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"Why are not more musicians' biographies written like this?"Mitsuko Uchida, Books of the Year, The Guardian "If I were to keep only one book on Beethoven this would be a strong contender." Philip Borg-Wheeler, Classical Music "Lockwood writes like an angel, lucid, enthusiastic, stirring and enlightening. Beethoven has found his ablest interpreter." Jonathan Keates, The Spectator "Professor Lockwood's insight and scholarship are profound..." Michael Graubart, The Musical Times "...Professor Lockwood's original perspectives, his formidable knowledge and his elegant style will prove an invaluable new source." Alexander Waugh, Literary Review "...marvellously illuminating." Michael Church, Financial Times "The greatest strength of Lockwood's book-and it has many strengths-is the unusually enlightening way in which this scholar discusses Beethoven's music." The Times Literary Supplement
Product Description
In this brilliant portrayal of the world's most famous composer, Lewis Lockwood interweaves his discussion of Beethoven's life and works while placing them in their historical and artistic contexts. Here the music looms larger than the life-the composer dominates the man-but both are discussed at length. Written for the general reader, the book shows how Beethoven's abundant great works reflect both his powerful artistic individuality and the deepest aesthetic, philosophical and political currents of his age.
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Bonn, Beethoven's birthplace, was and is in essence a small town in Germany. Read the first page
Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Index | Back Cover
Bonn, Beethoven's birthplace, was and is in essence a small town in Germany. Read the first page
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Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Index | Back Cover
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
21 of 22 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase
Being a Research Professor of Music at Harvard University I'm sure makes Lewis Lockwood, the author of this book, well qualified to write with great authority about Beethoven. I'm sometimes concerned though that such academic attributes make for heavy reading, but the sleeve comments state that `no musical expertise is required' so I approached this book expecting an in-depth account of Beethoven and his often turbulent life, rather than a detailed note-by-note dissection of his works. I was pleased to find my expectations were met.
The book divides Beethoven's life into four sections:
The Early years - 1770 to 1792
The First Maturity - 1792 to 1802
The Second Maturity - 1802 - 1812
The Final Maturity - 1813 to 1827
Each section covers not only those works written during these periods but discusses too the social and political events which influenced the composer and his compositions. As well as covering the obvious issues like his struggle with deafness and failed love attempts, the book goes into great depth in such areas as the ninth symphony and the final string quartets.
There's also a couple of useful chapters, one is a chronology - approx 1 paragraph per year of Beethoven's life, the other is an index of his entire works ordered by Opus number including references to pages in the book which discuss those works.
I found this an absorbing book which is aimed perhaps at the reader who already has a reasonable knowledge of Beethoven and his music. At times it's a little bit heavy going, but I hesitate to agree with sleeve comments such as `...the Beethoven biography for the intelligent reader' (Stanley Sadie - editor for The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians) for such comments tend to alienate the Beethoven novice and reinforce the myth that classical music is for the intellectual elite.
A good book for the `serious' Beethoven fan, whatever their IQ.
The book divides Beethoven's life into four sections:
The Early years - 1770 to 1792
The First Maturity - 1792 to 1802
The Second Maturity - 1802 - 1812
The Final Maturity - 1813 to 1827
Each section covers not only those works written during these periods but discusses too the social and political events which influenced the composer and his compositions. As well as covering the obvious issues like his struggle with deafness and failed love attempts, the book goes into great depth in such areas as the ninth symphony and the final string quartets.
There's also a couple of useful chapters, one is a chronology - approx 1 paragraph per year of Beethoven's life, the other is an index of his entire works ordered by Opus number including references to pages in the book which discuss those works.
I found this an absorbing book which is aimed perhaps at the reader who already has a reasonable knowledge of Beethoven and his music. At times it's a little bit heavy going, but I hesitate to agree with sleeve comments such as `...the Beethoven biography for the intelligent reader' (Stanley Sadie - editor for The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians) for such comments tend to alienate the Beethoven novice and reinforce the myth that classical music is for the intellectual elite.
A good book for the `serious' Beethoven fan, whatever their IQ.
5 of 5 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
If you have any interest in the music of the man then the book provides a fascinating insight into what drove him to create such sublime music. Very well researched and well written (Pulitzer Prize finalist), reading the book enables you to put the music into the context of a personality and a mind being motivated by external and personal events. For example, lack of female companionship at an early age when his mother and sister die and this loss extending into his adult life as he abandons any hope of a lasting relationship with a woman; his sense of isolation and increasing irascibility as his deafness worsens but his brave determination to fight suicidal thoughts and 'live through his music'. I found discovering the man behind the music (and behind the myth?) very rewarding and would recommend the book to anyone with a love for his music or perhaps to someone who wants to understand the motivations of a genius.
20 of 23 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover|Amazon Verified Purchase
Being a Research Professor of Music at Harvard University I'm sure makes Lewis Lockwood, the author of this book, well qualified to write with great authority about Beethoven. I'm sometimes concerned though that such academic attributes make for heavy reading, but the sleeve comments state that `no musical expertise is required' so I approached this book expecting an in-depth account of Beethoven and his often turbulent life, rather than a detailed note-by-note dissection of his works. I was pleased to find my expectations were met.
The book divides Beethoven's life into four sections:
The Early years - 1770 to 1792
The First Maturity - 1792 to 1802
The Second Maturity - 1802 - 1812
The Final Maturity - 1813 to 1827
Each section covers not only those works written during these periods but discusses too the social and political events which influenced the composer and his compositions. As well as covering the obvious issues like his struggle with deafness and failed love attempts, the book goes into great depth in such areas as the ninth symphony and the final string quartets.
There's also a couple of useful chapters, one is a chronology - approx 1 paragraph per year of Beethoven's life, the other is an index of his entire works ordered by Opus number including references to pages in the book which discuss those works.
I found this an absorbing book which is aimed perhaps at the reader who already has a reasonable knowledge of Beethoven and his music. At times it's a little bit heavy going, but I hesitate to agree with sleeve comments such as `...the Beethoven biography for the intelligent reader' (Stanley Sadie - editor for The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians) for such comments tend to alienate the Beethoven novice and reinforce the myth that classical music is for the intellectual elite.
A good book for the `serious' Beethoven fan, whatever their IQ.
The book divides Beethoven's life into four sections:
The Early years - 1770 to 1792
The First Maturity - 1792 to 1802
The Second Maturity - 1802 - 1812
The Final Maturity - 1813 to 1827
Each section covers not only those works written during these periods but discusses too the social and political events which influenced the composer and his compositions. As well as covering the obvious issues like his struggle with deafness and failed love attempts, the book goes into great depth in such areas as the ninth symphony and the final string quartets.
There's also a couple of useful chapters, one is a chronology - approx 1 paragraph per year of Beethoven's life, the other is an index of his entire works ordered by Opus number including references to pages in the book which discuss those works.
I found this an absorbing book which is aimed perhaps at the reader who already has a reasonable knowledge of Beethoven and his music. At times it's a little bit heavy going, but I hesitate to agree with sleeve comments such as `...the Beethoven biography for the intelligent reader' (Stanley Sadie - editor for The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians) for such comments tend to alienate the Beethoven novice and reinforce the myth that classical music is for the intellectual elite.
A good book for the `serious' Beethoven fan, whatever their IQ.
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