Jeff Tedford <[log in to unmask]> writes:

>I've heard it confidently stated,with the air of a known fact, that
>Beethoven was black.  Exercising rare discretion I thought I'd ask
>listmembers about this assertion, because I've never heard or read
>this "fact" before but I'm mindfull that I was "taught" that the whole
>Sally Hemmings matter was rather circumstantial and groundless with
>respect to Thomas Jefferson.  ...

Beethoven's ancestry is well-documented, and he was not black.  One-- only
one-- centemporary description of him described him as being just slightly
swarthy.  Because he often liked to spend hours on walks though the
countryside, he was, no doubt more tan than most.

As a source for any such information, the best bet is usually Thayer's
"Life of Beethoven."

Jocelyn Wang
Culver Chamber Music Series
www.bigfoot.com/~CulverMusic