"Reading The Beethoven Quartet Companion made me want to listen to the quartets again from a new sociological as well as musical perspective. It is an invaluable guide not only for professional and amateur musicians but also for anyone who is curious about culture and wants to find out more."--Yo-Yo Ma "These essays are the most readable, useful, and well-informed commentary available today on these masterworks. Michael Steinberg's 'program notes' to each quartet, directed at once to the musical beginner and to the expert, are as eloquent and persuasive as popular writing about music can get. . . . His essays are followed by equally expert and accessible contributions by other masters on The Master, providing literate music lovers with the context and equipment for a richer enjoyment and clearer understanding of these sixteen unique conversations among two violins, a viola, and a cello."--David Littlejohn, author of The Ultimate Art: Essays Around and About Opera "A fine collection of essays to assist the music lover in the seemingly endless quest to illuminate the Beethoven string quartets."--Arnold Steinhardt, The Guarneri String Quartet "This book delivers on the implied promise of its title--it provides a lively, readable, and wide-ranging introduction to the quartets. Readers at many levels of experience will find it profitable."--Lewis Lockwood, author of Beethoven: Studies in the Creative Process
Re-hearing Op. 131 -- Popular and early reception -- "A new kind of part writing" -- "Like an overly large fantasy" -- Op. 131 and the Rise of Attentive Listening.
"We do not understand music--it understands us." This aphorism by Theodor W. Adorno expresses the quandary and the fascination many listeners have felt in approaching Beethoven's late quartets. No group of compositions occupies a more central position in chamber music, yet the meaning of these works continues to stimulate debate. William Kinderman's The String Quartets of Beethoven stands as the most detailed and comprehensive exploration of the subject. It collects new work by leading international scholars who draw on a variety of historical sources and analytical approaches to offer fresh insights into the aesthetics of the quartets, probing expressive and structural features that have hitherto received little attention. This volume also includes an appendix with updated information on the chronology and sources of the quartets and a detailed bibliography.
Examines Joseph Joachim's vital legacy through a range of philological, philosophical and critical approaches.Joseph Joachim (1831-1907), violinist, composer, teacher, and founding director of Berlin's Royal Academy of Music, was one of the most eminent and influential musicians of the long nineteenth century. Born in a tiny Jewish community on the Austro-Hungarian border, he rose to a position of unsurpassed prominence in European cultural life. This timely collection of essays explores important yet little-known aspects of Joachim's life and art. Studies of his Jewish background, early assimilation into Christian society, Felix Mendelssohn's mentorship, and the influence of Hungarian vernacular music on the formation of his musical style elucidate the roots of Joachim's identity. The later chapters focus on his personal and creative responses to the contentious and rapidly evolving cultural milieu in which he lived: his choice of instruments as his musical "voice," his performances as sites of (re)enchantment in the modern age, his pathbreaking British career, his calling and sway as a quartet player, his pedagogical legacy, his influence on the establishment of the musical canon, and several of his most distinctive and original compositions. With a wide variety of approaches-analytical, philological, archival, philosophical, and critical-this collection will prove enlightening to scholars, performers, and others interested in this brilliant artist and the musical aesthetics, culture, and styles of his time.ent in the modern age, his pathbreaking British career, his calling and sway as a quartet player, his pedagogical legacy, his influence on the establishment of the musical canon, and several of his most distinctive and original compositions. With a wide variety of approaches-analytical, philological, archival, philosophical, and critical-this collection will prove enlightening to scholars, performers, and others interested in this brilliant artist and the musical aesthetics, culture, and styles of his time.ent in the modern age, his pathbreaking British career, his calling and sway as a quartet player, his pedagogical legacy, his influence on the establishment of the musical canon, and several of his most distinctive and original compositions. With a wide variety of approaches-analytical, philological, archival, philosophical, and critical-this collection will prove enlightening to scholars, performers, and others interested in this brilliant artist and the musical aesthetics, culture, and styles of his time.ent in the modern age, his pathbreaking British career, his calling and sway as a quartet player, his pedagogical legacy, his influence on the establishment of the musical canon, and several of his most distinctive and original compositions. With a wide variety of approaches-analytical, philological, archival, philosophical, and critical-this collection will prove enlightening to scholars, performers, and others interested in this brilliant artist and the musical aesthetics, culture, and styles of his time.
Widely regarded as the greatest composer that ever lived, Ludwig van Beethoven was the principal musical figure in the transitional period between the Classical and Romantic eras. Dominating a period of musical history as no other composer before or since, Beethoven produced monumental works that combine a forceful intensity of feeling with a perfection of design. Delphi’s Great Composers Series offers concise illustrated guides to the life and works of our greatest composers. Analysing the masterworks of each composer, these interactive eBooks include links to popular streaming services, allowing you to listen to the pieces of music you are reading about. Evaluating the masterworks of each composer, you will explore the development of their works, tracing how they changed the course of music history. Whether a classical novice or a cultivated connoisseur, this series offers an intriguing overview of the world’s most famous and iconic compositions. This volume presents Beethoven’s masterworks in succinct detail, with informative introductions, accompanying illustrations and the usual Delphi bonus features. (Version 1) * Concise and informative overview of Beethoven’s masterworks * Learn about the classical pieces that made Beethoven a celebrated composer * Links to popular streaming services (free and paid), allowing you to listen to the masterpieces you are reading about * Features a special ‘Complete Compositions’ section, with an index of Beethoven’s complete works and links to popular streaming services * Includes Beethoven’s letters (translated by Lady Wallace) - spend hours exploring the composer’s personal correspondence * Also features four biographies, including Thayer’s seminal study - explore Beethoven's intriguing musical and personal life Please visit www.delphiclassics.com to browse through our range of exciting eBooks CONTENTS: The Masterworks Cantata on the Death of Emperor Joseph II Piano Concerto No. 2 Piano Sonata No. 8, Pathétique Symphony No. 1 Piano Sonata No. 14, Moonlight Sonata Violin Sonata No. 9, Kreutzer Sonata Symphony No. 3, Eroica Fidelio Violin Concerto in D major Symphony No. 5 Symphony No. 6, Pastoral Egmont Bagatelle No. 25, Für Elise Piano Concerto No. 5, Emperor Concerto Piano Trio No. 7, Archduke Symphony No. 7 Missa solemnis Symphony No. 9 String Quartet No. 14 Complete Compositions Index of Beethoven’s Compositions The Letters Beethoven’s Letters (1790-1826) The Biographies Life of Beethoven by Anton Schindler The Life of Ludwig van Beethoven by Alexander Wheelock Thayer Beethoven: A Memoir by Elliott Graeme Brief Biography: Ludwig van Beethoven by Donald Francis Tovey Please visit www.delphiclassics.com to learn more about our wide range of exciting titles
Using Beethoven's letters, diaries and conversation books, this text traces his attraction to a constellation of heterogeneous ideas, drawn from Romanticism, Freemasonry, comparative religion, Eastern initiatory ritual, Mediterranean mythology, aesthetics and classical and contemporary thought.
A noted violinist and conductor, Watson is particularly well suited for his chosen task: outlining the historical context and character of more than 50 of the chamber works that Beethoven composed during his years in Vienna. Avoiding the pitfalls of becoming too critical or "academic," the author characterizes each composition in general terms only, and does not discuss changing styles of performance. Instead, Watson provides information on a work's historical background and character, and on the musical points of interest in each movement. He pays special attention to the influence of Beethoven's large-scale compositions on his chamber music, and on the composer's increasing mastery of improvisation. Filling a hole in scholarship on Beethoven's compositions, this book will be greatly appreciated by professional and amateur musicians.
This affordable study score features Beethoven's entire oeuvre of string quartets. Includes: 6 quartets of Opus 18; 3 quartets of Opus 59; Opuses 74, 95, 127, 130, 131, 132, 135, and Grosse Fuge. Meticulously reprinted from the authoritative Breitkopf & Härtel edition.
