Skip to main content

Beethoven's Inner Ear

Beethoven's Inner Ear

Approximately the size of a French horn, a brass-plated, perforated sculptural representation of an inner ear replaces the grill of a public-address speaker in the ceiling of the Music Section. "The most perfect music is soundless," said the Daoist philosopher Laozi. Beethoven’s later compositions, produced after the onset of his deafness, are the result of an inner, intellectual hearing, and are considered by most performers to be his most far-reaching and exploratory work.

Location: on ceiling of the east corner of the Fifth Floor, near music collections