Book Description

Bringing together reception history, music analysis and criticism, the history of music theory, and the philosophy of music, Beethoven Hero explores the nature and persistence of Beethoven's heroic style. What have we come to value in this music, asks Scott Burnham, and why do generations of critics and analysts hear it in much the same way? Specifically, what is it that fosters the intensity of listener engagement with the heroic style, the often overwhelming sense of identification with its musical process? Starting with the story of heroic quest heard time and again in the first movement of the Eroica Symphony, Burnham suggests that Beethoven's music matters profoundly to its listeners because it projects an empowering sense of self, destiny, and freedom, while modeling ironic self-consciousness.

In addition to thus identifying Beethoven's music as an overarching expression of values central to the age of Goethe and Hegel, the author describes and then critiques the process by which the musical values of the heroic style quickly became the controlling model of compositional logic in Western music criticism and analysis. Apart from its importance for students of Beethoven, this book will appeal tothose interested incanon formation in the arts and in music as a cultural, ethical, and emotional force--and to anyone concerned with what we want from music and what music does for us. ... Read more

Book Description

Beethoven's often-discussed "dark side"--marked by paranoia, narcissism, and obsession--is brought into focus by Peter J. Davies, who examines both the composer's genetic roots and the familial cruelty and neglect that defined his childhood. More than a biography, this book eschews facile psychoanalysis in favor of a real exploration of how Beethoven's character shaped the work now universally regarded as among the best music ever written. Davies acutely observes the ways in which suffering can bring, at the same time, both madness and genius. ... Read more

Book Description

This critical reevaluation of the causes of Beethoven's many illnesses offers detailed accounts of the treatments applied by his physicians and a comprehensive rendering of the composer's final illness, death, and burial. Separate chapters discuss the causes of many of Beethoven's illnesses, his autopsy and the exhumations. Following the rediscovery of the original Latin autopsy report in 1970, the author has discovered two faulty translations, which he argues contributed to errors in earlier medical assumptions. New evidence disputes earlier assertions that Beethoven's deafness resulted from syphilis. This fascinating account of Beethoven's ailments should appeal to Beethoven enthusiasts and to both the medical and music communities. ... Read more

Book Description

This beautifully illustrated series of eight books introduces children in grades 2 through 6 to the influential composers of the late 17th through the early 20th centuries. For music-lovers and those just discovering the world of the the creative arts, The World of Composers is the perfect guide for research and for leisure reading.

Book Description

This book analyzes the lifelong impact of Beethoven's music on Wagner and its importance for his conception of music drama. Kropfinger charts and scrutinizes Wagner's early responses to the composer and considers his experience as a conductor of Beethoven's music. A discussion of the Romantic "Beethoven image" leads to a careful study of Wagner's aesthetic writings, including his "programmatic explanations," the text "Concerning Franz Liszt's symphonic poems," and his Beethoven centenary essay. The penultimate chapter addresses Wagner's theory and practice of music drama, which he came to regard as the preordained successor to the Beethoven symphony. By analyzing special terms--such as "Leitmotiv"--Wagner's structural view of musical drama comes to the fore; it is a view that deepens not only our understanding of musical drama as a "hybrid" genre of art but also of purely musical structure and forms that Wagner sought to outdo. ... Read more

Book Description

During Beethoven's darkest times, when he stumbled about the streets of Vienna like a ragged madman, people thought his career was over. Many of his friends and patrons had died. He no longer seemed to be producing music except for a few trivial pieces.

But appearances were wrong. He was creating what is generally regarded as his greatest single work. Known as the Ninth Symphony, it is much more difficult and massive than any of the preceeding eight.

But Beethoven was aware that the people of Vienna thought he was crazy. He was afraid his symphony would be rejected.

Making things even worse, there had only been time for two rehearsals. By this time he was totally deaf and could not hear how well the musicians performed.

So on May 7, 1824, Beethoven conducted the Ninth Symphony for its premiere performance in Vienna. When the last notes of the magnificent final movement came to an end, Beethoven stood on the stage with his back to the audience. One of the singers gently turned him around so he could see the audience. The applause was thunderous. Everyone was standing and cheering.

Nearly 180 years later, Beethoven's works are still enjoyed by music lovers all over the world. On January 12, 2003, the Night Symphony was added to the "Memory of the World" register so that the compositions ofVienna's "mad genius" will live on for eternity. ... Read more

Reviews (2)

A Classic
The original Beethoven study in this series dates back to 1899.However in 1934, Dent Music Masters replaced that early volume with an entirely new study by Marion M. Scott.This particular edition enjoyed great popularity and was reprinted nine times between 1934 and 1974.Scott (1877-1953), an English music critic, musicologist, violinist and composer, untook a completely new study of Beethoven's life and work.Her insightful comments on his music are based on her own interpretations and careful study of each score. She visited Beethoven's birthplace and immersed herself in his world.The result is an extraordinary classic study of the man and his music.Scott was a metaphysician who probed deeply into the spirital aspects of Beethoven's music and created a text that is both stimulating and profound."Beethoven's last quartets are not the justification of modern music," Scott observes, "but modern music has reached the point at which it justifies the quartets and proves Beethoven's genius to have been transcendental."Highly recommended.

This book should never go out of print...
...But it has.

A superb book on Beethoven and a neglected classic. Small in size but not in scope, it less delves into his life and work with hardly a wasted word. Short but very insightful discussions of the character and occasional shortcomings in his compositions, with very level-headed and perceptive opinions (and a more positive reception of the composer's Late Period than I would have thought from a work of that time). The discussion is not watered down, but never gets over the head of the average listener.Many pieces are quickly dealt with, but the writing is direct, the insights sharp, the points well-taken.What's most impressive is how Scott has advanced many a theory I've rarely heard since, but which make such good sense.One wonders why she wasn't take more seriously, her insights not more frequently cited by others in their works.(Was it because she was a woman in a man's world?)She speculates, for example, that the "central three" of the last five Beethoven quartets were likely culled from aborted attempts to write masses; this not only describes their spiritual quality" better than the modern cliche about how they initiated "the avant garde," but it also explains Beethoven's famous cyptic note to his publisher about Op. 131: pilfered together from this and that.If indeed much of the material came from the three masses that comment would be justified.Furthermore, she claims the last quartet, Op. 135, short as it was, would have been even shorter because it was originally intended to be only three movements.But while many critics believed the slow movement to be the added section, she doubts this because that would have meant every movement in the quartet was in F Major.Rather she posits that the scherzo is actually the extraneous movement, and even claims it does little to advance the quartet.We've been so blinded by its bold audacity that we've failed to see that this is quite true.If you doublt me, try playing the work without the scherzo: in some ways it's even more interesting.

I'm surprised this book isn't better-known today, and has not recently been reprinted.I got more out of this slim volume than out of many biographies or analyses that go on for 500 pages or more.Worth looking for.Highly, highly recommended. ... Read more