Reading(1)：Fog.docx

Beethoven

Every one of us has to suffer a bit in this life, whether it is the grazed knee suffered by the overeager toddler, or the more profound suffering of the recently bereaved. It may be the life changing effects of a tragic accident, or the debilitating trauma of a chronic illness. But to each of us, who have ever had to endure the downsides of being alive, the account I am about to relate here, can only serve to bring hope and comfort.
For anyone, to be faced with the loss of a vital function, whether it be blindness, deafness, or the sudden, and irrevocable, paralysis that can be the lot of the victim of an accident, the feelings of deep despair, and the belief that life is over now, must be almost overwhelming.
He got over his depression, and went on to write some truly awe inspiring music in the twenty five years of life left to him.
He had the legs cut off his pianos, so he could lie on the ground, and feel the vibrations of the sounds that he was unable to hear.
In his last ten years he was profoundly deaf, which means that he never got to hear the music of his later symphonies, including the sublime beauties of his ninth symphony.
One of the most moving accounts that has come down to us is about the first performance of this symphony. Beethoven was incapable of conducting by this time, but he was on the stage, giving the beat to the actual conductor.
When the final notes, that seem to transport the listener on orchestral and choral wings, straight to the Dwelling Place of God, had sounded, the audience erupted in the most tumultuous applause, but the composer, who had his back turned was totally unaware of this. He had to be gently turned around by one of the soloists to see the clapping.