The Beethoven Compendium: A Guide to Beethoven's Life and Music

Customer Reviews:

A must-own for the Beethoven fan.......2004-09-25

All the key facts about Ludwig at your fingertips, plus many more you probably never knew. This book is a terrific reference, an enjoyable read, a great collection of facts and essays, and a bargain to boot. For those who think you need to be a scholar to have this level of interest, you don't. But even a scholar will find handy having so many facts in one place.

The book covers not just Beethoven and his life and works, but Vienna in general, the musical climate of the time, history, politics, developments in musicology, the scholarship of Beethoven's music, musical instruments and practices of Beethoven's time, etc. It's all very well-organized, too, with many nice illustrations of everything from Beethoven's handwriting (how can anyone read it?) to portraits of his contemporaries. And after you finish this marvelous volume, get the one on Mozart, too! I only wish they'd make compendiums for Bach, Schubert, Liszt, Schumann, Haydn, Tchaikowsky, Rachmaninoff, Sibelius, Bartok, Wagner, etc., etc.

Excellent Handbook.......2001-03-13

This book is an excellent resource for researching the life and works of Beethoven. The sections regarding compositions are broken down by ensemble and type, and provide important information such as performance dates, key signatures, time signatures, and movement headings. Almost all topics, including such things as Beethoven's handwriting, favorite literature, philosophies, thoughts on other composers, are covered. Very handy for reference, as well as a guide to starting Beethoven research. Well worth it at twice the price!

Unparalleled Structure.......2000-11-13

Undoubtedly thousands of books have been written about Beethoven, but what sets this one apart from the others is its well-organized and exhaustive structure. Perhaps the best way to highlight this for the prospective buyer is to list the actual sections contained in this book. 1. Calendar of Beethoven's life, works and related events 2. Beethoven's family tree 3. Who's who of Beethoven's contemporaries 4. Historical background 5. Musical background 6. Beethoven as an individual 7. Beethoven's beliefs and opinions. Following section 7 are several more sections dedicated solely to his music. As you can see, this book offers several aspects that many others neglect to include. This structure also affords one the opportunity to go directly to an area of interest without having to wade through myriad pages. Also included are eight pages of paintings, sculptures and sketches of the maestro. This book is equally at home in the bathroom, on the coffee table, or in the study. It is an invaluable source of information for anyone desiring to learn more about this amazing genius.

Fascinating and Wonderfully Complete!.......2000-04-29

This book offers chapter after chapter of information on every aspect of Beethoven. I find that every time I pick this book up, I can find something interesting to read about. Obviously the music as catalogued and described. Beyond that, details of the great composer's personality, writing style, health difficulties, as well as his known views on a variety of topics provide endless hours of fascinating reading. I am impressed by the thoroughness of this book. Listings of people who Beethoven knew or interacted with, his influences and those he influenced, pictures and descriptions of his handwriting and manuscripts, the historical perspective on the times he lived in, all clearly described. I would highly recommend this book to anyone interested in learning more about this great master, and to anyone who is interested in the life and times of one of the most influential artists to ever live. In summary I have found it accurate and complete and always interesting. It is an indispensable reference.

Everything to do with Beethoven!.......1997-06-29

This book has the biography, the politics of the times, the pictures of, the letters of, the thoughts of others about him, deciphering of each piece of music, a list of his contemporaries, patrons, loves, friends, family tree... everything you could ever want to know about Beethoven's life and times! I love this book

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A Musically Conceived Biography
UNQUESTIONABLY, ONE OF THE FINEST RECENT BOOKS ON THE MASTER...
Masterful command of the artist's life and work
lockwood review
Paperback Edition Forthcoming...

Beethoven: The Music and the Life
Lewis Lockwood
Manufacturer: W. W. Norton & Company
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0393326381

Book Description

A "magisterial" (New York Review of Books) work offering a fresh look at Beethoven's life, career, and milieu.

This brilliant portrayal weaves Beethoven's musical and biographical stories into their historical and artistic contexts. Lewis Lockwood sketches the turbulent personal, historical, political, and cultural frameworks in which Beethoven worked and examines their effects on his music. "The result is that rarest of achievements, a profoundly humane work of scholarship that will—or at least should—appeal to specialists and generalists in equal measure" (Terry Teachout, Commentary). Finalist for the Pulitzer Prize. 50 illustrations.

Customer Reviews:

A Musically Conceived Biography.......2007-07-09

Lockwood's Beethoven:...is not only one of the best organized (as in excellently researched and uniquely ordered),but is also smartly presented from a sensitive muscial point of view. This point would seem to be obvious in biographies of composers, but is not always the case. From the standpoint
of a present day composer, this is fine new portal into the mind and music
of this giant of giants.

UNQUESTIONABLY, ONE OF THE FINEST RECENT BOOKS ON THE MASTER..........2006-11-18

Can't go wrong with this finely researched and well written tome on the Master.

Masterful command of the artist's life and work.......2006-07-09

Ludwig Van Beethoven is no easy man to write about, and his music at times defies description and shrugs off analysis. However, Lockwood has risen to the occasion. With painstaking thoroughness and an eye and ear for detail, he serves as our guide through a life that was filled with obstacles at every turn, and yet out of that, Beethoven was able to create works of enduring genius. Here was a man who shook his fist at the heavens and defied convention. He scorned the ordinary and had no time or patience for niceties. Lockwood misses nothing in this probing, sensitive and very honest account of a difficult man who wrote extraordinary music. At times, we learn more than we might need to, but for the serious reader, this book is both a challenge and a joy. I commend it highly!

lockwood review.......2006-05-01

Lewis Lockwood's Beethoven: the Music and the Life is a tremendous portrayal of this great composer. Lewis Lockwood is a highly recognized expert on Beethoven and is a Professor of Music at Harvard University. The book was a finalist of the prestigious Pulitzer Prize. In the book, he goes into great detail about almost every one of Beethoven's pieces. He does so in a fashion that encompasses the theoretical aspects of the music, what was occurring in Beethoven's personal life and the political and historical situations at the time of his compositions. The book also includes several illustrations that consist of portions of compositional sketches, handwritten letters, and portraits of influential people in Beethoven's life. With the use of letters, conversations books and sketchings, some of which are over two hundred years old, Lockwood provides an intimate glimpse of Beethoven.
The book is divided into four different parts that cover different eras of Beethoven's life. The first discusses Beethoven's childhood up until he moved to Vienna and the other three are about Beethoven's stages (or as Lockwood refers to them, maturities) as a composer. Each part starts with biographical information, but then moves on to the musical descriptions of his Beethoven's pieces, of which Lockwood discusses all known works. I found it surprising that his life could be divided so concisely, but in actuality, this form is tremendously helpful and gives the reader a greater understanding of the evolutionary development of Beethoven. Some have criticized the book for its traditional format and its lack of innovation, but I find the layout of the book fitting and unobtrusive.
Seeing Beethoven as both a man and a musician/composer, there is consequently a juxtaposition of these two views and throughout the book, Lockwood flips back and forth in order to keep a sense of chronology. Even within these views, there are several sides to Beethoven that Lockwood expresses. In the book, there are times when Beethoven, as a person, comes off as a lonely bachelor that deeply loved the women in his life but regretfully never was able to maintain a long-lasting relationship. But Lockwood also writes about how Beethoven's cold, strict parenting in effect caused his nephew, Karl, or as Beethoven referred to him as his "adopted son", to attempt suicide. After which, Karl sought comfort from his mother, whom Beethoven had driven him away from. As a composer, he is shown as both the artist that deserves infinite praise. Yet Lockwood also portrays him as the creator of musical drivel in order to make a profit in exchange for a sense of his own integrity for example when he composed "Wellington's Victory" (Lockwood 339). These various sides of Beethoven as a man and as an artist seem completely natural for a character as complex as Beethoven's and for music that is so powerful and philosophically deep. At certain points, these two views do get mixed and integrated into each other, which is what I believe that a biography of an artist should be based upon.
A reoccurring theme that arises throughout the book (and Beethoven's life for that matter) is the Romantic notion of overcoming adversity. Lockwood accurately sums up the effect on Beethoven from his deafness when he writes, "As a man he found himself imprisoned by deafness. As an artist, he broke free, continuing on a trajectory marked by significant acts of renewal and stages of stylistic transformation" (122-3). Lockwood wisely avoids playing up the Romantic ideals that embodied Beethoven. Instead he tries to present Beethoven as truthfully and real to life as possible with the sources available. Even though many Romantic artists are glorified by the status as an artist, Lockwood gives praise when it is deserved. The intention of the book is not to worship Beethoven, but it is rather to paint an accurate portrait of Beethoven in the various periods of his life.
Another theme that arises throughout the book is the influence of his predecessors, which Lockwood conveys well. It is interesting to see that Beethoven had the same anxiety of influence due to Mozart as just about every future Romantic composer had about Beethoven. In these instances, he comes off as more human than the composing giant he often seems. Personally, I find it much more interesting to identify with a person than to see him from purely an academic standpoint especially in the case of non-fiction reading which can be dry and unappealing if done solely for academic purposes. We, the reader, are also given this window into Beethoven as a person with his depression from the loss of hearing, the struggle of gaining custody of Karl, and his poor attempts at maintaining a normal father-son relationship with him.
There is a general bias that pieces from the last maturity are better than everything he wrote before. I think that it is difficult to compare the two because there is such a difference in quantity. Certainly the Ninth Symphony and other late pieces are incredible works of innovations that integrate influence of early composers like Bach and Handel. But I felt that some of the earlier works deserved more focus than they were given. For instance, in Chapter 20 there are thirty pages devoted entirely to the topic of the Ninth Symphony, which covers a political background of the piece, the varying interpretations of the piece in the present day, a look into the composing process and the "character" of the piece. Meanwhile, the Fifth and Sixth Symphonies are grouped together in one section. Each is given a subsection, which are each about seven pages. These tremendous works of Beethoven's are discussed for about a fourth of the time that the Ninth is. I understand that the Ninth is an incredibly influential symphony that still has effect today, but I don't think that has the power to overshadow his earlier important works.
Overall, the book seems to be intended for both the casual reader and the specialist on the topic. Lockwood conveys the intricacies of Beethoven's personal life like his relationship with Haydn, the women of his life, and his family life. Despite how long ago Beethoven's life took place, the preservation of various documents that were actually written by Beethoven allow the reader to almost enter into a conversation with the man. A fairly vague psychological survey seems to emerge from this biographical portion of the text. However, the focus of the book is on the music and the brilliance of his compositional skills. In a sense, he implies this with the title in the ordering of the words "music" and "life". At some points, the music theory that the reading entails seems difficult for the less scholarly reader, but Lockwood restrains from using overly technical terms and keeps it at a rudimentary level that if the reader were to listen to the pieces as they read about it, they would be able to establish an understanding of the text. But this goes for just about any writing on music because it much easier to have a clear grasp of a piece of music if the reader listens to it before or after reading about it than if they only read about it.

Paperback Edition Forthcoming..........2004-07-08

Checking on Amazon today for this book revealed that a paperback edition is forthcoming. One of the criticisms of the hardcover edition is that the musical examples are available only through a web site. Also, reviewers have said that the binding of the hardcover edition is poor. (Check recent editions of the Beethoven Journal for that review.)

Customer Reviews:

A study in genius with its blessings and drawbacks.......2001-08-15

Naxos is doing a wonderful job with its emerging "Life and Works" series. Quite some time ago, we had a Life/Works of Mozart, more recently one of Chopin and now two more, Liszt and Beethoven. Both are even better packaged than are the earlier sets, with a thick booklet that offers us essays on the historical background, the position of the composer in his time, a look at the major works, a listening plan, recommended readings, personalities, a calendar of the artist's life, a glossary, a discography--and finally something I thought I would never see, the text of the recording's narration. This booklet is worth the price of the set alone.

The Liszt set starts with the sound of artillery, the Beethoven with the sound of a cork popping. A good way to grab your attention, surely, but also to make you think they packaged the wrong disc in the jewel case!

Written and narrated by Jeremy Siepmann, the production enlists some excellent actors to play the people in the composer's life. In the "Beethoven" set (8.558024-27), we have Bob Peck as the usually tormented voice of Beethoven, who is joined by David Timson, Neville Jason, Elaine Claxton, and Karen Archer as the voices of Beethoven's friends, critics, and loves. The musical selections are drawn from the bottomless well of Naxos recordings.

As I commented with regard to the other sets, the music is well chosen but some of it simply lasts too long for those who are eager to get on to the facts of the composer's life. On the other hand, this IS called the Life and Works series, and perhaps a balance is to be maintained between the two aspects.

Beethoven's idiosyncrasies make a good comparison with those of Chopin, the former doing everything he could to call attention to himself, the latter withdrawn--but both acting like bloody fools in so many ways. Perhaps that is the price of genius. The tale of his "Immortal Beloved" is briefly treated here, but it is fascinating to follow his amores, which are invariably with women he could never hope to attain. The most surprising element is his early popularity as a Very Witty Person, an estimate he quickly lost when deafness came upon him.

Along with the other three sets, a both fascinating and informative recording.

Customer Reviews:

If you want to know more about Beethoven the two volumes by Thayer and edited by Forbes are a must.......2006-01-24

Since Alexander Thayer (a Harvard alum) published his three volume biography of Beethoven over a period of twenty-one years from 1866 -87 it has been the bedrock of information about Beethoven's life and work. It has also become a model for other musicologists and biographers. Obviously, more came to light over the next hundred years and the work was edited and reworked by Elliot Forbes (another Harvard alum and professor of music (but from a time before a Ph.D. was required)).

Forbes' "Thayer's Life of Beethoven" was published in 1964 in two volumes. (Does the name Ruth's Chris Steakhouse come to mind?) Prof. Forbes died in January of 2006 at 88 years of age. For awhile the two volumes were combined, but they are now separated. You simply must have them both. This first volume covers Beethoven's origins through 1814. The second volume from 1815 through his death in 1827 with several appendices that cover his estate, speculations about his various illnesses, lists of his works, publications of his works immediately following his death, preparations for a first biography, and so forth.

The book is organized chronologically and provides a well-documented presentation of Beethoven's activities that year whether performing, composing, or personal. It provides some speculation about certain events, but always identifies it as such. At the end of each chapter it lists the works composed that year and the works published that year.

Very much worth having. Just remember that you have to buy BOTH Part I and Part II to get the whole biography.

Exhaustive Biography.......2003-08-24

Everything you always wanted to know about Beethoven. That's what is in Thayer's biography. This is a two volume set, so there is a lot of reading. From a short history of Beethoven's family on to the composer's demise, there is not a stone that is left uncovered.

This is a reprint, the original being written I believe at the turn of the last century. Doubtless there has been more info about Beethoven uncovered since then, but if you are a true Beethovenite, this biography is essential reading. Recommended, along with Vol. 2!

Essential reading.......2000-04-10

If you're taking a course in Beethoven, at a graduate level, this is pretty important required reading. It's comprehensive, and along with the Solomon book, and the Kerman/Tyson offering in the small New Grove edition, you cover a lot of info. It's well-written and doesn't get too lagubrious, in spite of it being translated from the German. I found the subject matter spurred me on anyway. Even though the work first appeared in 1921, a lot of the information remains accurate, and one gains also some insight into what a remarkable historian Thayer was.

Ludwig Van Beethoven: Musical Genius (Great Life Stories)

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Ludwig Van Beethoven: Musical Genius (Great Life Stories)
Brendan January
Manufacturer: Franklin Watts
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Library Binding

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ASIN: 0531119092

Diagnosing Genius: The Life and Death of Beethoven

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Diagnoses after death.

Diagnosing Genius: The Life and Death of Beethoven
Francois Martin Mai
Manufacturer: McGill-Queen's University Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 0773531904

Book Description

Beethoven's extraordinary ability to compose great music despite severe health problems, including deafness and depression, has puzzled and inspired. In Diagnosing Genius François Martin Mai looks at the relationship between Beethoven's health and creativity to show how the composer was able to transcend physical and emotional torment to produce some of the most powerful and beautiful music in Western culture. Mai's experience as a physician and psychiatrist serves as a basis for his analysis. Working from the symptoms described in the medical evidence, Beethoven's letters and those of his friends, and the reports of his physicians, Mai compares how Beethoven's health complaints would have been understood and treated within the medical, political, and social climate of both his time and ours. He discusses Beethoven's terminal illness and the resulting autopsy report to consider the roles of alcohol, lead poisoning (based on the toxic levels in his hair), and syphilis in causing his death. Diagnosing Genius also analyses the psychology of creativity. Mai shows that even though Beethoven's infirmities led to physical pain, isolation, and torturous relationships, they enhanced, perhaps even fed, his genius and suggests that other artists may have overcome similar problems.

Customer Reviews:

Diagnoses after death. .......2007-09-24

Although Mai is a psychiatrist, he did an excellent job in writing a book that proposes, and explaines, the various medical/emotional problems Beethoven experienced during his life time in a manner that is easily understood by the general public. I also appreciated Dr. Mai's approach in evaluating the symptoms Beethoven presented, and then offering "probable" diagnoseis, not absolute diagnoses. For how can anyone absolutely state Beethoven suffered from this or that disease, mental illness, without having actually seen the patient, or having access to the body?

Being a mental health professional myself, I found the chapter on illness and creativity very interesting. I have often speculated that Beethoven may have suffered from a mood disorder (Bi-polar), but have never voiced that speculation. Again, a firm diagnosis can not be made; however, it is something to ponder.

It is somewhat disturbing to those of us who worship Beethoven to consider he may have succumbed to the human frailties of deafness, IBS, alcoholism, depression, suicidal ideation, etc. He was such a genius, who created such awe inspiring music during tumultuous times personally and during a tumultuous time in history, it is hard to take him off of the superhuman pedestal and see him as a man with all of the trappings of man. Dr. Mai's writing demonstrates how human the Great One really was, but in a manner that is non-judgemental, nor offensive.

This is a very easy and enjoyable book to read.

The Beethoven Compendium (A Guide to Beethoven's Life and Music)

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The Beethoven Compendium (A Guide to Beethoven's Life and Music)

Manufacturer: Borders Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: 0681075589

Product Description

The Beethoven Comendium, written by four leading Beethoven scholars in the light of the latest research into this perennially fascinating figure, is the key to a full understanding of Beethoven:his charachter, his social life, his religious beliefs, his politics, his times, and above all, his music.

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Empowering Your Life With Joy
Ph.D., Gary R. McClain , and Eve Adamson
Manufacturer: Alpha
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 1592570976
Release Date: 2003-09-02

Book Description

Let the music move you...to a happier life. With easy-to-apply methods and quizzes, this book shows readers how to use Beethoven's Ninth Symphony, Ode to Joy, to find and embrace joy, even through life's many rough spots. Includes:

€ First Movement: What is joy, and how can one get more of it?
€ Second Movement: Creating joy in mind, body, and soul
€ Third Movement: Reclaiming and embracing joy
€ Fourth Movement: Spreading joy to others

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Beethoven
Robert Tine
Manufacturer: Berkley
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0425136485

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