Late Beethoven : music, thought, imagination / Maynard Solomon.
| Author/creator |
Solomon, Maynard |
| Format | Book and Print |
| Publication Info | Berkeley : University of California Press, ©2003. |
| Description | xi, 327 pages : illustrations ; 24 cm |
| Subject(s) |
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| Contents | Prologue. A sea change -- The end of a beginning: the "Diabelli" variations -- Beyond classicism -- Some romantic images -- Pastoral, rhetoric, structure: the Violin sonata in G, op. 96 -- Reason and imagination: the aesthetic dimension -- The seventh symphony and the rhythms of antiquity -- The Masonic thread -- The Masonic imagination -- The shape of a journey: the "Diabelli" variations -- Intimations of the sacred -- The sense of an ending: the ninth symphony -- The healing power of music. |
| Abstract | This book investigates the phenomenon of the final phase, focusing especially on the striking metamorphosis in Beethoven's system of beliefs that began early in his fifth decade and eventually amounted to a sweeping realignment of his views of nature, antiquity, divinity, and human purpose. Using the composer's letters, diaries, and conversation books, Solomon traces Beethoven's attraction to a constellation of heterogeneous ideas, drawn from Romanticism, Freemasonry, comparative religion, Eastern initiatory ritual, Mediterranean mythology, aesthetics, and classical and contemporary thought. Through these often arcane sources, Beethoven gained access to a vast reservoir of imagery and ideas with the potential to expand music's expressive and communicative reach. This "multitude of productive images," writes Solomon, "provides kindling for the blaze of his imagination." |
| Bibliography note | Includes bibliographical references (pages 245-300) and indexes. |
| LCCN | 2002013906 |
| ISBN | 0520237463 (alk. paper) |
Available Items
| Library | Location | Call Number | Status | Item Actions | |
| Music | Music Stacks | ML410.B4 S655 2003 | ✔ Available | Place Hold |