Thank you also.
I certainly made a blunder.
> Thank you also.
No, thank you :)
Beethoven found out he was going deaf in 1798, and in 1801 wrote a suicidal letter to his brothers. And then he went on with life and his career and was extremely popular till 1815 when he began to be eclipsed by Rossini. Towards the end of his life he made a comeback with the Choral Symphony, and the story of how he had to be turned around to see the applause always brings tears to my eyes. Sure LVB was eccentric. He was always in love, needed a wife's care, but never married. Who knows what killed him. Bethoven remained brilliantly productive for 27 years when most people would quit. What an inspiration...and then there's the music.