Although Beethoven could sit down and compose easily, his
really great compositions did not come easily at all. They cost him a great deal
of hard work and he always found it hard to satisfy himself.
When he was 28, he began to notice a strange noise in his ears. As it grew
worse, he went to see doctors, and was told that he was going deaf. This was too
much for any (36) to bear. Beethoven was in (37)
; he was sure that he was going to die. He went to the countryside
where he wrote a long (38) letter to his brothers,
(39) how sad and lonely his deafness made him. He
(40) to die, and said to death, "Come when you will, I shall
meet you bravely." In fact, Beethoven did something braver than
dying. He (41) his courage and went on writing music, though
he could hear what he wrote more and more (42) . He wrote the
music for which we remember him best after he became deaf. This music was very
different from any that had been composed before. Instead of the (43)
and grand music that earlier composers had written for their wealthy
listeners, (44) . His Heroic Symphony and Fifth Symphony both
show his courage in struggling with his fate. (45)
. He was lonely and often unhappy, but in spite of this, he often
wrote joyful music, such as his last symphony, the Ninth. (46)
.