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Thayer's life to my mind is still the most comprehensive biological source on Beethoven, mercilessly free of the amateur psychology one finds in Solomon's books for example. Indispensable for Beethovenians. I bought the Folio Edition for just £5 in a school jumble sale!
_________________ "If I were but of noble birth..." - Rod Corkin
Joined: Fri Sep 28, 2007 11:24 am Posts: 13232 Location: London, England
Beethoven:
'Beethoven on Beethoven - playing his piano music his way' - WILLIAM S. NEWMAN
A great book examining interpretational aspects of Beethoven's piano music. Very good sections on his use of the fortepiano and the resulting implications for modern performance. Just great and essential if you are serious about Beethoven's piano music.
Joined: Fri Sep 28, 2007 11:24 am Posts: 13232 Location: London, England
Handel:
'George Frederick Handel' - PAUL HENRY LANG
Detailed biography and musical criticism done in a sympathetic and very accessible manner, though not all of his critical assessments I agree with. A great general book on Handel and his music.
Great book in two parts:
1st- The biography. The interesting part is that Vignal let Haydn (and his contemporaries) speak through the numerous letters he sent or received relatively to any subjects (iscussion with his editors or any musical partners, indications concerning the playing of his works, letters to friends and lover, interesting notes he wrote while living in UK, etc.)
2nd-The musicology. In this part, each work by Haydn is analyzed (more or less according to its importance). Each movement/section is commented.
I bought this book two years ago and it is really a Bible for me.
_________________ "Handel is the master of us all."
I have many books about composers lying at home in my music room, unread!
Simply had not the time to read them.
This year I will try to do more about that.
With some music I can read, and will do so.
Let you know what on my bookshelf when read.....
Joined: Fri Sep 28, 2007 11:24 am Posts: 13232 Location: London, England
Mozartmad wrote:
For Mozart fans, I'd like to recommend Francis Carr's Mozart and Constance (London: John Murray Ltd., 1983). It's got an excellent chapter on Magdelena Hofdemel and the possible involvement of her husband in Mozart's death (ignored in Peter Shaffer's excellent stage play Amadeus - later adapted for film).
_________________ "If I were but of noble birth..." - Rod Corkin
Joined: Fri Sep 28, 2007 11:24 am Posts: 13232 Location: London, England
'Beethoven as I knew him' by Anton Schindler
A facinating contemporary perspective of Beethoven with numerous interesting appendices. Detailed editorial notes throughout account for Schindler's various 'inaccuracies'. Despite his reputation this is an indispensable book for Beethoven enthusiasts.
Joined: Sat Feb 02, 2008 1:23 pm Posts: 512 Location: France
I've just finished 'The Wagner Clan' by Jonathan Carr and thoroughly enjoyed it. The antics of the Wagners at Bayreuth after Richard's death are eye-popping!
Back page blurb:
A family saga as riveting as any opera, and a matchless mirror of Germany’s rise, fall, and resurrection. Richard Wagner was many things—composer, philosopher, philanderer, failed revolutionary, and virulent anti-Semite—and his descendants have carried on his complex legacy. Now, in The Wagner Clan, biographer Jonathan Carr retraces the path of the renowned composer and his descendants. Along the way, Carr offers glimpses of Franz Liszt (whose illegitimate daughter Cosima married Wagner); Friedrich Nietzsche; Arthur Schopenhauer; Alberto Toscanini; Joseph Goebbels; Hermann Göring; and the “Wolf” himself, Adolf Hitler, a passionate fan of the Master’s music and an adopted uncle to Wagner’s grandchildren. Wagner’s British-born daughter-in-law, Winifred, was a close friend of Hitler’s and seemed momentarily positioned to marry him after the death of her husband. All through the war the Bayreuth Festival, begun by the Master himself, was supported by Hitler, who had to fill out the meager audience with fighting men and SS officers. After the war, the festival was dark for a decade until Wagner’s offspring—with characteristic ambition and cunning—revived it.
Joined: Fri Sep 28, 2007 11:24 am Posts: 13232 Location: London, England
tranquil rich23434565 wrote:
I've just finished 'The Wagner Clan' by Jonathan Carr and thoroughly enjoyed it. The antics of the Wagners at Bayreuth after Richard's death are eye-popping!
Perhaps someone should compose an opera about Wagner!
_________________ "If I were but of noble birth..." - Rod Corkin
Strange indeed,
I'm reading this impressive book of thoughts and reflections on music (somewhat beating down the bareers between aesthetics and ethics), by Daniel Barenboim, and I didn't find any reference to an English version.
The book was written in English, but until now it's avilable only in Italian.
Daniel Barenboim
La musica sveglia il tempo (Music awakens Time),
Feltrinelli, Milano 2007
there is another book by Barenboim that I have found very interesting:
it's the series of conversations with Edward Said
Joined: Fri Sep 28, 2007 11:24 am Posts: 13232 Location: London, England
Brine wrote:
Strange indeed, I'm reading this impressive book of thoughts and reflections on music (somewhat beating down the bareers between aesthetics and ethics), by Daniel Barenboim, and I didn't find any reference to an English version. The book was written in English, but until now it's avilable only in Italian.
I'm sure I've had this book for a few years, in English!
_________________ "If I were but of noble birth..." - Rod Corkin
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