Beethoven: The Philosophy of Music - Softcover

Adorno, Theodor W.

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0804747113 ISBN 13: 9780804747110

Publisher: Stanford Univ Pr, 2002

Synopsis

When Theodor W. Adorno -- one of the twentieth century's most influential thinkers in the areas of social theory, philosophy, aesthetics, and music -- died in 1969, he left behind an unfinished work on Beethoven, which had occupied him fitfully for more than thirty years. His notes and texts, which remain in fragmented form, were described by Adorno as a "diary of his experiences of Beethoven." The editor has organized the fragments to bring out their inherent logic and relatedness, and has incorporated those few texts on Beethoven that Adorno managed to complete, as well as extracts from larger published works that came out of the project.

About this title

Review:

"Great works of art, Adorno knew, always resist the attempt to subsume them under theoretical categories. In the case of a supreme artist like Beethoven, a lifetime of futile efforts by Adorno to complete a major philosophical study bore ironic witness to this insight. The struggle to write his impossible book left behind, however, a wealth of tantalizing fragments, which have the added value of revealing Adorno′s own process of intellectual production. Masterfully reconstructed and annotated by Rolf Tiedemann, they are now available in Edmund Jephcott′s elegant translation. In their very "failure" they demonstrate the abiding power of Adorno′s claim that the dialectic of art and philosophy must remain unreconciled and negative." Martin Jay, University of California, Berkeley

"These fragments shed valuable light not only on Adorno′s thinking on Beethoven, but also equally importantly on the sources of Adorno′s philosophy of music. Rolf Tiedemann′s sensitive editing has produced a remarkably coherent volume out of the most disparate material, while Edmund Jephcott′s translation rises magnificently to a difficult task." Max Paddison, University of Durham

From the Back Cover:

Beethoven is a classic study of the composer′s music, written by one of the most important thinkers of our time. Throughout his life, Adorno wrote extensive notes, essay fragments and aides–memoires on the subject of Beethoven′s music. This book brings together all of Beethoven′s music in relation to the society in which he lived.

Adorno identifies three periods in Beethoven′s work, arguing that the thematic unity of the first and second periods begins to break down in the third. Adorno follows this progressive disintegration of organic unity in the classical music of Beethoven and his contemporaries, linking it with the rationality and monopolistic nature of modern society.

Beethoven will be welcomed by students and researchers in a wide range of disciplines – philosophy, sociology, music and history – and by anyone interested in the life of the composer.

About this edition

• Publisher: Stanford Univ Pr
• Publication date: 2002
• ISBN 10: 0804747113
• ISBN 13: 9780804747110
• Binding: Paperback
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 268
• Editor: Tiedemann Rolf