This internationally bestselling biography of Ludwig van Beethoven, now translated into English for the first time, offers an unparalleled story of the composer’s life and works.
With unprecedented access to the archives at the Beethoven House in Bonn, renowned Beethoven conductor and scholar Jan Caeyers expertly weaves together a deeply human and complex image 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 and its gradual transformation from the work of a skilled craftsman into 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 vivid depictions of Bonn and Vienna—the cities 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 conversely, how his own trajectory changed the course of the music industry. Equal parts absorbing cultural history and lively biography, Beethoven, A Life paints a complex portrait of the musical genius who redefined the musical style of his day and went on to become one of the great pillars of Western art music.
By:
Jan Caeyers
Foreword by:
Daniel Hope
Translated by:
Brent Annable
Imprint: California Uni Pr Trade
Country of Publication: United States
Dimensions:
Height: 229mm,
Width: 152mm,
Spine: 48mm
Weight: 1.089kg
ISBN: 9780520343542
ISBN 10: 0520343549
Pages: 680
Publication Date: 08 September 2020
Audience:
Professional and scholarly
,
Undergraduate
Format: Hardback
Publisher's Status: Active
Foreword by Daniel Hope Prologue Part One: The Artist as a Young Man (1770–1792) 1 • Louis van Beethoven: A Grandfather Figure 2 • Jean van Beethoven: The Absent Father? 3 • The Early Years 4 • Christian Gottlob Neefe: The Mentor 5 • The Young Professional 6 • Bonn Turns to Vienna 7 • Beethoven’s First Crisis 8 • A Second Home, and New Horizons 9 • Renewed Vigor and the First Major Works 10 • Farewell to Bonn Part Two: A Time of Proving (1792–1802) 11 • Vienna in 1792 12 • Beethoven’s First Patron: Karl von Lichnowsky 13 • Haydn and Albrechtsberger 14 • Career Plans 15 • Family, Friends, and Loves in Vienna 16 • In Anticipation of Greater Things 17 • Lobkowitz’s “Center of Excellence” 18 • The Immortal Beloved: Episode One 19 • The Road to a Broader Public 20 • A Word from the Critics 21 • The Disciples: Carl Czerny and Ferdinand Ries 22 • The Heiligenstadt Testament Part Three: The Master (1802–1809) 23 • A “New Way” Forward 24 • The Laboratorium Artificiosum 25 • Publishing Pains and the “Warehouse of the Arts” 26 • Composer in Residence 27 • Salieri’s Opera Lessons 28 • The Mystery of the Eroica 29 • The Immortal Beloved: Episode Two 30 • In Search of the Perfect Piano 31 • Leonore: A Work in Progress 32 • The Golden Years Part Four: Crowds and Power (1809–1816) 33 • A New Social Status 34 • New Prospects 35 • An Imperial Pupil 36 • Beethoven and Goethe 37 • The Immortal Beloved: Episode Three 38 • Se non è vero . . . 39 • The End of the Classical Symphony 40 • Music for the Masses 41 • A Lucrative Sideline 42 • From Leonore to Fidelio 43 • From Coffee and Cake to Congress and Kitsch 44 • The Fight for a Child 45 • From the “Immortal Beloved” to a “Distant Beloved” Part Five: The Lonely Way (1816–1827) 46 • Longing for Greater Things 47 • Post-Congress Vienna 48 • London Plans 49 • A Faustian Sonata and a Diabolical Contraption 50 • The Missa solemnis: A Mass for Peace 51 • The Circle Is Complete: The Late Piano Works 52 • Estrangement 53 • Encounters with the Younger Generation 54 • An Ode to Joy 55 • Decline 56 • Karl’s Emancipation 57 • Money Matters 58 • The Discovery of Heaven: The Late String Quartets 59 • Comoedia finita est Acknowledgments Notes Bibliography Illustration Credits Index of Works Index of People
Jan Caeyers is a conductor and musicologist. One of Europe's preeminent experts on Beethoven, he is the music director of the Beethoven orchestra Le Concert Olympique and a member of the Department of Musicology at KU Leuven.
Reviews for Beethoven, A Life
"""Beethoven, A Life continues the journey towards a more complex and nuanced picture of the great composer. . . . Caeyers seeks to unravel the networks that influenced Beethoven’s career, to paint portraits of those who supported him, and to outline the many interests that were at play in forming Beethoven both as a man and an artist. . . . The result is a very readable book that, as a byproduct, offers a generous supply of scene-setting detail. This ranges from life in Vienna in the early 19th century to the grinding economic impact of the French revolution and its aftermath, and even the bathing customs in Bohemian spa towns."" FT Books of the Year 2020 * Financial Times * ""Among the books about the legend . . . in this anniversary year, the most substantial is Jan Caeyers’s Beethoven: A Life, a magisterial account, rich in archival findings, translated with revisions from the German edition of 2009."" Books of the Year 2020 * Times Literary Supplement * Notable Music Books of 2020 -- Alex Ross, * The Rest is Noise * ""Detailed and engaging, this fitting tribute to the iconic composer will enrich anyone’s enjoyment and appreciation of his great music."" * Library Journal *"
