<P> Beethoven then turned to writing the string quartets for Golitsin . This series of quartets, known as the "Late Quartets," went far beyond what musicians or audiences were ready for at that time . One musician commented that "we know there is something there, but we do not know what it is ." Composer Louis Spohr called them "indecipherable, uncorrected horrors ." Opinion has changed considerably from the time of their first bewildered reception: their forms and ideas inspired musicians and composers including Richard Wagner and Béla Bartók, and continue to do so . Of the late quartets, Beethoven's favourite was the Fourteenth Quartet, op . 131 in C ♯ minor, which he rated as his most perfect single work . The last musical wish of Schubert was to hear the Op. 131 quartet, which he did on 14 November 1828, five days before his death . </P> <P> Beethoven wrote the last quartets amidst failing health . In April 1825 he was bedridden, and remained ill for about a month . The illness--or more precisely, his recovery from it--is remembered for having given rise to the deeply felt slow movement of the Fifteenth Quartet, which he called "Holy song of thanks (' Heiliger Dankgesang') to the divinity, from one made well ." He went on to complete the quartets now numbered Thirteenth, Fourteenth, and Sixteenth . The last work completed by Beethoven was the substitute final movement of the Thirteenth Quartet, which replaced the difficult Große Fuge . Shortly thereafter, in December 1826, illness struck again, with episodes of vomiting and diarrhoea that nearly ended his life . </P> <P> In 1825, his nine symphonies were performed in a cycle for the first time, by the Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra under Johann Philipp Christian Schulz . This was repeated in 1826 . </P> <P> Beethoven was bedridden for most of his remaining months, and many friends came to visit . He died on 26 March 1827 at the age of 56 during a thunderstorm . His friend Anselm Hüttenbrenner, who was present at the time, said that there was a peal of thunder at the moment of death . An autopsy revealed significant liver damage, which may have been due to heavy alcohol consumption . It also revealed considerable dilation of the auditory and other related nerves . </P>

Who wrote an essay that is now considered a classic in attempt to understand deaf culture