Product Description

Beethoven's habit of composing by making many preliminary drafts and sketches was sufficiently unusual to attract attention even during his lifetime, and his creative process has attracted a good deal more attention since. This book incorporates the findings of recent studies on Beethoven's creative process and examines his underlying creative motivation, the interrelationships between his various works, and how his output was determined by external factors and his personal life. Including an introduction to his compositional methods and a detailed study of particular compositional problems of six different works, the book provides insight into the creative life of one of the greatest figures in musical history.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #1028254 in Books
• Published on: 1993-01-07
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 346 pages

Review

"One of the most original monographs on the composer to appear in recent years."--Musical Times
"Open its pages and discover genius....His book is a work of scholarship, in language the layman can understand."--Times Literary Supplement
"Cooper has indeed offered valuable and substantive comments on topics of broad interest to music historians and theorists, as well as to the general reader."--Notes
"[Includes] the best narrative description of Beethoven's sketch materials now available....The book will surely provoke heated response, but is bound to be an important source."--Choice

About the Author
Barry Cooper is at Manchester University.

Customer Reviews

Very provocative
An extremely well-written and inspiring work, Cooper succeeds in bringing us Beethoven the artist.