Did Beethoven use a metal tube when composing, because he was deaf?
I’ve completed two of Robert Greenberg’s “Teaching Company” courses on Beethoven (his Life and Works, and The Piano Sonatas). Greenberg says Beethoven at one time had a couple of pianos with the legs cut off in order to feel their vibrations via the floor. And yes, he tried ear trumpets for conversation, although later he switched to a writing tablet (viz: Rossini’s visit in the early 1820’s). We also know that he fought and railed against his ever-increasing deafness from around 1797 on. In desperation he tried everything, including some real quacks. I believe that I have read of a stick or tube held in the teeth, no doubt soon abandoned. That said, he composed his late great masterpieces entirely in his head. It is certain that he never heard his late string quartets aurally, although he did carefully watch them being performed by friends.
