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BestsellerE-book
Author Caeyers, Jan, 1953- author.

Title Beethoven : a life / Jan Caeyers ; translated by Brent Annable.

Publication Info. Oakland, California : University of California Press, [2020]
©2020

Item Status

Description 1 online resource (xxiv, 630 pages) : illustrations, plates
text file
Note Originally published: Beethoven : een biografie (Amsterdam : De Bezige Bij, ©2009).
Bibliography Includes bibliographical references (pages 601-610) and indexes.
Contents Foreword / by Daniel Hope -- Part one. Artist as a young man (1770-1792). Louis van Beethoven : a grandfather figure ; Jean van Beethoven : the absent father? ; Early years ; Christian Gottlob Neefe : the mentor ; Young professional ; Bonn turns to Vienna ; Beethoven's first crisis ; A second home, and new horizons ; Renewed vigor and the first major works ; Farewell to Bonn -- Part two. A time of proving (1792-1802). Vienna in 1792 ; Beethoven's first patron : Karl von Lichnowsky ; Haydn and Albrechtsberger ; Career plans ; Family, friends, and loves in Vienna ; In anticipation of greater things ; Lobkowitz's "center of excellence" ; Immortal beloved : episode one ; Road to a broader public ; A word from the critics ; Disciples : Carl Czerny and Ferdinand Ries ; Heiligenstadt testament -- Part three. Master (1802-1809). A "new way" forward ; Laboratorium artificiosum ; Publishing pains and the "warehouse of the arts" ; Composer in residence ; Salieri's opera lessons ; Mystery of the Eroica ; Immortal beloved : episode two ; In search of the perfect piano ; Leonore : a work in progress ; Golden years -- Part four. Crowds and power (1809-1816). A new social status ; New prospects ; An imperial pupil ; Beethoven and Goethe ; Immortal beloved : episode three ; Se non è vero ... ; End of the classical symphony ; Music for the masses ; A lucrative sideline ; From Leonore to Fidelio ; From coffee and cake to congress and kitsch ; Fight for a child ; From the "immortal beloved" to a "distant beloved" -- Part five. Lonely way (1816-1827). Longing for greater things ; Post-congress Vienna ; London plans ; A Faustian sonata and a diabolical contraption ; Missa solemnis : a mass for peace ; Circle is complete : the late piano works ; Estrangement ; Encounters with the younger generation ; An ode to joy ; Decline ; Karl's emancipation ; Money matters ; Discovery of heaven : the late string quartets ; Comoedia finita est.
Summary This new biography of Ludwig van Beethoven offers connoisseurs and newcomers alike an unparalleled story of the composer's life and works, written by a renowned conductor and scholar of Beethoven's music. With unprecedented access to the archives at the Beethoven House in Bonn, Jan Caeyers expertly weaves together a deeply human and complex picture of Beethoven-his troubled youth, his unpredictable mood swings, his desires, relationships, and conflicts with family and friends, the mysteries surrounding his affair with the 'immortal beloved,' and the dramatic tale of his deafness. Caeyers also offers new insights into Beethoven's music, showing how it transformed from the work of a skilled craftsman to that of a consummate artist. Demonstrating an impressive command of the vast scholarship on this iconic composer, Caeyers brings Beethoven's world alive with elegant prose, memorable musical descriptions, and a vivid depiction of Bonn and Vienna, where Beethoven produced and performed his works. Caeyers explores how Beethoven's career was impacted by the historical and philosophical shifts taking place in the music world and how, in turn, his trajectory changed the music industry. Equal parts an absorbing cultural history and a lively biography, Beethoven, A Life reveals a complex portrait of the musical genius that defined a style of music and went on to become one of the great pillars of Western art music.
Local Note eBooks on EBSCOhost EBSCO eBook Subscription Academic Collection - North America
Subject Beethoven, Ludwig van, 1770-1827.
Beethoven, Ludwig van, 1770-1827.
Composers -- Austria -- Biography.
Composers.
Austria.
Genre/Form Biographies.
Electronic books.
collective biographies.
Biographies.
Added Author Annable, Brent, translator.
Added Title Beethoven. English
Other Form: Print version: 9780520343542 0520343549 (DLC) 2020010304 (OCoLC)1192461667
ISBN 9780520975026 (electronic book)
0520975022 (electronic book)
9780520343542 (hardcover)
0520343549 (hardcover)