Beethoven`s Piano Sonatas: A Short Companion

Book Description

Beethoven's piano sonatas form one of the most important collections of works in the whole history of music. Spanning several decades of his life as a composer, the sonatas soon came to be seen as the first body of substantial serious works for piano suited to performance in large concert halls seating hundreds of people. In this comprehensive and authoritative guide, Charles Rosen places the works in context and provides an understanding of the formal principles involved in interpreting and performing this unique repertoire, covering such aspects as sonata form, phrasing, and tempo, as well as the use of pedal and trills. In the second part of his book, he looks at the sonatas individually, from the earliest works of the 1790s through the sonatas of Beethoven's youthful popularity of the early 1800s, the subsequent years of mastery, the years of stress (1812-1817), and the last three sonatas of the 1820s. Composed as much for private music-making as public recital, Beethoven's sonatas have long formed a bridge between the worlds of the salon and the concert hall. For today's audience, Rosen has written a guide that brings out the gravity, passion, and humor of these works and will enrich the appreciation of a wide range of readers, whether listeners, amateur musicians, or professional pianists.

Customer Reviews:

con brio.......2007-03-09

This is a nice read for hard-core Beethoven-heads. It'll change the way you approach playing the pieces, or at the least change the way you listen to them. There's nothing wrong with just listening to the music and absorbing it, not worrying about why a particular change is brilliant or why it should affect you. It's like watching a movie and just letting the movie touch you however it does, not worrying about why the director chose a particular camera angle or what some set detail might be referencing. But it is hard for modern listeners to realize just how much some of Beethoven's compositions broke against the assumptions of the time. When the harmonies pivot on thirds, for example, modulating through a series of keys before landing where the ear expects it, it doesn't necessarily hold the same tension to modern ears. Wagner, as well as every composer of cinematic background music, have now manipulated Beethoven's techniques to the point of emotional burlesque. But you get extra credit for being the first, and still the best, to do it.

But the best parts of reading Rosen- a scholar whose words are mostly measured- are those brief moments when he gushes. When he expands on the revolutionary character of the music. When he stops intellectualizing about music and briefly speaks as an admirer in awe. Compositional theory can only go so far, after all. Eventually you give yourself over to the sheer transcendence of this brilliant music.

It reminds me of a calculus teacher I had once. He was just about the slowest, driest lecturer I had ever had. But one day, when discussing the fact that the derivative of sine is cosine, his gaze softened. His voice choked for a moment, "this is when math becomes something more than logic, something more beautiful. There is nothing in the Universe that says the derivative of a sine wave will be a cosine wave. It didn't have to be..." I nice little warble of emotion broke through and I briefly cared about calculus.

New Testament for pianists.......2006-02-24

Any pianist, amateur or professional, who is serious about playing the piano, particularly the Beethoven sontats, must not only have this book but also devour it. Charles Rosen has willingly shared his incredible intellect, musicianship, research and pianistic knowledge and understanding. To have someone of his stature and accomplishments willing to share a lifetime of performing experience with us is truly remarkable. A MUST HAVE for all pianists.

Valuable guide to some of the best piano music ever written.......2004-10-06

There are a number of well-known books about Beethoven's piano sonatas. If one simply likes listening to the sonatas but has no intention of playing them, I wouldn't recommend this book, nor the ones by Tovey or Drake. I'd suggest reading about them in a book about Beethoven's life, or maybe the chapter on them in Kentner's book on the piano. But if you enjoy playing any or all of these sonatas, yes, you'll enjoy this book, with its emphasis on simplicity of style (which Rosen explains to us is the advice of Proust's grandmother).

While there's good advice on phrasing, pedaling, and trills, the most interesting part of any book on the Beethoven sonatas is going to be about tempos. This one is no exception. The author points out that it is not illegal to play a piece of music at the wrong tempo. One won't get a speeding ticket or a fine or a jail sentence for doing so. Still, even if a tempo seems comfortable to us, it may not be anything like what Beethoven had in mind, so it is useful to see what the correct tempos appear to be. I like the fact that Rosen tries to discover what those who read Beethoven's tempo descriptions would have concluded at the time they were written, as opposed to relying on what Czerny, Moscheles, Schindler, or others might have said long afterwards.

Rosen's comments are backed up with excerpts on an accompanying CD (played by Giulio Ricci). I think these add substantially to the value of this book.

And of course, if you play the piano but haven't tried the Beethoven sonatas, you are missing something truly special.

Not top-drawer Rosen, but a useful guide.......2004-05-12

Charles Rosen by now is one of the foremost writers on music, especially piano music, of the Classic and Romantic eras. His books _The Classical Style_ and _The Romantic Generation_ are classics of their kind.

Inevitably, given Rosen's prolific output and its specialization, there is a slight feeling of deja vu about this volume on Beethoven's sonatas for piano. Rosen is laboring under the shade of such great writers on Beethoven as Donald Tovey. Nevertheless, the book offers fresh perspectives and many stimulating new ideas in its opening section, which views the sonatas through general topics such as "Phrasing" and "Tempo." The second section, consisting of commentaries on the individual works, more clearly apes Tovey and here, considered word for word, the older writer probably offers more detailed and practical insights for the serious piano student into the actual performance of these great works than Rosen. Nevertheless, this book is a valuable addition to any collection of writings on music.

Music of a Lifetime.......2002-07-20

Beethoven's 32 sonatas are the glory of music written for the piano. They are music of Beethoven's lifetime in that their composition spans the period from his early days in Vienna to near the end of his life. In another sense, Beethoven's piano sonatas are the music of my lifetime. I first was exposed to them as an early adolescent through concerts, records, and my own early attempts at playing the easier of them. Today, all too many years later (I am 55), I still try to play the sonatas and I go to recitals. I listen to them on CDs now instead of records. And I read about them, particularly Charles' Rosen's edudite and eloquent study. With short periods away, Beethoven's piano sonatas are probably the most lasting interest I have had in my life.

Rosen was inspired to write this book by giving a performance of the sonata cycle and to lecture on Beethoven at a summer music festival and school. The book is, on one level, a continuation of Rosen's study, "The Classical Style" with application to the Beethoven sonatas. The book is marked by its wide-ranging references. There is a great deal of specific discussion of Beethoven's piano sonatas, of course, but the book is enriched immeasurably by examples from and discussions Mozart, Haydn, and Schubert, as their works are compared and contrasted with Beethoven's.

The book is divided into two Parts. Part I, "The Tradition" begins with a discussion of the nature and development of the sonata form. Rosen describes well how Beethoven's sonatas have, until very recent years, been a bridge from the world of performance of classical music in the home to its appreciation in the concert hall. This was certainly the case with me.

The book discusses various ways in which the sonatas have been interpreted over the years and attempts to find that elusive quarry -- the manner in which the composer would have interpreted the sonatas. Rosen devotes a great deal of attention to questions of tempo and questions of phrasing, with examples from Beethoven's predecessors. He concludes that modern performers place more emphasis on a smooth legato style than would have been the case in Beethoven's day and that Beethoven's tempos would be somewhat different from those at which we now hear the music. In some cases, tempos would have been faster, but I get the impression that in the main tempos were taken at a slower pace. The book comes with a CD recorded by Guiilio Caesare Ricci which illustrates helpfully many of Rosen's musical examples. Rosen stresses that there is no single way of performing these complex, wonderful pieces of music. His discussion of performance practices still is highly useful in understanding the sonatas and in listening to them.

The second part of the book consists of a chronological discussion of each of the 32 sonatas. The discussion is arranged in five parts: a)the early 18th Century sonatas (the sonatas from opus 2 to opus 22); b) the sonatas of Beethoven growing in popularity and independent style (the sonatas from opus 26 to opus 28) c) the sonatas in which Beethoven attained mastery (the sonatas from opus 31 through opus 81a) d). the sonatas composed during Beethoven's years of stress and personal difficulty (the opus 90 and opus 101 sonatas and the "Hammerklavier" sonata, opus 106 ); and e)the last sonatas (opus 109. 110,111)

In each instance Rosen offers some general comments on the character of each sonata followed by detailed thematic, harmonic and pianistic discussions.

I found it useful in this section of the book to read first Rosen's discussion of the sonatas with which I was most familiar, either by attempting to play them or by repeated hearings over the years. Thus I began with Rosen's discussion of the opus 26 sonata and followed it the the "Waldstein", the "Pathetique" and the opus 90 sonata. I then went through Rosen's discussion work by work as it appeared in the book. There is much to be learned, and Rosen's discussion will be useful in listening to the sonatas and following along with the score or with Rosen's discussion.

It is worth noting that Rosen spends a great deal of time on sonatas which are relatively little performed, particularly the opus 54 (which is given in full on the CD that comes with the book) and with the opus 31 no. 1 sonata. His discussion of these work illuminates them and illuminates Beethoven's output. He also gives thorough discussions of more familiar works particularly the "Moonlight" sonata and the Hammerklavier -- with respect to the latter, he follows-up upon the lengthy analysis of this work in The Classical Style.

Amazon.com

A well-publicized 1994 Sotheby's auction listed, among other musical artifacts and ephemera on the block, a lock of Beethoven's hair. The high-bidders of the hair, two Beethoven enthusiasts, were easy enough to identify by their oddball names: one was a doctor named Che Guevara, the other a retired real estate developer named Ira Brilliant. But the real story, as author Russell Martin attempts to explain in this book, is how did the lock end up on the auction block? More important, can we learn anything from a 175-year-old snippet of hair? Somehow, author Russell Martin attempts to weave biographical information about Beethoven's life with scientific findings about his hair (the two buyers had the lock DNA-tested), as well as trace the path the hair took, from the great composer's head right into the present.

It's a tall order and one at which Martin partially succeeds. His facts about Beethoven and Ferdinand Hiller (the original keeper of the lock) are solid, but he hypothesizes at length about how the hair ended up in a small port town in Denmark during the Nazi occupation. Likewise, he spends nearly the entire second half of the book describing the lives of Guevara and Brilliant, occasionally sounding more like a press agent than a journalist. Subtitled "An Extraordinary Historical Odyssey and a Musical Mystery Solved," Beethoven's Hair doesn't truly solve any musical mysteries, but it is a fascinating, original read for Beethoven-philes who want to learn a little bit more about their favorite composer. --Jason Verlinde

Book Description

Ludwig van Beethoven lay dying in 1827, a young musician named Ferdinand Hiller came to pay his respects to the great composer. In those days, it was customary to snip a lock of hair as a keepsake, and this Hiller did a day after Beethoven's death. By the time he was buried, Beethoven's head had been nearly shorn by the many people who similarly had wanted a lasting memento of the great man. Such was his powerful effect on all those who had heard his music.

For a century, the lock of hair was a treasured Hiller family relic, and perhaps was destined to end up sequestered in a bank vault, until it somehow found its way to the town of Gilleleje, in Nazi-occupied Denmark, during the darkest days of the Second World War. There, it was given to a local doctor, Kay Fremming, who was deeply involved in the effort to help save hundreds of hunted and frightened Jews. Who gave him the hair, and why? And what was the fate of those refugees, holed up in the attic of Gilleleje's church?

After Fremming's death, his daughter assumed ownership of the lock, and eventually consigned it for sale at Sotheby's, where two American Beethoven enthusiasts, Ira Brilliant and Che Guevara, purchased it in 1994. Subsequently, they and others instituted a series of complex forensic tests in the hope of finding the probable causes of the composer's chronically bad health, his deafness, and the final demise that Ferdinand Hiller had witnessed all those years ago. The results, revealed for the first time here, are startling, and are the most compelling explanation yet offered for why one of the foremost musicians the world has ever known was forced to spend much of his life in silence.

In Beethoven's Hair, Russell Martin has created a rich historical treasure hunt, an Indiana Jones-like tale of false leads, amazing breakthroughs, and incredible revelations. This unique and fascinating book is a moving testament to the power of music, the lure of relics, the heroism of the Resistance movement, and the brilliance of molecular science.

An astonishing tale of one lock of hair and its amazing travels--from nineteenth-century Vienna to twenty-first-century America.

Download Description

An adventure story starring a lock of Beethoven's hair, this irresistible true tale mixes history, music and science into a compelling narrative. Beginning in 1827, when 582 strands of the great composer's hair were cut from his scalp, the author traces the history of the lock right up to the present day.

Customer Reviews:

A Biography of hair........2007-10-13

If you are looking for a biography of Beethoven this is not the book; however, if you are interested in the biography of his lock of hair, then you've hit pay dirt. How a lock of Beethoven's hair traveled from his head in 1827, at the time of his death, to Germany, Denmark, the United Stated, and Mexico is fascinating.

The portion of the book that delves into WWII, the Danish attempts to assist fleeing Jews, and how Beethoven's hair became involved is truly remarkable. It is also a piece of positive humanity I think Beethoven would have rejoiced. It is a portion of history few people are aware of, and I am saddened to learn I didn't know about it when I lived south of Gilleleje, Denmark. Being a Beethoven fanatic, and half Danish, makes the desire to return to Denmark to explore Beethoven's hair's path grow strong.

Learning more about how Ira Brilliant began his fabulous Center for Beethoven Studies was also a treat. As with my regret at not being able to speak directly to Beethoven, I regret that I can not speak or meet Mr. Brilliant. However, both men have left humanity with wonderful testaments to musical art, and will be greatly remembered and revered by Beethovenites.

Wonderful Book.......2007-05-25

Purchased the book for my daughter, who is a music student. Loved the book, it is more interesting and accessible than expected.

The Real Story about Beethoven and his deafness.......2007-01-10

This book was fascinating from the start. A mixture of World War II intrigue and Classical Music history. The book was well written and kept me involved to the end. I have used what I learned from it to help with my teaching in Music Connections in Middle School.

Good Content, With One Stylistic Problem.......2006-10-25

Let me say first - and I say it with enthusiasm - that I enjoyed the content and - unlike some - the layout of the book. However, there was one - and only one as far as I can figure - drawback to the book. It seemed at times like it happened on almost every page - this drawback - that Martin used extremely long hypenated sentences - like these, which, after a while could cause you to lose track of what the sentence started out to say - that caused me to have to read them three times to make sense of them. Okay, the point is made. That problem aside, I found the content of the book very riveting and exciting. I thought it was a nice creative touch to alternate between the history of Beethoven's lock of hair and the modern-day events surrounding its acquisition and scientific evaluation. The book even suggests a possible cause of Beethoven's deafness based on the study. I recommend the book. And now that it is in paperback, the price is right, too.

A thrilling biography of a clump of hair..........2006-08-11

A lock of hair, not a famous composer, plays the lead role in this forensic thriller. The story of how this lock found its way from Beethoven's head to the city of Cologne, to the port city of Gilleleje, to Sotheby's in New York City, and finally to the Beethoven Center in California makes for a breathtaking and page turning tale. And, along the way, a very likely explanation for the ravaging illnesses that plagued Beethoven throughout his life emerges. Not only that, it even played a part in saving Jews from Nazi terror. Quite an accomplishment for a clump of hair.

This book demonstrates the facility with which science and history can synergize. A simple wooden and glass locket states in antiquated writing that the hair within came from Ludwig Van Beethoven. But did it? As the item was passed for over a century through numerous hands in Germany, many may have harbored suspicions of its authenticity. After all, how does one prove that the hairs once sprouted from one of western civilization's key figures? And the stories of numerous fradulent relics, notably those of Saints, rings loud in european history. But modern science can unravel such questions, and, as the purchasers of the hair realized, many other surprising things.

In 1827, the hair in question did make its way from the scalp of Beethoven into the hands of young Ferdinand Hiller, who then made quite a name for himself in Cologne. Amongst his friends he could count Felix Mendlessohn, Franz Liszt, and Frederick Chopin. And throughout his fascinating life he met other luminaries such as Richard Wagner, Johannes Brahms, Hector Berlioz, and Goethe. He garnered a reputation as a composer and music critic, and achieved renown in his day. But his fame eventually faded, and he passed the locket on to his son, Paul, as a treasured family heirloom. The locket received some restoration work in 1911, and remained in the care of the Hiller family until the precarious era of Nazi Germany split apart families and cities. Somehow it ended up in the small city of Gilleleje in northern Denmark. The book explores various theories as to its arrival there. At the time the city was heroically transporting Jews to Sweden to keep them from the maw of the Nazis. A modest physician named Kay Fremming received the locket from one of the Jews hidden in the town church the very night the Gestapo stormed it and hauled away a hundred or so refugees. Fremming kept the locket in his office drawer for two decades. The Fremming's adopted daughter (she literally sat on their step one day and claimed them as her family when they arrived home) was shown the locket by Kay's wife, Marta. As time passed and Kay and his wife passed away, the locket came into the daughter's hands. Rough times later descended, and she decided to put the locket up for sale. Sotheby's showed an interest, and the some two hundred year old item appeared in the 1994 catalog. Ravenous Beethoven fans on the American continent bid on the piece, won it, and trasported it to the Beethoven Center in San Jose, California (where it remains). They had the idea to have some of the hair analyzed to help determine the cause of Beethoven's death, a wish that Beethoven had explicitly expressed in his letters. The analysis revealed the now old news that Beethoven had significant levels of lead in his body, and that lead poisoning likely hastened his death. That theory remains the accepted explanation. Then, to put the final piece in order, bone analysis linked the hair to Beethoven almost indubitably.

Weaving throughout the story of the locket is a cursory biography of Beethoven himself. Those familiar with his life will likely learn nothing new from these interposed sections. Regardless, they help elucidate Beethoven's health issues, and help point the book towards its ultimate goal. But the travails of the snipped hair remain the focus of the book.

A summary of the twisted plot leaves out the rich nuances and details that provide the book's real fascination. Not to mention the numerous people that came together to help solve the puzzle. This story has a curious parallel in the fictional movie "The Red Violin", in that the life of an object through phases of the human world receives elucidation. Fans of that movie will likely appreciate the intentions at work in "Beethoven's Hair". Perhaps the most astonishing fact is that a simple hair cutting led, two hundred years later, to the unveiling of a historical quandry. Which goes to show that very small human actions can lead inexorably to momentous consequences.

Ludwig Van Beethoven Complete Piano Sonatas Volume 1 (Nos. 1-15)

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Awesome Edition For the Cheap Price
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Ludwig Van Beethoven Complete Piano Sonatas Volume 1 (Nos. 1-15)
Ludwig van Beethoven
Manufacturer: Dover Publications
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0486231348

Book Description

Volume 1 of authoritative Schenker edition includes Op. 2, Nos. 1-3; Op. 7, Op. 10, Nos. 1-3; Op. 13, op. 14, Nos. 1-2; Op. 22; Op. 26; Op. 27, Nos. 1-2; Op. 28.

Customer Reviews:

Good Edition.......2007-10-11

Obviously there is nothing to say about the Beethoven sonatas. Simply amazing.

This edition has given us 1-15 in a very reasonably priced book. The binding is sturdy, and I have put it through some strain, trying to make it stay open. It will stay open, if you will work with the binding. But the binding seems to have no problem standing up to the strain I have put on it. Highly recommended.

Awesome Edition For the Cheap Price.......2006-09-15

I'm a piano major in college and I know several people who own this edition and have in soem cases for years and they're all still in very good condition for their age. Surprisingly, it holds up well over time and the pieces are excellently presented...I've never heard any editing complaints.

I myself own the Henley Urtext edition of the volume 2, but own teh Dover for the volume 1. If you're strapped for cash in your music shopping *which I have been many times*, this is a great choice!

Most bang for the buck.......2006-08-18

I might be biased because I almost exclusively buy Dover editions of piano music, but the LVB Sonata volumes are one of the better ones.

Firstly, it's clear that you can't Dover on value. It'd cost more to photocopy the entire book than to buy it. I like the binding of the books, as they are well-made. I do have some trouble keeping the pages open in the thicker books (esp. the Scriabin Etudes book), but I can't complain.

Secondly, the notes are printed as a good size, and notation/fingering is good. I like Heinrich Schenker's notation and commentary, and I feel that it's very helpful for the amateur pianist for suggestions. There are some fingerings that I don't necessarily agree with, but it's unobstrusive enough to not bother me. I'd rather have some suggestion than none at all.

For Beethoven Sonatas, Dover is a good choice, unless you'd prefer Henle Urtext, which is at least 2x or 3x the price of this. I would avoid the Schirmer editions, as they butcher the markings.

Has stood the test of time.......2006-01-29

As the other reviewers have noted, this book is printed with very high quality and attention to detail. I've owned mine for almost 20 years -- over that time, it has the the most-used and best-wearing piano book I've owned. As others have noted, it also lies flat, the print is very clear, and it's a total bargain.

Great edition.......2005-11-20

To be quite honest, perhaps I would give it a 4.5 star rather than 5 stars. First off, I'd like to praise the accuracy this volumn presents. Though, it isn't an Urtext edition, but I've compared some to an Urtext and surprise, surprise, even the padeling isn't much deterred from one. Also, it isn't heavily edited, and to me, the little editing that it has, actually is helpful. Now on to the reason why I subtracted a .5 star off is because though the fingerings are there, but some of them are quite horrible and if anything, complicated the flow of the piece, that, if one isn't attentive to the peice might just ruin it. The worst is, a mere change of fingering can probably correct the problem. So my advice is to have your teacher check the fingerings and make corrections. Of course, those kind of mistakes aren't abundant, but here I should give an example of bad fingering for Sonata no.17 "Tempest". When one plays the triplets, instead of playing along what the book suggests, just play all triplets with your right hand and have your left hand cross over. This alternative fingering isn't a secret, many people know it and find it better. I wonder why doesn't the book at least give alternative fingerings?

But it is jaw-breakingly cheap and accurate. If I were to make a choice to buy it again, I certainly would.

By the way, I find all Dover bindings to be on the horrible side. This book, along with my many other Dover scores are already broken in half (hey, it's like having two books with a price of one! I kid, it's like a book broken in half that's not suppose to be.) So just be prepared to see this great Dover edition break... and you can't do anything about it.

Symphonies Nos. 1, 2, 3 and 4 in Full Score

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Let the BUYER BEWARE!!!
Very good quality editions for study and listening - will last for years
Worth Having
student's companion

Symphonies Nos. 1, 2, 3 and 4 in Full Score
Ludwig van Beethoven
Manufacturer: Dover Publications
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 048626033X

Book Description

Superb authoritative German editions (Henry Litolff's Verlag) of Symphony No. 1 in C Major, Op. 21; Symphony No. 2 in D Major, Op. 36; Symphony No. 3 in E-flat Major ("Eroica"), Op. 55; and Symphony No. 4 in B-flat Major, Op. 60. Finest inexpensive full-score editions. Lists of instruments.

Customer Reviews:

Let the BUYER BEWARE!!!.......2006-10-28

While Dover's many scores represent an amazing value across the musical repertoire, their collection and reprint of the Litolff Edition of the Beethoven Symphonies was a mistake. For the casual buyer they are workable, but not for serious use in performance, as they are riddled with editorial mistakes and problems. Purchaser would be better advised to find a set of the miniature (octavo-sized) Bärenreiter critical scores. They are bound just as nicely and the paper is of excellent quality. I use the full-size Bärenreiter set when I conduct my orchestra.

Very good quality editions for study and listening - will last for years.......2006-01-24

I appreciate the Dover edition of these works because the large format makes for easier reading and provides room for making notes while you are studying. For example, you might want to make something special or unique to one recording so that when you listen to another you can compare the two.

And if you don't read music very well, these symphonies are a good place to start. You can listen to the music and what the shapes go by. And eventually you will get used to the link between the sound and what you see. These scores are not as dense as, say Mahler or Strauss or works with huge orchestras. So, the classics make a great way to get into the pool, so to speak. Honestly, even if you can't read the notes, you will notice things after a few listenings that you had not heard before because you see the `shape' in the score.

The Dover editions are also very durable and will last for many years of use. These editions are nice and clear and easy on the eyes because the contrast between the dark ink and light paper is very good, but not blinding.

Recommended. Expand your horizons!

Worth Having.......2001-12-29

These scores (as well as those of the other symphonies) are worth having. Serious students of music can take invaluable lessons from Beethoven's knowledge of counterpoint, orchestration, dynamics, melody, harmony, and form. Additionally these are great listening aids, pointing out "Nebenstimmen" ("secondary voices") that might not be noticed at first listen. This way one can learn to enjoy Beethoven (and other music) as many melodies intertwining into a larger fabric.

student's companion.......2000-06-19

This edition of the first four symphonies followed me through my conservatory training, including some extremely frightening conducting lessons in front of a bored orchestra. There are no errors in the score that I have ever found, and the music is clear and easy to read. The best edition of a necessary score for any orchestral musician.

Beethoven: The Universal Composer (Eminent Lives)

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Best Beethoven biography available
An initimate portrait of the man, less the music
Beethoven Over All
Highly readable
short but sweet

Beethoven: The Universal Composer (Eminent Lives)
Edmund Morris
Manufacturer: Eminent Lives
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 0060759747
Release Date: 2005-10-04

Book Description

Ludwig van Beethoven (1770-1827) was a genius so universal that his popularity, extraordinary even during his lifetime, has never ceased to grow. It now encircles the globe: Beethoven's most famous works are as beloved in Beijing as they are in Boston.

Edmund Morris, the author of three bestselling presidential biographies and a lifelong devotee of Beethoven, brings the great composer to life as a man of astonishing complexity and overpowering intelligence. A gigantic, compulsively creative personality unable to tolerate constraints, he was not so much a social rebel as an astute manipulator of the most powerful and privileged aristocrats in Germany and Austria, at a time when their world was threatened by the rise of Napoleon Bonaparte.

But Beethoven's achievement rests in his immortal music. Struggling against progressive, incurable deafness (which he desperately tried to keep secret), he nonetheless produced towering masterpieces, such as his iconic Fifth and Ninth symphonies. With sensitivity and insight, Edmund Morris illuminates Beethoven's life, including his interactions with the women he privately lusted for but held at bay, and his work, whose grandeur and beauty were conceived "on the other side of silence."

Customer Reviews:

Best Beethoven biography available.......2007-08-28

Unlike other books by Mr. Morris, this accurate biography of Beethoven's life is based on fact instead of vivid recreation of fiction. This book is poignant and very descriptive and goes as far as updating facts about Beethoven's life (based on serious and ardouos research), something other scholars had avoided. There are tons of metaphors contrasting Beethoven's compositions with the current literary movement of the time: Sturm und Drang, and this gives the reader a chance to delve in into German-Austrian society of the time and how the subject interacted with it. It is a book both witty and funny, capable of arousing serious doubts among intellectual circles for the author discusses Beethoven's supposed homosexuality and his misathropy without having much evidence for the former. I highly recommend this book simply because it is descriptive, well written and hillarious ( I couldn't stop laughing at the way Mr. Morris suggested how picky and obstinate Beethoven was--all in a witty way). For those who do not have a background in classical music, music theory to be more specific, this book would prove to be challenging--reading Classical Music for Dummies will suffice as an introduction for this splendid piece of research.

An initimate portrait of the man, less the music.......2007-08-20

Beethoven the Universal Composer is a thoughtful portrait of the man, less the music. The book describes how music truly inhabited Beethoven and impelled him through life, but the focus is on his relationships,generally tempestuous, often manic, at times obsessive. Combined with his tragic deafness, his mercurial personality in these relationships often alienated him from the community of mankind touched so deeply by his music.

I listened to this book unabridged on audio narrated by John McDonough. McDonough is a true star in this performance. His rich sonorous voice captures the magnitude and awesomeness of Beethoven's life force, with a power that rivals the incomparable George Guidall in audio performance. What the audio is missing is Beethoven's music itself, which could have been integrated for greater richness alongside the descriptions of the music.

Beethoven Over All .......2007-02-27

I read Thayer's Life of Beethoven many years ago and I wanted to revisit the life of Beethoven. My interest was for something dealing closely with Beethoven's personality and this short book by Edmund Morris seemed ideal. There is a lot of information that makes this short study interesting but I ultimately did not find this book very satisfying. A danger in writing a biography is that the author can fall under the spell of his subject and cease to be objective. I found this to be the case with Mr. Morris especially in his first chapter where he addresses his subject as "Ludwig" and seems eager to explain his life rather than objectively relate events.

Mr. Morris' lack of objectivity was also made clear in the opening Prologue where he denigrates other composers; he points out that "Brahms has never gone down well in France" and that "Sibelius, who once seemed sure of a seat on Parnassus, has been replaced by the masturbatory Mahler." At one time, radio audiences in America voted Sibelius as the most popular composer, even over Beethoven, and it should also be noted that Beethoven's symphonies were not played in France until after his death where in some circles they, indeed, did not go down well either. And as for Mahler, I found such comments by Mr. Morris' to be extremely uncharitable and a turn off.

There were other comments that I found irksome and a few doubtful. An example: "It is hard to think of any contemporary classical-music radio station or website that does not attempt to beat to death, on a daily basis, the Fifth and Sixth Symphonies, the "Emperor" Concerto, the Coriolan and Leonore I Overtures and the Choral Fantasy - while fortunately neglecting such other masterpieces as the Cello Sonata, Op. 69, the "Ghost" and E-flat major Trios, Op. 70, and the little known, tranquilly lovely Mass in C major." This seems quite an exaggeration, and my advice for Mr. Morris is to listen to WFMT, but not on December 16.

I found myself skimming the book particularly from Mr. Morris' pedantic style of writing. His overuse of foreign words was a bit much and while in some cases the use of foreign phrases is interesting and even a necessity there were many times in this book when they were unnecessary. An example, "Max Franz was receptive to the Count [Ferdinand Waldstein] - who quickly became a court favorite - but showed no interest in favoring Ludwig over any of the other musici." Can't we simply refer to them as musicians?

Beethoven's music is covered, for the most part, succinctly by Mr. Morris, as I would have expected in a book of this length and events in the composer's life are well-presented - particularly Beethoven's relationship with this nephew Karl. Regrettably, Mr. Morris says nothing of Beethoven's interest in Schubert's music that happened during his final illness. Schubert was among his visitors and the dying Beethoven asked to see him before other friends who were present. As it is, Mr. Morris relates that Schubert was a torchbearer during Beethoven's funeral and notes that Schubert was buried near Beethoven and continued to be dominated by him.

Unfortunately, I cannot say that Mr. Morris provided the well-rounded portrait of Beethoven that I was seeking, and I plan to turn to a longer biography of the composer. I came away from reading this book that I needed another point of view concerning Beethoven.

Highly readable.......2007-01-23

I thoroughly enjoyed this compact and informative biography -- it is the perfect amount of information for someone who would like a reasonably comprehensive picture of Beethoven's life (and the fascinating historical context) without wading through reams of minutiae. Beethoven, despite some less-than-attractive personal traits, is a truly inspirational figure in the purity of his musical genius and dedication to his art in the face of deafness and many other obstacles. But perhaps the most pleasantly surprising revelation of the book was the author's uncanny ability to describe Beethoven's music with metaphors that give it a physical reality -- this is a special gift of Mr. Morris perhaps attributable to his own musical background. It made the music come alive on the page with a sort of synaesthesia rare, in my experience, in any genre of artistic criticism.

short but sweet.......2007-01-18

This slender volume is no substitute for the likes of Maynard Solomon's 500-page Beethoven (1977, revised in 1998), but that is not its purpose. Rather, this "Eminent Lives" series publishes biographies on "canonical figures" by distinguished contemporary authors. Edmund Morris, for example, is best known for his Pulitzer Prize-winning biography The Rise of Theodore Roosevelt (1979) and, more recently, Theodore Rex (2002), although I notice that the book jacket also describes him as a pianist and "private scholar of music" who has "studied Beethoven for a half century." The result is an accessible book geared for a general readership about one of the greatest composers ever to live.

Compared to Mozart who astonished regal courts at age six or seven, Beethoven (1770-1827) got a comparatively late start, although by his teenage years he was an acknowledged genius. The first written comparison to Mozart is when Beethoven was thirteen. He was also well-known for his multitude of eccentricities--his ugly looks, poor social skills, inability to perform simple math, slovenly personal habits and squalid living conditions despite his wealth, deep loneliness, a volcanic temper, depression, unimaginably manipulative and vindictive behavior towards those closest to him, greed, lying and cheating, and, of course, his deafness that descended upon him at the age of thirty-one. After meeting together four times in the summer of 1812, Goethe described Beethoven as "an utterly untamed personality."

But his music, so full of "contrast and conflict," is simply some of the most beautiful and sublime ever to emerge from a mortal. With quick strokes Morris takes us through Beethoven's aborted lessons with Mozart (he returned after two weeks for his mother's funeral), and then his move at the age of twenty-two to study with Haydn in Vienna, where he lived for the rest of his life. At the ripe age of twenty-four he had what amounted to his public debut, after which history took its course. His final public performance was in 1814, a dozen years before he died.

Beethoven's ambition and prodigious capacity for work made him a wealthy celebrity and the darling of both royalty and aristocracy. But he was hounded his entire life by deep loneliness, chronic ill health, and social alienation due to his eccentricities. But by himself he instigated a revolution in music: "The age of Affekt, of familiar sounds in rationalized patterns designed to evoke specific emotions, was over. The age Argument had begun: music that actually fought with itself, with the composer struggling to balance its contrary dynamics, and the performer struggling to master its difficulties--while the listener, caught up in the struggle, too, wondered which force was going to prevail" (145).

Beethoven / Sonatas (Urtext), Volume I" (Kalmus Edition)

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Beethoven is the man!

Beethoven / Sonatas (Urtext), Volume I" (Kalmus Edition)

Manufacturer: Alfred Publishing Company
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0769240909

Book Description

A collection of advanced piano sonatas by Ludwig van Beethoven, urtext edition.

Customer Reviews:

Beethoven is the man!.......2000-09-23

In a snobby music world, where editions like Durand and Henle are too quickly deemed top dog, it's very nice to be able to find an edition like this one for so cheap. It's the urtext, so one has a lot more confidence in this edition than say, the Schirmer edition. (NEVER buy a Beethoven Schirmer if you ever want to play REAL Beethoven!)

Beethoven is always a joy, and the top sonata in this volume is the Pastorale, of course! Get volume 2 if you want to enjoy op. 78 (a favorite) and the Waldstein.

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Clear enough to play from!

A World of Creativity

Perhaps the best bargain in music ever...

A MUST

Ludwig van Beethoven Complete String Quartets
Ludwig van Beethoven
Manufacturer: Dover Publications
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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Complete String Quartets

The Beethoven Quartet Companion

Symphonies Nos. 5, 6 and 7 in Full Score

Symphonies Nos. 1, 2, 3 and 4 in Full Score

Symphonies Nos. 8 and 9 in Full Score

ASIN: 0486223612

Book Description

Breitkopf & Härtel edition. 6 quartets of Opus 18; 3 quartets of Opus 59; Opera 74, 95, 127, 130, 131, 132, 135 and Grosse Fuge. Study score.

Customer Reviews:

Clear enough to play from!.......2006-11-03

The large page size of this Dover edition makes it easy to read, if not to
carry around. But when you want to play the score on the piano or just one part, it is great.

A World of Creativity.......2003-08-20

Beethoven's string quartets are basic for any music lover's library. Beethoven wrote string quartets throughout his composing life, and they reflect his evolving art. Never resting on his laurels, Beethoven continually grew artistically until the end.

It is difficult to label Beethoven as primarily a symphonist, chamber music composer, or piano composer. Practically every ensemble and form he used he produced masterpieces that reflect not only the music he wrote, but the music he wrote within the ensemble he chose. His music does not transcribe well at all.

A music lover needs to be acquainted with pieces from each of the ensembles to have any kind of grasp on the monumental influence that Beethoven has had on western music. Perhaps a good beginning would be the piano sonatas, but the string quartets have to have a place also.

From the early quartets to the last quartets, the amount and variety of music in the quartet opus alone is astounding. Like the other genres he composed in, some of his best music is in the string quartets.

One of the best ways to get the most out of this music is to follow along in the score. It is a good way to learn to follow more than one staff of music at a time, and is a good primer that can lead to full orchestral score reading. And the music...incredible!

A ton of music, a pittance of a price. Serious music lovers, take the hint! Highly recommended!

Perhaps the best bargain in music ever..........2002-06-15

Not every Dover score is a gem; some are merely reprints of earlier editions complete with the typographical errors that didn't get caught the first time around. But this edition of Beethoven's complete string quartets is of excellent quality, and for the price it may well be the best bargain in music ever. The music is incredibly important--superb pieces by one of the most gifted people to ever live. That all the quartets are included allows the student of these works to trace Beethoven's stylistic development in a single volume from the early quartets rooted in the Classical tradition through those absolutely innovative late quartets, which combined Baroque contrapuntal and formal elements with Romantic harmonies and Beethoven's own unique sense of rhythm and drama. (In addition to the originally published version of the final quartet with the new final movement suggested by his publisher, the Grosse Fuge is included also.) I recommend to all my music students and especially my composition students that they get these pieces and study them throughout their lives. I can honestly say that I have learned more from these quartets than from any other, similar body of music literature by a single composer; and even as a composer of twenty-first century music I am continuously educated and inspired by them.

A MUST.......2000-05-20

This edition of the Beethoven String Quartets is by far the best value. It is a must for any musician. The music is carefuly researched, clearly marked, and printed on high quality paper for many years of use. This Dover edition is like all of the other Dover scores, OUTSTANDING! I use my copy all of the time and could not live without it. Thanks Dover. Jeffrey Noel Lastrapes, The Lindsayan String Quartet

Symphonies Nos. 5, 6 and 7 in Full Score

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Beethoven symphonies 5, 6 and 7
At this price it can't be beat
Let the BUYER BEWARE!!!
You will hear these works more clearly watching the score while you listen
Excellent editions

Symphonies Nos. 5, 6 and 7 in Full Score
Ludwig van Beethoven
Manufacturer: Dover Publications
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0486260348

Book Description

Superb, authoritative editions (Henry Litolff's Verlag) of great orchestral masterworks: Symphony No. 5 in C Minor, Op. 67; Symphony No. 6 in F Major ("Pastoral"), Op. 68; Symphony No. 7 in A Major, Op. 92. Lists of instruments.

Customer Reviews:

Beethoven symphonies 5, 6 and 7.......2007-08-09

I've been listening to classical music for 54 years now, and Beethoven continues to be my favourite composer. I am not a musician myself and am just beginning to learn how to read music (it's never too late!). For some years now I've been curious to see how the music I love so much looks in writing, and I was glad to see that I could get the scores of these three most famous symphonies for such a good price. I don't know what a professional musician or conductor would say about them, perhaps they require a different set up for the scores, but in my case it's been a thrilling experience to be able to follow (not perfectly yet, of course) what I am listening to in the scores. It's been a real pleasure, even when I get lost... which happens often!

At this price it can't be beat.......2007-06-16

I agree with a previous reviewer that these are not good for conducting work. These scores are reprints that lack the precision, clarity and readability of the Baerenreiter scores, which are based on recent scholarship. However, just for casual listening and studying purposes, they do fine and are much more affordable than Baerenreiter.

Let the BUYER BEWARE!!!.......2006-10-28

You will hear these works more clearly watching the score while you listen.......2006-01-26

Beethoven's Fifth, Sixth (Pastorale), and Seventh symphonies are among his most popular works. While I am sure you can hear the opening motive of the Fifth in your mind, it is typical to hear it as a triplet with a strong articulation of the first note. However, a quick look at the score will show you that it begins with an 8th rest and that the three notes are really three straight 8ths of G that flow into the strong downbeat on the E-flat. That is the kind of clarity you get from looking at the scores and making sure that you are hearing the music correctly. It makes a great deal of difference in how you make sense of the music. The same holds true for the Sixth and Seventh. You will love watching how the Horns are used in the Seventh and those groaning basses in the last movement. Just wonderful stuff.

I appreciate the Dover edition of these works because the large format makes for easier reading and provides room for making notes while you are studying. For example, you might want to make something special or unique to one recording so that when you listen to another you can compare the two.

And if you don't read music very well, these symphonies are a good place to start. You can listen to the music and what the shapes go by. And eventually you will get used to the link between the sound and what you see. These scores are not as dense as, say Mahler or Strauss or works with huge orchestras. So, the classics make a great way to get into the pool, so to speak. Honestly, even if you can't read the notes, you will notice things after a few listenings that you had not heard before because you see the `shape' in the score.

The Dover editions are also very durable and will last for many years of use. These editions are nice and clear and easy on the eyes because the contrast between the dark ink and light paper is very good, but not blinding.

Recommended. Expand your horizons!

Excellent editions.......2005-12-30

I started learing how to read scores 3 years ago, this was my first one. It was great having my favorite symphonies in one volume, and that there were no errors. The music is very easy to follow with a recording, and I learned so much about tonal structures, techniques, different clefs, transpostion, and about orchestration. If you are really interested in studying scores, I highly reccomend this one as a starter.

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A treasure from this author and illustrator is no surprise!
The Heroic Symphony
A TREASURE FOR YOUNG READERS

The Heroic Symphony
Anna Harwell Celenza
Manufacturer: Charlesbridge Publishing
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 1570915091

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A treasure from this author and illustrator is no surprise!.......2006-07-25

I am in love with this series of books for children! I own three of them and can't wait to get the rest. This is a perfect series for homeschooling families, or parents who want to supplement what their children are learning outside the home. This book not only tells the story of Beethoven's life and inspiration for writing The Heroic Symphony, but it also gives some of France's history at the time that Beethoven wrote it. The illustrations are beautiful and truly works of art in themselves. This book will be used by our family and passed down to be used again and again. The CD which accompanies it is very well done. My children love to listen to the music and love the story that goes along with it. I feel that the love of classical music is a great gift to give any child. This book is well worth the money, and hard to find at a lower price! Well done!

The Heroic Symphony .......2005-03-09

The heroic symphony is a true story about Ludwig Van Beethovens symphony no.3 also called the Heroic symphony.THe book has cute well drawn pictures that are fun to look at. it gave good info and wasnt hard to read. it can be a book for all ages and many are sure to enjoy[this book]. it also comes with a cd which is the heroic symphony music

A TREASURE FOR YOUNG READERS.......2004-04-09

The author, an associate professor at Michigan State University, has already educated and entertained young readers with the lives of two composers in "The Farewell Symphony" and "Pictures At An Exhibition." When paired with rousing watercolor and ink illustrations by JoAnn Kitchel, both of those books are small treasures, as is "The Heroic Symphony," which relates the life of Beethoven.

As the story opens Beethoven has it all - fame, fortune, and the ability to play the piano better than anyone in all of Europe. However, the music lovers who flocked to hear him have no idea that he is slowly losing his hearing. Desperate, hoping for a cure in the spring of 1802 Beethoven fled to a remote clinic.. But there was no help for him.

As Beethoven despaired a melody began to fill his mind, and he realized that if he could no longer play the piano he could compose. He knew that he wanted to write music that would not only entertain but would also inspire, so he searched for inspiration. One name came to him - a war hero, Napoleon Bonaparte.

Later, upon learning that his hero, Bonaparte, had crowned himself Emperor of France Beethoven attempted to destroy his months of work, but was stopped by a close friend. At length Beethoven scratched the name Bonaparte from his manuscript and wrote a new title, "The Heroic Symphony."

A CD recording of Beethoven's Symphony No. 3 ("Eroica" is included. It is performed by the Chicago Symphony Orchestra under the direction of Sir Georg Solti.

- Gail Cooke

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