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Thursday 7 July 2011

Impediments and Other Scandals

Beethoven wasn't totally deaf, he had tinnitus.

Last year after a Halloween partyinggggggrrr--rring---the usual shrill that one experiences the morning after has not ceased ringing in my poor ears. Why I have permanent ear damage will always remain a mystery to me for I was the one wearing professional earplugs the entire night.

So eight months along I have tinnitus, and so what now?  I have to listen to the radio, or a hair-dryer, or a lawn mower. Silence is over for me.  R.I.P silence.  Instead, I hear a high pitched electrical humming in between my ears/in my head.  As uncomfortable and distracting as this is, this shrill has to be my friend.  Otherwise I'll go insane and end up in a darker place than Saint Anne's Hospital.

So to conquer tinnitus I have to invite this nemesis into my life, like an affirmation of Self; without it I'm either dead or asleep... or I'm listening to BBC Radio 4...

I bolted up in bed last night after Classic FM guy introduced his favourite film classics.  Thinking it was a modern day John Williams with his Dances with Wolves soundtrack etc. I listened to this 'new' composer and felt the tingles chasing themselves up and down my spine. I've been taught how to hear classical music and I listened intently.  Blown away, I thought out loud; "There is a genius living among us" and I resolved to find out who this new and up and coming talent was... my heart palpitating and all my limbs in rhythm... the Classic FM guy paused after the piece, as if he and I had both been impregnated by some unexplainable force neither of us could explain,  he announced...  "In the movie "The King's Speech" they used Beethoven so well."

Ha! I can't believe I missed Ludvig's 7th.  I've been too wrapped up in the 9th.

I've heard all of Beethoven's before, even the sub-brilliant, but this movie's soundtrack has replaced all meaning to me.  The Classic FM guy was correct.  They used Beethoven perfectly to set the cadence, regalia, and solemnity that this speech of King George's that was so fundamental and crucial that ignited a patriotism that only the British can be proud of.

I saw a real D Day landing craft cruising into Poole Harbour last week.  I looked at my father as he watched it pass by and he did so in awe, interest, and reverence.  There's so much about War II  I don't know about.   But for now, stop and hear this...      



God Save The Queen!

3 comments:

Starbuck said...

Welcome back! Sounds as if Halloween was a real bell ringer. A shame I missed out. Hope all is well.

Anonymous said...

Colin Firth is Britain's greatest. Fantastic post Britlitt. Haunting soundtrack

H.P

Anonymous said...

That ringing in your ears is the sound of people ringing you when you're late and didn't bother to ring to let them know your not coming 'cos you cant be bothered.
That ringing is the sound of people who have quickly lost respect for you.It doesn't connect you to Beethoven....except perhaps the dog.