Customer Reviews

Introducing Beethoven (IC) (Introducing Composers)

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This is a very pretty looking book that introduces young readers to the world of Ludwig Van Beethoven. The idea of this series is to look at the influences and historical events that shaped the lives of great composers. Roland Vernon describes how Beethoven was born into a changing world of revolutions that transformed America and France, and shows how Beethoven's music mirrored those turbulent times. But Vernon also explores how Beethoven's music reflected a deeply personal exploration of human nature and emphasizes how the composer profoundly changed every form of music in which he work. The book has sidebars devoted to Beethoven's musical contemporaries like Mozart, revolutionary thinkers like Thomas Paine, instruments like the harpsichord, and events like the fall of Napoleon. As I said above, the book is illustrated quite impressively, with historic paintings and artifacts. Vernon focuses most on the details of Beethoven's life and the history of the time, somewhat at the expense of his music, which matters here because the thesis is that Beethoven is a musical revolutionary. That is difficult to do in a book, granted, but if that is the contract with the reader then it needs to be followed up on more explicitly. Other titles in the series introduce young readers to Bach, Chopin, Gershwin, Mozart, Starvinsky, Verdi, and Vivaldi.