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The Ninth: Beethoven And The World In 1824 (2010)

by Harvey Sachs(Favorite Author)

3.32 of 5 Votes: 4

ISBN

140006077X (ISBN13: 9781400060771)

languge

English

genre

History & Biography

publisher

Random House

review 1: "To write the Life of him who excelled all mankind in writing the lives of others, and who, whether we consider his extraordinary endowments, or his various works, has been equalled by few in any age, is an arduous, and may be reckoned in me a presumptuous task." from The Life of Samuel Johnson, LL.D.Of course, Boswell wouldn't let something like presumption prevent him from writing (and writing and writing) Samuel Johnson's biography. And so Harvey Sachs sets to task to provide a multifaceted perspective of one of the great works of art, Beethoven's Ninth Symphony.Sachs looks at the era during which Beethoven composed, devoting a large portion of the book to examining the work, philosophy, feelings surrounding and underpinning the romantic movement. He provides historic... moreal context of early nineteenth century Vienna as well as sketches of musical predecessors, contemporaries, and successors to Beethoven. Sachs also describes the symphony in relatively non-technical terms.For me, I was more open to the musical description than the historical context portions of the book. Is it possible that in providing the context, I was able to appreciate more fully the musical description? Fair to say. I actually put the book down a few times because it seemed to bog down during the first half.Having never really studied the workings of the musical piece, I enjoyed the description. From knowing when and where musical sections enter the piece, reading the Schiller text, discovering Beethoven's tempo notations, I found myself queuing up my iPod and listening to something I had heard hundreds of times before, but doing so in a way that I had never done previously.The opportunity to re-visit a classic in a new way made it worth the effort.
review 2: Perhaps it's the humanist in me, but I didn't think the second part was necessary. I might go back later and read it again when I'm in a different mindset, but I was reading this more for the Beethoven and less for the 1824. The first, third and fourth movement (which also included a lot of comparative cultural history but was more interesting) were far more interesting and flowed together. I wonder if this has anything to do with the fact that I occasionally skip the second movement of the symphony about a third of the way through as well?...nah. less

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