Beethoven's Symphonies: An Artistic Vision - Hardcover

Lewis Lockwood

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 039307644X ISBN 13: 9780393076448

Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company, 2015

Synopsis

The Beethoven symphonies form the core of the classical concert repertoire and remain among the defining works of the Western musical experience. As the heir to Haydn and Mozart, Beethoven possessed an abiding artistic vision that found its most powerful expression in the symphonic form, which he revolutionized and bequeathed to posterity. Lewis Lockwood's compelling story introduces each symphony as an individual artwork and broadly traces the creative background of each, set against the contemporary political upheavals, the growth of concert life, and the relationship to major works of his in other genres. In concise chapters, Lockwood uncovers a creative process of remarkable scope and originality, including reference to numerous symphonic ideas sketched out but not realized. From the first symphonies, written during Beethoven's emerging deafness, to the monumental Ninth, his lifelong passion to compose works of transcendent aesthetic and moral value is brought vividly to life.

About this title

Review:

No one brings Beethoven's music to life as vividly as Lewis Lockwood. A towering achievement.--Alan Gilbert, music director, New York Philharmonic

Lockwood has given music lovers a great gift. By looking at historical context--who listened to Beethoven, what he read--and how the symphonies were planned, the reader gets a unique view of the creative process of one of our greatest musical minds.--Yo-Yo Ma

This remarkable book is much more than a guide to Beethoven's symphonies. By granting us access to the composer's workshop, Lockwood reveals a faltering human being whose unfaltering artistic resolution remains one of the great stories of the human spirit.--Scott Burnham, Scheide Professor of Music History, Princeton University

Lockwood elegantly imparts an enormous amount of fascinating detail, placing each symphony in the context of Beethoven's work in other genres and concert activity. What a pleasure to read!--Emanuel Ax, pianist

The preeminent Beethoven scholar traces the composer's lifelong engagement with the symphony, illuminates afresh the familiar Nine, and reminds us why these monuments claim listeners' attention today as much as they did two hundred years ago. A masterful achievement.--R. Larry Todd, arts & sciences professor, Duke University

This book contains a lifetime of love and admiration for the bedrock of classical music: Beethoven's symphonies. Lockwood's balanced approach and deep knowledge make for a majestic voyage of discovery through these familiar masterworks.--David Robertson, music director, St. Louis Symphony

About the Author:

Lewis Lockwood taught at Princeton University and Harvard, where he is Fanny Peabody Professor of Music Emeritus. His Beethoven: The Music and the Life was a Pulitzer Prize finalist. He lives in Brookline, Massachusetts.

About this edition

• Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company
• Publication date: 2015
• ISBN 10: 039307644X
• ISBN 13: 9780393076448
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 320