Mr. Holland's Opus1995

Glenn Holland:
[playing Beethoven's Seventh Symphony for his class] He couldn't hear. Of all people. Not a thing. And because Beethoven couldn't hear, the thought of him conducting, let alone composing, was pathetic to most people. And so to answer them, he composed and conducted the seventh symphony. Just try to imagine; Beethoven standing on that podium, holding his baton, his hands waving gracefully through the air. The orchestra in his mind is playing perfectly, and the orchestra in front of him, trying desperately just to keep up. There is a story, that in order to write his music, Beethoven literally sawed the legs off of his piano, so that the body would lay flat on the floor. And he would lie down next the piano with his ear pressed to the floor, and he would hit the keys with his fingers in order to hear his music through the vibrations of the floor.

Student:
Mister Holland? If he couldn't hear, how would he even know what the notes were? Like, if he never heard a "C", how did he know that's what he wanted to play?

Glenn Holland:
[pause] Well... Beethoven wasn't born deaf.