Comment by tomcam

Nonsense. A lot of people don't understand that for a composer of Beethoven's training and skill, physically hearing the music is essentially irrelevant. The image we have in our heads of a composer sitting at the piano and noodling almost certainly doesn't apply to a Beethoven or a Bach or a Schumann. It would slow them down intolerably. They could read music and hear it as surely as you and I can see word pictures when we read a novel. They would compose and hear the music in their head and simply transcribe.