Customer Reviews

Beethoven: The Composer as Hero (Discoveries Series)

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This is a great book about a great man, Ludwig van Beethoven. Each page has many fine photographs; most in color. It is a very well-written book which will not disappoint. In addition, the quality and feel of the paper is tops. It is nice to have color portraits of people such as Beethoven's grandfather and other members of his family, as well as Antonio Salieri, Haydn, Kreutzer, Clementi, and many of his benefactors and other personal friends, not to mention street scenes, scenes of Beethoven playing the piano as a mesmerized audience looks on, scenes of Fidelio, etc. No one who buys this book can be bored by it or have buyer's remorse.

The reader is transported back to the the late 18th and early 19th century. One thing I liked was finding out what Beethoven was doing at the precise time he wrote a certain work. In the book, Ferdinand Ries (a friend and composer) points out that Beethoven had been humming out loud during a walk in the woods. When he returned, he put to paper the 3rd movement of the famous Appassionata sonata.

This book gets an A plus.

this is another outstanding book in the series.graphically beautiful and a great read.if you are a music lover, you will definitely enjoy this handsome little book.

Just scanning the synopsis of this book is quite distressful. I am hoping that the book does not say something as completely wrong as "his sudden deafness at age 26." That is completely false. I am not sure about this book, but I would highly recommend Maynard Solomon's "Beethoven" It is a careful and thoughtful analysis of the man and the musician.