Beethoven and the Spiritual Path [Paperback]

David Tame (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: January 25, 1994

Details the musical, psychological, and metaphysical secrets in twenty-seven of Beethoven's greatest works.

Product Details

• Paperback: 234 pages
• Publisher: Quest Books; 1st edition (January 25, 1994)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0835607011
• ISBN-13: 978-0835607018
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 13.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #923,604 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

9 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars INSPIRES YOU TO LISTEN TO THE WORKS, January 19, 2000

By 

[e-mail] (Vienna, Austria) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Beethoven and the Spiritual Path (Paperback)

Disregard most of what the intellectualising and somewhat pompous reviewers write below. Read this book and be inspired to delve deeper into the music and genius of Beethoven. With the exception of one 5 page chapter (that those below get stuck on!) it is an easy read, and adds an appreciation of the music that other books on Beethoven fail to do well. Whether you are a fan or a beginner this book will bring pleasure.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An excellent account of Beethoven's journey towards greatness, July 14, 2007

By 

M. Ramesh Rajasingham "Avid Reader" (Scarsdale, NY USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Beethoven and the Spiritual Path (Paperback)

Tame has captured Beethoven's inner life and creativity, his struggles and desires in an unprecedented way. The book is a masterpiece: it does not get fixated with the technicalitities of classical music, but sheds light on the spiritual source and path underpinning the composition of such beauty. Explaining Beethoven in technical terms may be an easy way of interpreting classical music, but it is simple and mediocre. To shed light on its spiritual dimension - a dimension that enveloped Beethovens' entire being and life requires much depth and sensitivity. Tame has managed this in an extraordinary way. Beethoven was more than a musician and composer. He was a great soul. This books shows how undiversal truths - as opposed to technical skills - inspired and guided Beethoven to produce the greatest music that has ever been.

2 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars A Wacky Book, October 20, 2008

By 

Hexagram of the Heavens (Tropical Zone) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Beethoven and the Spiritual Path (Paperback)

First thing to notice: Tame's book is published by the Theosophical Society, a 19th century spiritual movement which married Transcendentalism, Hinduism and western occultism, coining terms such as "the Great White Brotherhood" and laying some of the groundwork for the modern "New Age" movement, and whose early 20th c. leaders tried to set the young Krishnamurti up as a new "Avatar" - which Krishnamurti dodged, to his credit.

The 1st half of the book contains a few interesting comments, but in the second half the going gets much wackier. The author embarks on a long series of fantastical program notes, which may be read as his poetical commentaries on the music, such as this:

(Page 129, discussion of 5th symphony)
"All this and more is contained within the tones of the Fifth Symphony, which are first ray tones. The seven rays, often spoken of in esotericism, are the seven aspects or frequencies of God's energy and consciousness which manifest ... as the seven colors of the rainbow, the seven rows in the periodic table of the elements, the seven notes of the diatonic scale, and the seven ... types of crystals. ... The qualities of the first ray are divine will and divine power, and it is these qualities radiating from the Fifth Symphony which emanated directly out of the consciousness of the Elohim of the first ray."

Thinking of this type can be attractive at first glance to those of us who view music in some way as a spiritual path, and look for links between music and esotericism of various schools, but as one reads it becomes clear that this is essentially fantasy writing stimulated by Beethoven's music. Tame is not a musician, and he falls into the common non-musician's trap of considering great music to be divinely channeled and magical beyond the human artist's transcendence of craft. Great music such as Beethoven's - in the opinion of this reviewer - stands on its own merits structurally, emotionally, and spiritually, as a product of the man Beethoven and his time, and does not need David Tame to apply (with a trowel) a thick layer of astrology, occultism, and theosophical drivel.

A much better book is "BEETHOVEN, HIS SPIRITUAL DEVELOPMENT" by J. W. N Sullivan, which of course Tame has read, refers to, and probably modeled his own efforts after. Although Sullivan also falls into some of the common delusions afflicting non-musicians about great music, he is on the whole much more level-headed, and his psychological comments / insights are of much more solid value than those in David Tame's book. As far as this book goes (David Tame's "Beethoven and the Spiritual Path") forget it if you are interested in Beethoven and / or music-as-a-spiritual-path, and read Sullivan's book instead, along with some biographies. However, if you are interested in Theosophy, this book may give you some insight into modern Theosophical thought.