Beethoven: biography of a genius,

by George R. Marek

This book is written by author of "Puccini- aa Biography"; "Richard Strauss - The Life of a Non-Hero"; and, "Opera as Theatre". He dedicated Beethoven's biography "To the memory of Arturo Toscanini". Portrait of Beethoven shown is complete without the camera "flash". Contents and list of illustration will be sent on request.

Genres: Biography, Music, Biography Memoir, Nonfiction

696 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1969

Reviews

[Thomas Radigan · Rating 4 out of 5]

The book is a bit old, and the author has to resort to some speculation-but he does do the research he has available. There is not a lot of detailed information on his childhood, other than that he came from a musical family, and his father was a Kappellmeister (music leader) for the local prince.

Born in 1770, Beethoven was a musical talent in his own right, and would move from Bonn to Vienna when the local prince had his own financial problems. Beethoven had financial problems as well, not in small part because of the economic dislocation caused by the wars with France, though Beethoven had obvious psychological problems and was not good with money. But he was no monomaniacal musician; he was interested in politics and religion, even though he was not a churchgoer. He never married and had stormy relations with his friends and relatives, and he often failed to take care of his health and his home.

Perhaps there are better and more informational biographies of Beethoven out there but this certainly makes a good start.

[Jasmine Shadows · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really a 4.5. This author was excellent. His writing style was one of the better biographers that I have read. He gave excellent detail. He confirmed things that I had always heard of Beethoven, but was hesitant to believe. He spoke about things that were speculated, and encouraged the readers not to necessarily get carried away and accept them as fact. He stated several things that were given as speculations of various things, yet not really able to be confirmed. He would give what he felt was probably most accurate, and would state the reasons why he felt that way. Yet he never stated them as fact.
He did not sugar coat the faults. Yet he was quick to state how possibly such an issue may not have been unfounded. If a certain behavior or word seemed extreme, he would call it like it was.

I will be looking for some of his other biographies. I really did enjoy this book.

[Tary · Rating 5 out of 5]

A good book to read during the pandemic because it takes a while to get through it! I found it to be scholarly and well written, thorough and absorbing. Marek takes into account all the other biographies of the musician, pointing out their strengths and weaknesses, threading his way through fact, fiction, and speculation, and sometimes allowing us to draw our own conclusions. The result is a portrait of one of the greatest geniuses who ever lived written by someone who spent years sorting out his life.

[Dan Hill]

I really cannot remember which biography of Beethoven I read that one time but it might well have been this one. It had a gray cover and it said Beethoven really wanted to be an aristocrat and even sort of convinced himself that he was, some kind of way, even though he was just some guy, which I can relate to.

[Darin · Rating 4 out of 5]

Wow! What a fascinating insight in the life of Ludwig van Beethoven. As a piano major in college (although I didn't finish), Beethoven was always one of my favorites. As most of the paramount composers, his life was nothing to be envied, but this book is spectacularly well done. I cannot wait to read the same book on Chopin.

[Wisteria Leigh]

composer,romantic era