In the later, Heiligenstadt Testament, Beethoven addresses his brothers Carl and Johanna. In the letter, he explains to his brothers how he feels following the hearing problem that he develops. Through the paper, he explains that he desires to do good and achieve great things. He, however, explains that the previous six years of his life were filled with despair and hopeless affliction. He explains that the senseless physician who deceives him and gives him the hope of improvement has increased his sufferings (Dove, 2018). He explains that he lived alone as a result of his hearing problem makes it difficult for him to mix with people as not many people would understand his condition. He explains that he fears to mix with people for the danger that his condition could be noticed.
Beethoven further explains to his brothers that because of the immense despair that he has experienced, he almost committed suicide in the attempt to end the suffering. He also explains that the only thing that prevented him from committing suicide was his art (Dove, 2018). Beethoven explains to his brothers that as a result of his situation, he becomes a philosopher at a young age of twenty-eight years, which explains is more challenging for following his condition than for anyone else. Following the content of the letter, the emotions that accompanied the letter were emotion of despair and sadness. From his letter, Beethoven feels frustrated following the loss of his ability to hear. Additionally, he is frustrated as he is not able to interact with people freely as a result of his impairment. He feels that the people with whom he interacts are not able to efficiently understand him.
From the content of the letter, the music can be attributed to the theme of struggling and triumph. The themes are exhibited from the way he expresses his emotions in the letter. With regards to the theme of struggling, Beethoven expresses in the letter on how hard it is for him to interact with people following the loss of his hearing ability. He expresses that he finds it difficult to interact with people as he could be forced to explain to them that he is not able to hear. Additionally, the musician explains that in the course of his work, he finds it frustrating that in the course of his work, people can hear the sounds of the instrument while he hears nothing. The element of triumph is expressed as even with his hearing problem; he managed to achieve perfection in his symphony. He expresses that despite the desire to die and be released from his sufferings, he does not wish to die before he completes his works. The element is achieved as he dies twenty-five years after writing the letter, having finished his ninth and final compositions.
In the fifth symphony of Beethoven, the musician expresses the shift in the moods and emotions throughout the symphony. The moods and the emotion as expressed in the symphony mainly alternate with joyful and happy emotions to emotions that express sadness and despair. The emotions that exist in the fifth symphony are mainly because the symphony was written at a time when he was aware that he was going deaf. Through the symphony, some emotions express despair he faces as a result of the possibility of becoming deaf, and positive emotions that represent hope for intervention and positivity in the difficult phase.
The emotion in the first movement, the main emotions exhibited are the emotions of tension and agitation. The emotions are, for instance, expressed as the instruments start rising from 0:41 minutes all through the end of the movement (Fidelix, 2012). Through the rise exhibited by the tone of the instrument exhibit the rising tensions and emotions. From the way, the instruments merge, the musician attempts to express tensed emotions follow his future after being deaf. The movement is significantly dense and has only one pause expressing significant tension.
The second movement of the symphony expresses calmness. From minutes 8:31, the notes are not only calm but also law to exhibit the calmness of the musician (Fidelix, 2012). It is, however, interrupted with few instances that exhibit slightly tense emotions. These calm emotions are mainly expressed by the softness exhibited by the play of the instruments. However, there are instances where the instruments get louder and faster to express tension. The third and the fourth movement that is significantly combined into one moment express the emotions of triumph (Fidelix, 2012). The movements are mainly characterized by harmonized high notes to express the positive feelings that the musician essentially develop.
From the symphony, there is an exhibition of the journey from struggle to triumph. Beethoven uses the music to express the struggles he went through with the loss of hearing and the possibility of not achieving his career objectives. Towards the end of the symphony, he, however, expresses the triumph that he gets as he overcomes the challenges caused by the hearing impairment. The movement of emotions from despair to triumph is exhibited as the tempo of the movement transform from the fast, tense instruments, to calmer instruments, to again the high calm notes.