Spiritual Lives of the Great Composers [Paperback]

Patrick Kavanaugh (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 1, 1996

Handel, Bach, Mozart, Beethoven, Mendelssohn, Brahms, Dvorak, Stravinsky, Messiaen . . . Men of genius as different as their music - but all inspired by deep spiritual convictions. Peter Kavanaugh uncovers the spirituality of twenty of music's timeless giants, revealing legacies of the soul as diverse as the masterpieces they created. Warmly written, beautifully illustrated, and complete with listening recommendations for each composer, Spiritual Lives of the Great Composers is a fascinating look at the inner flame that lit the works of these masters.

Editorial Reviews

From the Back Cover

Handel, Bach, Mozart, Beethoven, Mendelssohn, Brahms, Dvorak, Stravinsky, Messiaen . . . Men of genius as different as their music - but all inspired by deep spiritual convictions. Peter Kavanaugh uncovers the spirituality of twenty of music's timeless giants, revealing legacies of the soul as diverse as the masterpieces they created. Warmly written, beautifully illustrated, and complete with listening recommendations for each composer, Spiritual Lives of the Great Composers is a fascinating look at the inner flame that lit the works of these masters.

About the Author

Patrick Kavanaugh, executive director of the Christian Performing Artists' Fellowship, holds a doctorate in music composition. A conductor and performer, he is the author of Spiritual Moments with the Great Composers, Spiritual Lives of the Great Composers, and Raising Musical Kids.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 18 and up
  
• Paperback: 256 pages
• Publisher: Zondervan; Rev Sub edition (April 1, 1996)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0310208068
• ISBN-13: 978-0310208068
• Product Dimensions: 8 x 5.3 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 7.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (22 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #31,828 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #34 in Books > Arts & Photography > Music > History & Criticism

More About the Author

Patrick Kavanaugh, executive director of the Christian Performing Artists' Fellowship, holds a doctorate in music composition. A conductor and performer, he is the author of Spiritual Moments with the Great Composers, Spiritual Lives of the Great Composers, and Raising Musical Kids.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

73 of 79 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars An inspiring book. . ., July 18, 2002

By 

David Zampino "21st Century Hobbit" (Delavan, Wisconsin) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Spiritual Lives of the Great Composers (Paperback)

. . .with some flaws which limit it's appeal.

Noted Christian composer Patrick Kavanaugh has done a good job in presenting his thesis; namely that many, if not most, of the great composers over the last 400 years, were men of spirituality -- even if not always completely orthodox in their expressions of that spirituality. As far as that goes, the point is quite valid.

However, at times, Kavanaugh seems to be stretching his thesis to include less obvious examples (Schubert, for instance) when more obvious examples could have been used. (However, he does do the musical world a good service by rehabilitating Wagner and demonstrating that while he was a man with many faults, he cannot and should not be held responsible for the actions of Hitler!)

Also frustrating was Kavanaugh's habit of ascribing specific internal motives to several of the featured composers. In addition, there is a strong anti-Catholic bias in the book which I found distasteful. Those composers with Protestant backgrounds had their Protestantism emphasized, while those with Catholic backgrounds had their Catholicism minimized and even ridiculed. For me, this was unnecessary and intellectually dishonest.

This being said, I would still like to see another volume. Many, many other composers come to mind which could fill such a book. And hopefully, some of the anti-Catholic bias could be filtered out.

37 of 43 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Interesting read, but somewhat superficial, May 31, 2000

By 

K. Eames "Just a guy with a nose" (Down in the valley, the valley below) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Spiritual Lives of the Great Composers (Paperback)

As both a classical music fan and a Christian, I was initially excited by this book. A quick perusal before purchasing let me know it would not be an in-depth exploration, but brief biographical sketches of the composers. While the author did a good job of providing a balanced presentation of the facts (see the chapter on Chopin), the book suffers from a kind of redactive shallowness that comes from attempting to look for genuine Christian faith in two-dimensional biographical material. The weakness of this approach is that it looks for certainty about individual faith from the sociocultural milieu in which the composers lived, where spiritual language was the norm. It is important to note that, while the author uses "spiritual" in the title, he means "Christian," or so it appears by his attempt to reconcile the unorthodox beliefs and conduct of men like Wagner and Beethoven with orthodox faith. The small postscripts at the end of each chapter that linked a character trait with each composer was trite and did not add any value to the book. I tended to skip them. Finally, there were some disappointing omissions: Vivaldi, Schumann, Mahler, Arvo Part and John Tavener come to mind. All in all, an interesting but unremarkable read.

12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A Gem for Music Lovers, January 19, 2006

By 

Reading Fan "Romans 8:1" (Baltimore) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Spiritual Lives of the Great Composers (Paperback)

This was a neat little book for folks that like classical music. It gives us something of the personal and spiritual sides of great composers, as well as short summaries of their musical careers. It was good to know something about them besides their names and music, and to get some nice tips on great music you might not be familiar with.

I found that Mozart was not quite the consummate party animal he is portrayed as in `Amadeus', the movie, at least not for his whole life. The author, Patrick Kavannaugh, asks us how each of us would like to have our lives put into biographies for public consumption. I know I would have to pass on that. I found that Haydn was happy and friendly, just like his music. Bruckner was a little hard too know, but well worth the effort to do so, just like his music. Folks like Beethoven, Wagner, and Liszt were very spiritual, though you don't hear much about that, and would not suspect so.

It was also surprising to me that most of them were Catholic, but I guess that makes sense since the Catholic Church has always been a great patron of the arts. Certainly, Mozart's Requiem and Beethoven's Mass are two of the greatest choral pieces ever written.

The book was a little gem for those of us who like classical music.