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Story 6

Vienna Woods

The woods surrounding Vienna were among Beethoven’s favorite places to walk. You can imagine him enjoying the peace and beauty. And perhaps taking out a notebook to write a rhythm or a melody.

You can take that walk with Beethoven. Maybe you’ll be inspired, too!

Summer Time!

Beethoven also liked to spend his summers in smaller country towns outside Vienna. His purpose was to enjoy the restfulness of the open landscape. But the towns he visited, like Heiligenstadt, Teplitz, and Mödling, were also resorts. They offered spas, thermal baths, wineries, and comfortable housing.

Many Viennese and Germans also summered in these places. Beethoven, therefore, could enjoy the quiet, take advantage of the healing baths, enjoy good food and wine, and also spend time in lively company. Sometimes his friends spent their summers in the same towns. Sometimes Beethoven met new people. There were many reasons to escape Vienna!

Schlossplatz, the main square, Teplitz [Teplice], photo credit

What did you say?

Beethoven was in his twenties when he began experiencing constant ringing and buzzing in his ears. He consulted doctors, but little was known at the time about treating hearing disorders. In a letter he wrote to his Bonn friend when he was 31, he said he tried different remedies: almond oil solutions, cold baths, then lukewarm baths. None helped. “I have been avoiding all the social functions, simply because I feel incapable of telling people: I am deaf.”

Courtesy of Beethoven-Haus Bonn, R 2 b

18th-century drawing of ear trumpets by Frederick Dekkers

For centuries the only remedy for hearing loss was the use of hollowed-out animal horns, especially from rams and cattle. It took until the 18th century for scientists to develop “ear trumpets.” These were funnel-shaped tubes inserted into the ear canal that were meant to collect and direct sounds into the ear. There were different shapes and sizes, but most of them were bulky and awkward to use.

Beethoven tried different types of ear trumpets. Friends, students, relatives, and housekeepers often had to shout into his ear trumpet in order to communicate with him. He even tried attaching a metal sound amplifier to his piano, and then held up his ear trumpet to the amplifier. Most of these devices didn’t help much, if at all. Ear trumpets that Beethoven used are now in the Beethoven-Haus in Bonn.

Just in Time

Metronome by Johann Nepomuk Maelzel, Paris 1815

In the summer of 1813 Beethoven was in a depressed mood. Johann Nepomuk Maelzel, an inventor and showman, suggested that they work together to produce a piece using one of Maelzel’s “living machines.” This machine, a Panharmonicon, was a mechanical orchestra that imitated strings, brass, winds, and percussion. Beethoven wrote the music, the piece now known as Wellington’s Victory. It was a huge success!

As part of their new friendship Maelzel created several new ear trumpets for Beethoven. Some were simple, some more elaborate. The ear trumpets shown in the Beethoven-Haus link were those made by Maelzel.

Beethoven often visited Maelzel’s workshop, curious about his many inventions. One of these, something Maelzel called a chronometer, was especially interesting. It was designed to help musicians indicate exact speeds. Words suggesting tempos, like Allegro and Andante could be replaced by using a device that would tick evenly to demonstrate exactly how fast or slow a composer wanted the music to go.

The name of this new time-keeper was changed when Maelzel took out a patent: “Instrument/Machine for the Improvement of all Musical Performance, called Metronome.” Beethoven decided to use the metronome to indicate a more exact tempo in his own music.

When you see M.M. = 60 in your music today, the M.M. stands for Maelzel’s Metronome.