We hear about early trauma and its impact psychologically. We see not only how the child responds to his or her early environment but also the history of trauma passed down from one generation to another -- patterns of behavior that may include social factors, as well as the family's ability to cope with life's difficulties. In Beethoven's case, his very harsh beginning continued to impact his sense of self and personal relationships for his entire life.

From a very early age, Beethoven’s father pushed him to follow Mozart, to be music's next child prodigy. He was forced to play at all hours of the day and night. One story tells of his drunken father returning from a bar late at night with friends and forcing little Ludwig to get up and perform on the pianoforte for their entertainment. Standing on a stool to reach the keys, he was beaten for every missed note. The torture went on throughout the night. This episode alone gives important clues as to how his personality was being shaped. The poor child could not trust his father, creating a state of fear and anxiety. As parents mirror behaviors for their children, he also learned these negative behaviors, which increasingly appeared as Beethoven aged.

He had a loving relationship with his mother, described as his best friend, but she died when he was only 16. At that point Beethoven had to become the "parentified child" and take care of his two younger siblings, which he did for the rest of his life with both love and harsh judgement, not unlike his father's behavior. One particular episode from later in life illustrates the darker side of this behavior. When his brother Caspar Carl died in 1815, Beethoven was initially named the sole guardian of his nine-year-old nephew, Karl. However, a last-minute change made Karl’s mother, whom Beethoven immensely disliked, co-guardian. What ensued was an ugly, four-and-a-half-year battle over possession of the boy. Beethoven was ultimately granted full guardianship, but at a great cost. He was overbearing, harsh, and occasionally violent towards his nephew, and Karl would frequently escape to his mother’s house in response, much to Beethoven’s disapproval. A devastating blow came several years later, when in August 1826, Karl attempted suicide. Though the boy lived, Beethoven was devastated by this and granted his nephew’s wish to join the army.

Alcoholism was also a major issue in the Beethoven family — his grandfather, his father, and Ludwig himself were all alcoholics. Continual dependence on alcohol often results in erratic, unpredictable, and at times, aggressive behavior. There are numerous instances of these traits throughout Beethoven’s life. One of the most infamous was his 1806 tirade to his patron, Prince Karl von Lichnowsky, in which the composer declared, “Prince, what you are you are by accident of birth; what I am I am through myself. There have been and still will be thousands of princes; there is only one Beethoven.” Because of problems with intimacy, alcoholics tend to have increased anxiety that results in dark, unapproachable moods. Beethoven had a well-earned reputation for being highly disagreeable.

This didn’t stop him from completing an enormous body of work. For example, during the summer and fall of 1802, one of the most personally turbulent periods of his life, he completed a remarkable set of compositions in the idyllic surroundings of Heiligenstadt, all while coming to terms with his encroaching deafness.  These included the Second Symphony, the Opus 33 bagatelles, the three Opus 30 violin sonatas, and the first two Opus 31 piano sonatas.

Early trauma frequently results in the individual escaping into an inner world of his own making that can be a safe harbor from the perilousness of the outer world. It can be a place of creativity where ideals of freedom and perfection can take hold. This is where Beethoven's genius prevailed. Yet, as he set himself up to aspire for greatness and beauty, nothing less was acceptable. This ideal was projected onto the women he fell in love with, none of whom could ultimately live up to his ideal. He so longed for love and companionship but was incapable of compromise. This resulted in depression, feelings of despair, unrelenting self-criticism, and somatic disturbances, such as the gastrointestinal illness that he later attributed to his social isolation. His deafness certainly did not help but instead pushed him further into his own inner world. In this place of mind with the acute colors of his torment, loneliness and idealization, he let his creative genius flourish, touching the transcendent and the heart of our being as we listen to his exquisite creations.  It is remarkable to see such creative genius survive the torments of one’s outer and inner life.

Of course, this is one example of the one-sided development of the personality in a very creative genius filled with trauma and personal collective baggage. This unconscious shadow in Beethoven’s personality led to a very difficult life. He was in constant conflict with himself. Thankfully for him and for all of us, his creativity was stronger and more persistent than the damage and acted as a safe refuge for him. His music comes from the cosmos; it is grander that the individual and includes all of us in its experience.

The understanding of the multifaceted aspects of the human personality or psyche is what Jung pursued through his own journey into the unconscious as laid out in The Red Book. He dealt with his own shadow and traumatic difficulties, engaging his inner figures in the visions presented to him by his unconscious and through the conversations with the figures—in what he later called, active imagination. This was a creative endeavor that engaged all aspects of himself through his visions, dreams, dialogues, paintings, carvings, and building. His task was to re-discover his soul, which had been left behind through his outer aspirations of being a scientist. His curiosity and persistence were evident in his work with psychotics at the Burgholzli Mental Hospital in Zurich, which led him to understand that visions and imaginations can carry meaning for the individual. Many get lost in them, but not Jung as he sought to find a path to deepen his understanding of the many aspects of himself and to help ordinary people and geniuses such as Beethoven to become aware of the contrary and struggling aspect within themselves, without diminishing the source of creativity. His paintings are a testament to this creativity, bridging the divide between inner and outer, finding a balance between the opposites. He spent the rest of his life fine tuning his theory and finding terms that describe the significant aspects -- ego, persona, shadow, anima, animus, complexes, Self -- and the forces that affect us profoundly -- archetypes, symbols, transcendent function, soul, spirit, and the God-image. His descent into the unconscious is so significant that it remains a template for our own individuation journey. Jung made it very clear that imitation was not the way; we need to find our own unique path. That is our challenge!

NOTE: This is an expanded version of an essay originally written for the Aspen Music Festival and School during a season’s celebration of Beethoven.

Nancy Furlotti, Ph.D., is a Jungian analyst living in Aspen, CO.  She is a past president of the C.G. Jung Institute of Los Angeles, where she trained, and a founding member and past president of the Philemon Foundation, which published Jung’s Red Book, among other volumes.  She established the Carl Jung Professorial Endowment in Analytical Psychology at the Semel Institute for Neuroscience and Human Behavior at UCLA and the Erel Shalit Carlsberg Foundation Research Fellowship in Behavioral Neuroscience at Oxford University.  Both endowments focus on understanding happiness and resolving trauma.

Dr. Furlotti has written numerous articles and co-edited several books, including The Dream and Its Amplification with the late Erel Shalit. She lectures internationally on Jungian topics, such as dreams, mythology, trauma, the feminine, and the environment.  A long-standing interest of hers is Mesoamerican mythology, specifically the Quiché Maya creation myth, the Popol Vuh.  Her book on this subject is forthcoming.  Her company, Recollections, LLC, edits and publishes the writings of first-generation Jungians, most recently Erich Neumann’s two-volume manuscript, The Roots of Jewish Consciousness.