability to hear his own —

and others’ — music. but maybe it isn’t so

surprising. as his hearing deteriorated, he

was less influenced by the prevailing

compositional fashions, and more by the musical

structures forming inside his own head…

deafness freed Beethoven as a composer because

he no longer had society’s soundtrack in his ears.”

- Arthur Brooks