Jan Swaffordrsquo;s biographies of Charles Ives and Johannes Brahms have established him as a revered music historian; capable of bringing his subjects vibrantly to life. His magnificent new biography of Ludwig van Beethoven peels away layers of legend to get to the living; breathing human being who composed some of the worldrsquo;s most iconic music. Swafford mines sources never before used in English-language biographies to reanimate the revolutionary ferment of Enlightenment-era Bonn; where Beethoven grew up and imbibed the ideas that would shape all of his future work. Swafford then tracks his subject to Vienna; capital of European music; where Beethoven built his career in the face of critical incomprehension; crippling ill health; romantic rejection; and ldquo;fatersquo;s hammer;rdquo; his ever-encroaching deafness. Throughout; Swafford offers insightful readings of Beethovenrsquo;s key works. More than a decade in the making; this will be the standard Beethoven biography for years to come.
#363354 in eBooks 2014-08-05 2014-08-05File Name: B00E9FYT0O
Review
0 of 6 people found the following review helpful. Five StarsBy MusicManMajor contribution to the study of 19th-c. aesthetics.0 of 6 people found the following review helpful. Five StarsBy J. SchmeeA very detailed account of a very limited topic that happens to interest me.