Beethoven : the music and the life / Lewis Lockwood.
| Author/creator | Lockwood, Lewis |
| Format | Book |
| Edition | First edition. |
| Publication Info | New York : W.W. Norton, ©2003. |
| Description | xix, 604 pages : illustrations, music ; 24 cm |
| Subjects |
| Contents | Prologue. Youth, maturity, old age: three letters -- Part 1. The early years: 1770-1792. Beginnings. Bonn as a musical center ; Bach from the hands of Neefe ; Kant, Schiller, and the enlightenment ; Max Franz and the Mozart legacy ; Family, friends, and patrons ; To Vienna in search of Mozart ; The last years in Bonn ; Waldstein's prophecy -- Music of the Bonn years. Early keyboard music ; "This passage has been stolen from Mozart" ; Composing and sketching ; Cantatas for two emperors -- Part 2. The first maturity: 1792-1802. The first years in Vienna. The political atmosphere ; Vienna as a musical center ; Confronting the Viennese aristocracy ; Haydn ; Playing for an elector and a king ; Entering the public world -- Music of the first Vienna years. Revising earlier works ; Chamber music and piano sonatas -- Years of crisis. Deafness ; The Heiligenstadt testament -- Music for and with piano. The "New way" and the early sketchbooks ; A laboratory of invention: more piano sonatas ; From convention to originality: piano variations ; New violin sonatas ; The earlier piano concertos -- Music for orchestra and the first quartets. The first symphony and the Prometheus ballet ; The French dimension and military music ; The second symphony ; Opus 18: "I have now learned how to write string quartets" -- The first maturity: an overview -- Part 3. The second maturity: 1802-1812. Beethoven in the new age. Napoleon and self-made greatness ; Beethoven and his milieu ; Relations with women -- New symphonic ideals. The heroic and the beautiful ; The third symphony (Eroica) ; The fourth symphony ; The fifth and sixth ("Pastoral") symphonies ; The seventh and eighth symphonies -- The mature concertos. The new Symphonie concertante: the triple concerto ; The fourth piano concerto ; The violin concerto ; The "Emperor" concerto -- Music for the stage. The opera Leonore and its overtures ; The Coriolanus overture ; Incidental music for Goethe's Egmont -- Vocal music. Oratorio and mass ; The songs -- Beethoven at the keyboard. Improvising and composing at the piano ; Pianos ; The "Waldstein" and "Appassionata" sonatas ; Piano sonatas opp. 79-81a ; Lyrical and monumental chamber music -- String quartets. The "Razumovsky" quartets -- Part 4. The final maturity: 1813-1827. The "Fallow" years. The congress of Vienna ; Lighter works ; Celebrating Wellington's victory ; Fidelio ; New sonatas ; An die ferne Geliebte ; Emergence of the late style -- Beethoven's inner and outer worlds. Isolation and deafness ; The guardianship struggle ; "The human brain is not a salable commodity" ; The final projects -- Bringing the past into the present. The third maturity ; Beethoven's knowledge of Bach and Handel -- Late piano music. The Hammerklavier sonata, opus 106 ; Piano sonatas opp. 109-111 ; The "Diabelli" variations ; The late bagatelles -- The celestial and the human. The Missa solemnis ; The ninth symphony ; The political background of the ninth ; Changing views of the ninth ; Composing the ninth ; The character of the ninth -- Timeless music: the last quartets. Opus 127 ; Opus 132 ; Opus 130 and the Grand Fugue ; Opus 131 ; Opus 135 ; Final thoughts. |
| Abstract | In this portrayal of the world's most famous composer, the author interweaves his subject's musical and biographical dimensions and places them in their historical and artistic contexts. Written for the lay reader, the book describes the special problems Beethoven faced as a highly gifted artist who fulfilled his destiny as Mozart's main successor while remaining a true, rebellious original. It sketches the turbulent personal, historical, political, and cultural frameworks in which Beethoven worked and demonstrates their effects on his music. Finally, it turns to the composer in his last years, with great achievements behind him, surmounting the crisis of finding still further artistic paths by which to continue. Also, by providing glimpses into the composer's sketchbooks and autograph manuscripts, Lockwood allows us to gain substantial insights into Beethoven's compositional methods. |
| Bibliography note | Includes bibliographical references (pages 559-578) and indexes. |
| LCCN | 2002075397 |
| ISBN | 0393050815 |
Availability
| Library | Location | Call Number | Status | Item Actions |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Music | Music Stacks | ML410.B4 L597 2003 | ✔ Available | Place Hold |
| Music | Music Stacks | ML410.B4 L597 2003 | ✔ Available | Place Hold |