For some people giving a fuck is an action that comes naturally to them and for others it’s something they never fully develop the ability to do for one reason or another. Beethoven was one of the latter, as evidenced by how he reacted to being told what to do by rich dickheads.
Though today Beethoven is well respected as one of the finest musicians/composers in all of human history, in his day his genius went shall we say, unappreciated. This is because, at the time the composer was alive, musicians were held in the same regard as servants. Basically, musicians – even ones as talented Beethoven – were pretty much regarded as part of the furniture by nobility, which Beethoven didn’t like one fucking bit.
Beethoven refused to sit with the cooks (as musicians were expected to do at the time) and would swagger over to the table the King was sat at and sit his ass down and refuse to move. When people told him to wear clothes more fitting of a court musician like silken stockings and fancy cloaks, he’d turn up wearing peasants clothes he found on the floordrobe of his bedroom.
Beethoven would also famously refuse to play if he didn’t feel like it and would openly tell nobles and even royalty to shut the fuck up if he heard them talking during one of his performances. If a rival musician talked during one his performances, Beethoven would return the favor by screaming at the top of his lungs during one of theirs. On one occasion Beethoven played a piece so beautiful a lady watching burst into tears, the musician stopped playing gave the woman an ultimatum, applaud instead of cry, be quiet or taste the back of his hand. Because come on, how hard is it to be quiet for like five god-damn minutes?
Beethoven’s temper soon became legend amongst the courts of Vienna and the composer would cuss out anyone who annoyed him in any way. Beethoven’s sheer talent spared him from any repercussions for doing this, but it kind of set a shitty precedent.
So, to stop other musicians from similarly getting ideas above their station, it was decreed that Beethoven was simply absolved from the responsibility of having to conform to regular court etiquette. Not like it would have stopped him if they didn’t say this, but at least it made the people he told to shut the fuck up feel better about themselves.
