Perhaps a silly Question (Beethoven's voice)

[Curiosity]

Hey guys, I'm new here. I'm a bit of a novice on Beethoven so I hope you'll bear with me.

What I'm interested in knowing is whether there are any period descriptions of how Beethoven spoke. Whether his voice was deep, high, booming, quiet etc. I'm also keen to know whether his singing voice was ever heard/described by those who knew him.

Thanks in advance,

Curiosity

[Peter]

Welcome Curiosity - people commented on Beethoven having a rather coarse Rhenish accent. I would imagine that like a lot of deaf people he would have spoken fairly loudly - certainly his character was not that of a shy timid person and that was probably reflected in his voice. I don't think his singing voice was much to write home about!

[Preston]

I have never really thought about Beethoven's voice. So I think it is a fascinating question. Perhaps there are accounts of his voice? It seems a good thing to keep in mind is that like all voices it would change throughout time and mood.

[Michael]

There are stories about him walking about the fields humming tunes and scaring cattle, but I don't know how true they are. It is well documented that during the composition of the Missa Solemnis he was heard howling and stamping his feet.
He could neither sing nor dance and, as he said himself: "Beethoven can compose but he can't do one other thing on earth."

[Curiosity]

Thanks guys. For some reason, I've always pictured Beethoven (as many people do, I imagine) as possessing a thunderous, aggressive baritone. I suppose that's a result of the often thunderous music.

[Michael]

Beethoven's father was a singer, funnily enough, a tenor in the choir of the archbishop-elector of Cologne. Apparently, he didn't pass on his vocal gifts to his son!

[Fidelio]

I think it maybe assumed that Beethoven's original speech was the Rhenish dialect spoken in Bonn. In 1792 he had to face a new dialect. This Austrian dialect was already familiar to him through his visit to Vienna in 1787 and through Elector Maximilian franz, Haydn & Count Waldstein.

Frau Kissow-Bernhard, the governess for the Russian Ambassador von Klupfeld, was struck by the strangeness of Beethoven's dialect. Beethoven eventually mastered elements of the viennese dialect.

Karl Holz told Otto Jahn that everybody could recognise Beethoven's Rhenish accent in his speech.

Beethoven spoke softly, but later, due to his deafness, often shifted from soft to very loud, even shouting. His singing voice was a deep bass. Schlosser in his biography mentioned that Beethoven's voice, after he become deaf, lost its sonority. His laugh was a kind of yelling and his voice was proverbially the voice of a lion.

[Preston]

I think it maybe assumed that Beethoven's original speech was the Rhenish dialect spoken in Bonn. In 1792 he had to face a new dialect. This Austrian dialect was already familiar to him through his visit to Vienna in 1787 and through Elector Maximilian franz, Haydn & Count Waldstein.

Frau Kissow-Bernhard, the governess for the Russian Ambassador von Klupfeld, was struck by the strangeness of Beethoven's dialect. Beethoven eventually mastered elements of the viennese dialect.

Karl Holz told Otto Jahn that everybody could recognise Beethoven's Rhenish accent in his speech.

Beethoven spoke softly, but later, due to his deafness, often shifted from soft to very loud, even shouting. His singing voice was a deep bass. Schlosser in his biography mentioned that Beethoven's voice, after he become deaf, lost its sonority. His laugh was a kind of yelling and his voice was proverbially the voice of a lion.

Good info and accounts, Fidelio.

Now if there was only some recordings, , we could actually know what his voice really sounded like.

[Curiosity]

Just the kind of information I was looking for Fidelio. Cheers.

[Quijote]

Hello Curiosity. I do regret that key posters Peter, Preston and Michael were not able to give you a concrete answer to a direct question. I thank therefore (infrequent) poster Fidelio for giving us insight into the timbral quality of Beethoven's voice (singing and spoken). However, I would caution all of you to make a clear distinction between notions of "dialect" and "accent".