A Note about Beethoven from Bernardo

“I would have put an end to my life—only art withheld me. Ah! It seems impossible to leave the world until I had produced all that I felt called upon me to produce.”
Two hundred and sixteen years ago, the course of music was held at a crossroad as the composer Ludwig van Beethoven, on October 6, 1802, considered suicide.
Beethoven was struggling with the inevitable fate of losing his hearing. He could no longer engage in conversation with friends, no longer listen to bird songs during his walks through the woods—he could not even hear his own compositions. Beethoven, the great composer, was giving up.
During the course of a trip to care for his health, Beethoven wrote what began as a suicide note while staying at Heiligenstadt, but ended as an affirmation of life and his purpose. He never showed it to anyone, but it is now one of the best-known, and most poignant documents that inform music history, one called The Heiligenstadt Testament.
The only reason we now have masterpieces of music such as the 5^th symphony or the “Ode to Joy” is because Beethoven, on that night, decided that from that moment on, serving others with his music defined the purpose of his life.
His desire to serve others through his music saved him. After that, the lowest point in his difficult life, Beethoven engaged in his most productive period composing with an ever-growing fervor, and producing some of his best compositions.
He serves as an inspiration, for the act of accepting, and committing his abilities and disabilities alike to the service of humanity saved his life, and changed the course of music history. The last text he set, chosen for his Symphony No. 9, gives us a peek into his regenerated spirit, “Be embraced, all you millions, share this kiss with all the world! Way above the stars, brothers, There must live a loving father. Do you kneel down low, you millions? Do you see your maker, world? Search for Him above the stars, Above the stars he must be living.”
Here are some interesting links:
Beethoven’s Heilingstadt testament: http://www.beethoven.ws/heiligenstadt_testament.html
Beethoven’s 5^th Symphony: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jv2WJMVPQi8 
Beethoven’s 9^th Symphony (Ode to Koy): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-kcOpyM9cBg

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