Beethoven Forum

'The best of present-day Beethoven scholarship' - Stanley Sadie, editor of "New Grove Dictionary of Music & Musicians". 'Since 1992, the University of Nebraska Press has published "A Beethoven Forum", which is rich in information and knowledge. Fundamental research and topicality, once the domain of the Beethoven-Haus in Bonn, are admirably combined in the Forum' - Der Spiegel. Glenn Stanley opens "Beethoven Forum 6" with a consideration of the 'piano sonata culture' of the late eighteenth century and how Beethoven's sonatas influenced this culture. Lawrence Kramer explores the 'Tempest' sonata and the way it exemplifies one of the leading intellectual projects of the Enlightenment, the project of speculative anthropology or universal history. Elaine R. Sisman examines the 'lyrical', 'small-scale' sonatas of Beethoven's middle period in relation to his renewed preoccupation with the idea of 'fantasia'. Nicholas Marston concludes the volume's consideration of the piano sonatas with a study of the development of a musical idea in the 'Hammerklavier' sonata.
Birgit Lodes examines the relationship between the human and the divine as they are represented in the Gloria of Beethoven's great mass, the Missa solemnis. In a second article on this late masterpiece, Norbert Gertsch describes a subscription copy of the Missa solemnis - a copy that Beethoven had corrected - and its significance for a future scholarly edition of the work. Maynard Solomon offers a commentary, transcription, and translation of a papal document concerning the marriage of Beethoven's great-uncle Cornelius. In a review article, Nicholas Marston discusses the recent edition of "The Landsberg 5" sketchbook and future prospects for sketchbook editions. Robert Levin concludes the volume with a review of "Performing Beethoven", edited by Robin Stowell. Glenn Stanley, an associate professor of music at the University of Connecticut, organized the March 1996 conference at Carnegie Hall entitled "The Beethoven Piano Sonatas: The Works and Their Critical Reception", at which these papers were first presented. He is also the editor of "Beethoven Forum 3".