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Beethoven: The Universal Composer (Eminent Lives)
Ludwig van Beethoven (1770-1827) was a genius so universal that his popularity, extraordinary even during his lifetime, has never ceased to grow. It now encircles the globe: Beethoven's most famous works are as beloved in Beijing as they are in Boston.
Edmund Morris, the author of three bestselling presidential biographies and a lifelong devotee of Beethoven, brings the gr
...more
Published
(first published January 1st 2005)
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Beethoven has always been a favorite of mine. I play piano, own a piano, and have many of his works. All I knew of the man going into this was that he was...temperamental, for lack of a better word. This book definitely confirms that, and adds alot of color. Though its not the most coherent biography I've ever read, by a long shot.
The historical setting and cast of characters are well established. Various wars, mostly having to do with Napolean, are mentioned when they affected Be...more
The historical setting and cast of characters are well established. Various wars, mostly having to do with Napolean, are mentioned when they affected Be...more
Edmund Morris' biography of Ludwig van Beethoven, part of the "Eminent Lives" series, is delightful. Edmund Morris has written biographies of Theodore Roosevelt and Ronald Reagan. He also plays piano, studies music, and has been examining Beethoven for decades and decades. The combination works very well here.
The front dust jacket comments place this 200 page volume in perspective. "Edmund Morris, the author of three bestselling presidential biographies and a lifelong...more
The front dust jacket comments place this 200 page volume in perspective. "Edmund Morris, the author of three bestselling presidential biographies and a lifelong...more
I first became interested in Beethoven in 2nd or 3rd grade, while completing a report on a composer for music class. He always stuck in the back of my mind, such a seemingly moody man. 20+ years later I decided to revisit his life story.
I didn't find the book as dry as some other reviewers reported, but I did find it a little technical in the description of Beethoven's pieces. I did not completely comprehend what the author was trying to get across (at times) in his description of no...more
I didn't find the book as dry as some other reviewers reported, but I did find it a little technical in the description of Beethoven's pieces. I did not completely comprehend what the author was trying to get across (at times) in his description of no...more
Morris begins the book by explaining that it is for the lay people, not trained music folks. I appreciate how highly he thinks of us lay people, but I spent a fair amount of time not knowing exactly what he was talking about: cantatas, counterpoint, and a number of technical terms I tuned out immediately. As he describes Beethoven's life, Morris also (obviously) describes his music. I checked out lots of Beethoven from the library so I could follow along. I don't much of Beethoven's music--even ...more
How does Pulitzer Prize_±winning biographer (Dutch; The Rise of Theodore Roosevelt; Theodore Rex) Edmund Morris take a break from his duties? Not by retreating to Fiji or visiting Mount Rushmore, but by delivering this installment to HarperCollins' Eminent Lives series of short biographies. Reviewers find Morris a sympathetic writer, adept at setting a scene and elucidating Beethoven's music without relying heavily on technical jargon__a skill most reviews attribute to the author's lifelong trai
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I loved the question posed by Enid Bagnold to a feminist: Page 11. What advice would you give to a twenty-three-year-old housewife who, having lost four children, found herself pregnant again by an abusive, alcoholic husband.
"I would urge her to teminate the pregnance," the feminist replied.
"Then," said Ms. Bagnold, "you would have aborted Beethoven."
Enjoyable look at the man riddled for years with diarrhea, which medical historians suggest lead to...more
"I would urge her to teminate the pregnance," the feminist replied.
"Then," said Ms. Bagnold, "you would have aborted Beethoven."
Enjoyable look at the man riddled for years with diarrhea, which medical historians suggest lead to...more
Having just read Maynard Solomon's definitive biography, I didn't expect Edmund Morris' work to add much to my basic understanding of Beethoven. But Morris is such an engaging writer, so enthusiastic and knowledgeable about the composer's life and music, that I found myself looking forward to each new chapter. Reading the two biographies one after the other is a surprisingly nice way to learn about Beethoven: Morris doesn't add to the store of facts provided by Solomon, but he doesn't pretend to...more
هذا العمل سÙرة ذاتÙØ© جمÙلة.. Ù„Ùست كاملة او شاملة لكنها تشبه مقتطÙات Ùمكننا مشاهدتها ÙÙ ÙÙلم مدعم بالصوت والصورة، مرجع لمØب٠بÙتهوÙن،
Ùعجبن٠بÙتهوÙÙ† لكنه Ù„Ùس اØبّ المؤلÙÙÙ† الموسÙÙ‚ÙÙÙ† لدÙÙ‘ ..
الكتاب ملÙØ¡ بالمصطلØات الموسÙÙ‚ÙØ© الت٠قد تشبه الصدمة لمن لم Ùستمع لمسمÙات الموسÙقى الكلاسÙÙƒÙØ© من قبل، لكن لا تقلقوا هناك Ù٠آخر الكتاب مجموعة من المصطلØات وشروØها.
اعتقد أن الذÙÙ† لم Ùستمعوا له من قبل سÙجدون الكتاب مدخلاً لأهم اعماله، لكنه سÙقتل علÙكم متعة اكتشاÙها بأنÙسكم.
بشكل عام اوص٠...more
Ùعجبن٠بÙتهوÙÙ† لكنه Ù„Ùس اØبّ المؤلÙÙÙ† الموسÙÙ‚ÙÙÙ† لدÙÙ‘ ..
الكتاب ملÙØ¡ بالمصطلØات الموسÙÙ‚ÙØ© الت٠قد تشبه الصدمة لمن لم Ùستمع لمسمÙات الموسÙقى الكلاسÙÙƒÙØ© من قبل، لكن لا تقلقوا هناك Ù٠آخر الكتاب مجموعة من المصطلØات وشروØها.
اعتقد أن الذÙÙ† لم Ùستمعوا له من قبل سÙجدون الكتاب مدخلاً لأهم اعماله، لكنه سÙقتل علÙكم متعة اكتشاÙها بأنÙسكم.
بشكل عام اوص٠...more
I originally picked this out for a road trip and probably would not have finished it if I had been reading instead of listening. I didn't concentrate enough to keep track of the women in his life and don't know enough about classical music to follow that thread well, but I did listen to Beethoven's music for the next two days. I haven't gotten to bum, bum, bum, bum yet and I learned that Beethoven, not Chopin, wrote Fur Elise.
Interesting, but short, bio of one of the foremost musical geniuses ever. Morris does a good job presenting all sides of Beethoven - the genius musician/composer, his struggle with progressive hearing loss, and his "unique" personality. One of the primary impressions I took away from the book was of the contrast between Beethoven the composer - admirable, inspiring - and Beethoven the man - egotistical, manipulative, abusive. All in all, a good short look at the life of a musical geniu...more
Added to my knowledge of him, which was zippo, and was much more about Ludwig the person than being over my head about the music. That being said, it didn't go very deep on any issue other than his adopting of his nephew (poor guy). And I was left wanting to hear more about the music! A depressing life it was. I'm glad I read it, and it will spurn other adventures in this vein.
I do not think this was as good as Morris' biographies of Teddy Roosevelt, but it was still quite interesting. It provided a good background of Beethoven, which includes a great deal of dark and disturbing aspects of his personality. Much of the book is based on conjecture, but I still think it is an interesting book and worth a read.
The is an admirer of Beethoven and write without being sentimental. The book is a solid biography. The only flaw is that the auhor tends to discuss the rythm and tones of certain pieces of music in detail. If you are not familiar with the piece, you will be lost for that portion of the discussion.
All in all, a very good biography.
All in all, a very good biography.
Concise, almost to the point of being a little confusing... but wonderful. Mr. Morris' ability to enthuse the reader about some of the more technical aspects of Beethoven's music is amazing. His passion was so infectious, that I ended up buying multiple works of Beethoven that were not symphonies. A book to ply the mind with fodder to ignite the soul to flames!
Mainly interesting because it's about the fascinating figure of Beethoven. Morris seems to revel in the technical details of the works, but I'm not really an expert so those passages were lost to me. Still, a rather well written biography that succeeds in creating an image of the personality of Beethoven.
Learned a lot about ole Ludwig. He was a genius, but a paranoid, mentally and physically sick man. It's amazing he produced so much beautiful music with all the "demons" he was fighting.
This is a very interesting account of the life of Beethoven. Its really a pretty short biography (about 225 pages, and the pages are pretty small). You do need to have some musical understanding to enjoy this book. There is a very helpful glossary in the back of musical terms. But he talks about the absurdity of Beethoven switching form C major to C mnor to the key of E back to C major. So, if that doesn't mean anything at all to you, you won't enjoy this book. Having said all of that: Bee...more
I didn't make it all the way through this book. The problem really was that I just am not intimately familiar with Beethoven's work. Yes, I can name a few, but that is about it. This book would have been so much more interesting if the audiobook (that I attempted to listen to) would have included excerpts.
But still, one of my favorite composers of all time, and this book did contain a lot of information about his life as well as good insight into him as a person.
But still, one of my favorite composers of all time, and this book did contain a lot of information about his life as well as good insight into him as a person.
A good short bio of the man. It may well lead you to further exploration through a more substantive work.
Surprisingly fascinating biography of Beethoven. The author's love of his music truly shows. (Pianist and scholar of music as he studied Beethoven for half a century). Understand and appreciate music so much more after reading.
I love Beethoven. He is the reason i play the piano. The music is so soth and sweet and i just love it.
An easy to read biography of the great composer that is written for the non-musician.
Best life ever. Except for Jesus, and the like...
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A very "human" portrait of Ludwig van Beethoven.
- I dropped it after only a few chapters
A little too technical and not personal enough.
good for vacab words...difficulty maintaining my attention
tragic.
Merged review:
After several months, I was only read about a third of the book. The book is written well enough; I simply can't garner enough excitement for the subject matter. Part of that may be due to me ignorance of classical music. It also might be due to that fact that, outside of music, Beethoven has had seemingly little impact on the world (as opposed to some of the historical figures I've recently been reading of).
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Edmund Morris is a writer best known for his biographies of United States presidents Theodore Roosevelt and Ronald Reagan. Morris received his early education in Kenya after which he attended Rhodes University in South Africa. He worked as an advertising copywriter in London before emigrating to the United States in 1968.
His biography The Rise of Theodore Roosevelt won the Pulitzer Prize and...more
More about Edmund Morris...
His biography The Rise of Theodore Roosevelt won the Pulitzer Prize and...more
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“Ordinary psyches often react to bad news with a momentary thrill, seeing the world, for once, in jagged clarity, as if lightning has just struck. But then darkness and dysfunction rush in. A mind such as Beethoven's remains illumined, or sees in the darkness shapes it never saw before, which inspire rather than terrify. This altered shape (raptus, he would say) makes art of the shapes, while holding in counterpoise such dualities as intellect and intuition, the conscious and the unconscious, mental health and mental disorder, the conventional and the unconventional, complexity and simplicity.”
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