
Beethoven: Variations on a Life
Mark Evan Bonds(Author)
Oxford University Press Inc
Published on 24. September 2020
Book
Hardback
160 pages
978-0-19-005408-3 (ISBN)
Description
Despite the ups and downs of his personal life and professional career-even in the face of deafness-Beethoven remained remarkably consistent in his most basic convictions about his art. This inner consistency, the music historian Mark Evan Bonds argues, provides the key to understanding the composer's life and works. Beethoven approached music as he approached life, weighing whatever occupied him from a variety of perspectives: a melodic idea, a musical genre, a word or phrase, a friend, a lover, a patron, money, politics, religion. His ability to unlock so many possibilities from each helps explain the emotional breadth and richness of his output as a whole, from the heaven-storming Ninth Symphony to the eccentric Eighth, and from the arcane Great Fugue to the crowd-pleasing Wellington's Victory. Beethoven's works, Bonds argues, are a series of variations on his life. The iconic scowl so familiar from later images of the composer is but one of many attitudes he could assume and project through his music. The supposedly characteristic furrowed brow and frown, moreover, came only after his time. Discarding tired myths about the composer, Bonds proposes a new way of listening to Beethoven by hearing his music as an expression of his entire self, not just his scowling self.
Reviews / Votes
Written in polished, clear prose, this book will appeal to those who decide to learn more about Beethoven. Recommended. General readers. * M. N.H. Cheng, CHOICE * Bonds recognizes Beethoven's remarkable aptitude for challenging the listener through mastery of variation, malleability of perspective and extremity of feeling, frequently capturing aspects of the human condition. Hence, Bonds maintains the listener is rewarded with an always revelatory reminder of the power of music. * Samuel I. Grosby, Anthenaeum Review *More details
Language
English
Place of publication
New York
United States
Target group
Professional and scholarly
Product notice
sewn/stitched
Cloth over boards
Illustrations
10 illustrations
Dimensions
Height: 215 mm
Width: 151 mm
Thickness: 20 mm
Weight
284 gr
ISBN-13
978-0-19-005408-3 (9780190054083)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Other editions
Additional editions


Person
Mark Evan Bonds is the Cary C. Boshamer Distinguished Professor of Music at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, where he has taught since 1992. A former editor-in-chief of Beethoven Forum, he has written widely on the music of Haydn, Mozart, and Beethoven.
Author
Cary C. Boshamer Distinguished Professor of MusicCary C. Boshamer Distinguished Professor of Music, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill
Content
Introduction
1. The Scowl
2. The Life
3. Ideals
4. Deafness
5. Love
6. Money
7. Politics
8. Composing
9. Early-Middle-Late
10. The Music
11. "Beethoven"
Notes
For Further Reading
1. The Scowl
2. The Life
3. Ideals
4. Deafness
5. Love
6. Money
7. Politics
8. Composing
9. Early-Middle-Late
10. The Music
11. "Beethoven"
Notes
For Further Reading