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tasmanian_bibliophile's review
4.0
‘Without suffering there is no struggle, without struggle no victory, without victory no crown.’
Ludwig van Beethoven (born c16 December 1770 - 26 March 1827) was a great composer and pianist. He remains one of the most famous and influential of all composers, with his best known compositions including 9 symphonies, 5 piano concertos, 32 piano sonatas and 16 string quartets. His Ninth Symphony is my single most favourite piece of music, but it is time for me to move beyond the symphonies into his other works.
I remember learning a little about Beethoven during my compulsory music classes at high school. I remembered feeling great sympathy for him: I’d suffered periods of intermittent deafness myself as a consequence of infection, and thought how much more tragic a loss of hearing must be for someone whose life was music. But I never really took the time to learn much more about Beethoven until I fell in love with his Ninth Symphony about twenty years ago.
In this book, Jan Swafford, himself a composer and author, has tried to present the facts about Beethoven, without the romanticised myths that started growing about him while he was still alive. While Beethoven was a great artist, it seems that he had a very limited capacity for life outside music. He was idealistic and irascible, and at times quite petty. He quarrelled with his friends and benefactors, and spent many years in a bitter custody battle with his sister-in-law over his nephew Karl. He fell in love with women who were unattainable, and he never married.
‘For well and ill, what Beethoven had been in his teens had not fundamentally changed. He had never grown into social maturity. He was never able to understand anything through another person’s eyes, could see the world only though his own lense.’
For me (a non-musician) the most interesting parts of the book were those that provided biographic detail, and properly set Beethoven’s life in the history of the times (which quickly moved from the Enlightenment to revolution and war across Europe). Was Beethoven a revolutionary? Mr Swafford portrays him as a composer whose work evolved, whose work drew from earlier composers including Mozart and Hayden. Intriguing.
I felt sorry for Beethoven as he battled his progressive deafness, his ill health, his increasing paranoia. I may not understand the technical aspects of his music, but I love listening to it. Especially the Ninth Symphony.
‘The gulf between Beethoven’s music and his life, the exaltation and the darkness, only widened in his age.’
Jennifer Cameron-Smith
Ludwig van Beethoven (born c16 December 1770 - 26 March 1827) was a great composer and pianist. He remains one of the most famous and influential of all composers, with his best known compositions including 9 symphonies, 5 piano concertos, 32 piano sonatas and 16 string quartets. His Ninth Symphony is my single most favourite piece of music, but it is time for me to move beyond the symphonies into his other works.
I remember learning a little about Beethoven during my compulsory music classes at high school. I remembered feeling great sympathy for him: I’d suffered periods of intermittent deafness myself as a consequence of infection, and thought how much more tragic a loss of hearing must be for someone whose life was music. But I never really took the time to learn much more about Beethoven until I fell in love with his Ninth Symphony about twenty years ago.
In this book, Jan Swafford, himself a composer and author, has tried to present the facts about Beethoven, without the romanticised myths that started growing about him while he was still alive. While Beethoven was a great artist, it seems that he had a very limited capacity for life outside music. He was idealistic and irascible, and at times quite petty. He quarrelled with his friends and benefactors, and spent many years in a bitter custody battle with his sister-in-law over his nephew Karl. He fell in love with women who were unattainable, and he never married.
‘For well and ill, what Beethoven had been in his teens had not fundamentally changed. He had never grown into social maturity. He was never able to understand anything through another person’s eyes, could see the world only though his own lense.’
For me (a non-musician) the most interesting parts of the book were those that provided biographic detail, and properly set Beethoven’s life in the history of the times (which quickly moved from the Enlightenment to revolution and war across Europe). Was Beethoven a revolutionary? Mr Swafford portrays him as a composer whose work evolved, whose work drew from earlier composers including Mozart and Hayden. Intriguing.
I felt sorry for Beethoven as he battled his progressive deafness, his ill health, his increasing paranoia. I may not understand the technical aspects of his music, but I love listening to it. Especially the Ninth Symphony.
‘The gulf between Beethoven’s music and his life, the exaltation and the darkness, only widened in his age.’
Jennifer Cameron-Smith
isabelchang5's review against another edition
5.0
Musical popularization books generally fall into two different categories: Those that include musical notation and those that do not. This book is a perfect balance of both worlds and can be perfectly enjoyed by readers who cannot read music. As an academic musician myself, I absolutely loved the academic and historical rigour of the book. Highly recommended for these who want to deep dive into Beethoven's life.
mtthwkrl's review against another edition
5.0
I loved this biography. Swaffords style is slightly arch and witty, while also being generous to his subject. He's a very genial guide to Beethoven's extraordinary life, and the insights he brings as a composer made me hear things in a different way.
It's a very strange thing to fall into a deeply human agape love with someone long dead.
It's a very strange thing to fall into a deeply human agape love with someone long dead.
clarinethero's review against another edition
4.0
Did the audio version. Wish the musical examples were included.
joanprieto's review against another edition
5.0
Una retrato erudito y apasionado de la vida y el trabajo de uno de los personajes más influyentes de la historia de la cultura y el arte europeos. Leí el libro con la intención de conocer más sobre Beethoven y me encontré con una estampa completa de los siglos XVIII y XIX, de la Ilustración al Romanticismo, pasando por la revolución francesa y el repliegue político, artístico y cultural que vino con la pérdida de los ideales revolucionarios La obra de un artista es el período en el que se enmarca.
Una cuarta parte del libro son ensayos sobre sus piezas más importantes, escritos para avanzados en la materia. Te abrumarán como a mi si no entiendes de lenguaje musical. También llena las páginas (son más 1.400) con detalles de lo más cotidianos sobre la vida del compositor. Hay mucho de todo, y no sobra nada.
Una cuarta parte del libro son ensayos sobre sus piezas más importantes, escritos para avanzados en la materia. Te abrumarán como a mi si no entiendes de lenguaje musical. También llena las páginas (son más 1.400) con detalles de lo más cotidianos sobre la vida del compositor. Hay mucho de todo, y no sobra nada.
ketonks's review against another edition
5.0
I would give this biography six stars if I could, or as many as are available. To call this well researched is a massive understatement. Necessary reading for any Beethoven admirer. Though the copy I have is from the library, I will likely be buying my own. Brilliant, engrossing, detailed and exactly what I hoped it would be.
doriastories's review against another edition
5.0
A truly stupendous and monumental biography, in every way worthy of its subject. Eminently readable, meticulously detailed, and not without humor amidst the poignancy of a very difficult life, this is one of the finest and most authentic biographies I've read. Es muß sein.
cechang0507's review against another edition
5.0
DAMN THIS TOOK ME SO LONG lmao. but I FINISHED. 936 pages of BEETHOVEN. honestly a very interesting and well written read. i learned so much!
artk_bookworm's review against another edition
4.0
Excellent Biography that is probably the most detailed one you will ever read. It covers Beethoven's personal life, analyzes his music, and also studies the history of the time period in which he lived. The book goes on and on and on... but it is actually pretty good in spite of it's length.
ktonks's review against another edition
5.0
I would give this biography six stars if I could, or as many as are available. To call this well researched is a massive understatement. Necessary reading for any Beethoven admirer. Though the copy I have is from the library, I will likely be buying my own. Brilliant, engrossing, detailed and exactly what I hoped it would be.