Hearing Without Ears

Dorothy tells me lunch is ready. Back soon... ... ...

I'm back. Good food! Well, although I heard lunch was ready, I am ashamed to admit that I didn't hear when Dorothy asked me to help get lunch ready. Selective deafness, I guess. 

Which reminds me: Beethoven was almost completely deaf when he composed his ninth symphony with its marvelous Ode to Joy chorus. He insisted on conducting its first performance although he couldn't hear what the orchestra was playing. He had a co-conductor who actually kept things going, but it seems that Beethoven sans ears was capable of producing and experiencing some of the most inspiring music ever heard by anyone. Ears are useful but optional.

Read this sentence silently. "Hearing happens between the ears." Now think: did you hear the words you were reading? I hear my voice even while typing. OK, it's not quite my aging monotone; it's a younger, more animated version of my voice, more like Ian Hanomansing. 

Imagination works on all the senses, of course: hearing, sight, smell, taste, touch, heat and cold, pain, proprioception, vestibular balance. We could also add inputs from memory, emotion, the unconscious feedback of sympathetic and parasympathetic systems, and who knows what else. From all of this we get an idea of what is real, imagine possibilities, and create a future. This is where symphonies come from, with or without ears.

I shouldn't disparage ears and other sense organs. I have listened to Beethoven's ninth many times in recordings played over indifferent sound systems. How stirring it would be heard live. It is a whole-body experience with an incredible dynamic range and an emotional depth which would be augmented by sharing with a live audience. Pity Beethoven that he missed hearing it with functioning ears. Imagination is good. Reality is to live for.

With or without ears, we have the ability to discover what's real, imagine an amazing future and make it happen. Joy.

I will help prepare lunch tomorrow.

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Beethoven's ninth symphony - Chicago Symphony Orchestra - Riccardo Muti - 2014 -
 over 34 million views on Youtube, commercial free