Beethoven: Man of His Word : Undisclosed Evidence for His Immortal Beloved [Hardcover]

Gail S. Altman (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 1996

Many biographies of the composer Beethoven have been distorted by misunderstandings, misinterpretations and even falsehoods. This book takes a fresh look at Beethoven's romantic relationships, including the evidence for his Immortal Beloved. It puts quotes back into the historical and literary contexts from which they have been taken, untangles misconceptions and mistranslations, and using common sense and a sense of humor presents a highly readable biography focusing on Beethoven's much-maligned life and love life.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Gail S. Altman's has been an educator for 25 years with an educational background in psychology, and a Beethoven scholar for more than 30. She currently teaches the fundamentals of online, electronic research to public school teachers. She is currently researching the interrelationship of Beethoven, Napoleon's natural son and the doctor who attended their final illnesses.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 429 pages
• Publisher: Anubian Pr (April 1996)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 188807101X
• ISBN-13: 978-1888071016
• Product Dimensions: 9.5 x 6.2 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.8 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #4,854,563 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Good Read, January 24, 2011

By 

CelloLuva "CelloLuva" (Los Angeles) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Beethoven: Man of His Word : Undisclosed Evidence for His Immortal Beloved (Hardcover)

She backs up all of her statements with facts and sources, and writes in a very engaging, entertaining style. I already knew a lot about Beethoven and still learned a lot from this book. She tackles the long accepted misinterpretations that nobody had ever stood up against without claiming to have all the answers. She doesn't come to conclusions just to conclude something. She proves why the current theory is wrong and doesn't pretend to know exactly what happened, but rather opens up your mind about Beethoven and makes you realize that we really don't know who he was, and we may not ever know. People have tried to close the mystery just to close it, but there just isn't enough evidence to be sure.

5 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Enlightening!, September 12, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: Beethoven: Man of His Word : Undisclosed Evidence for His Immortal Beloved (Hardcover)

This book is excellent. Ms. Altman deals only with the facts and does a great job digging in to show why her information is correct. The other aulthors have done a lot of embellishing, but Ms. Altman obviously worked hard to find the truth. It's well worth the money. You'll learn things about this composer that you never knew before. Thank you for bringing a fresh new concept to nonfiction, Gail -- TRUTH!

2 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars touching!, May 26, 2001

By 

Adya sunindar (Melbourne, VIC AU) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Beethoven: Man of His Word : Undisclosed Evidence for His Immortal Beloved (Hardcover)

This book has touched me well, actually beethoven,... what interest me in this book was that I played piano and I have always like beethoven,.... His music has a deeper feeling that compare to mozart to me,... mozart always has lighter tone in his,... Anyway,...that is why I found this book and the history about his life really touchy and it is correct that this book has information that I have never known about beethoven,... overall, I think it is a great story and I think if you want to know about beethoven this is a great book,... I play and hear his music in a different way now,...