Customer Reviews

Beethoven: Impressions by His Contemporaries (Dover Books on Music)

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This nice little book presents us with a collection of writings on Beethoven by Beethoven's contemporaries. Among these one finds prominent musicians such as C.M.v. Weber, Gioacchino Rossini and even the very young Franz Liszt, great performers, close friends (e.g. Ferdinand Ries) and short-term visitors. Some of the encounters are well documented, whether some are somewhat controversial - such as the encounters with Bettina Brentano-von Arnim (as described in her letters to Goethe). Some of the material in this book is directly taken from Thayer's, and some of it from other sources. The documents shed light on the "visible" aspects of Beethoven the man, the composer and the performer. The writing, of course, is very subjective, however there's enough material through which one can construct a (very partial) view of Beethoven's personality. What one can not find in this book is a window to the mind of the creative genius that Beethoven was. Yes, some evidence is given as to the practical aspects of his writing - the famous notebook and the walks in the woods and so on, but for all the information given by these observers - the great riddle of how does the creative mind transform scattered musical ideas into a masterpiece - well, that will remain a mistery. Nevertheless - there's enough interesting information (in addition to the repetitive descriptions of the messy room and the harsh manners etc.) to make this book a reccomendable addendum to the library of whoever is interested in Beethoven and his work.

An excellent short volume with reminiscences from people who met and dealt with the great man. It is not comprehensive, but it certainly offers an insight into his general day to day life and illustrates the immense esteem he enjoyed amongst the cognoscenti of his day.