Recent Beethoven and Beethoven-Related Publications 2007-2008

The following descriptions of books and scores recently acquired by the Beethoven Center are intended to aid readers in selecting new publications that appeal to individual interests. Part I, Books for the General Reader, encompasses biographies, histories, repertory guides and other reference books, and introductory texts appropriate for the music student. Part II, Books for the Specialist, lists books with a highly analytical or philosophical focus intended for readers with substantial knowledge of music. In cases where authors have identified books as being for the general reader or specialist, we have accepted categorization. To obtain copies of books and benefit the Beethoven Center simultaneously, please order them online through iGive.com. A percentage of sales of books and other merchandise ordered through iGive participant dealers (including Barnes and Noble) will benefit the American Beethoven Society. For those publications not available through Barnes and Noble or other online bookstores, please contact your local bookseller. To order Beethoven-Haus publications direcdy, visit the web site of its distributor, Carus-Verlag . I. Books for the General Reader I.A. Books in English Berlioz: Scenes from the life and Work. Edited by Peter Bloom. Eastman Studies In Music. Rochester, NY: University of Rochester Press, 2008. xiii, 248 pp. ISBN 978-1-58046-209-9 (hardback). $75. In 2003 the musical world celebrated the two hundredth anniversary of the birth of Hector Berlioz. This new collection of twelve essays begins with an assessment by the editor of the current state of Berlioz research and performance. Among his many other achievements as a composer and critic, Berlioz encouraged the appreciation of Beethoven's music in France in the early decades following Beethoven's death. In his preface Bloom makes note of Berlioz's copy of Beethoven's Ninth Symphony - a gift from Charles Gounod- on which Berlioz wrote Ange! Archange! Sublime! Although most of the essays cover other topics, one by JeanPierre Bartoli emphasizes Berlioz's reverence for the Ninth in his comparative study of the Adagio movement in Beethoven's symphony with the scene d'amour (love scene) from Berlioz's Romeo et Juliette. Although Berlioz's scene closely follows the action in Shakespeare's drama, his use of Beethoven's work as a model is based solely on musical elements rather than narrative associations. The subject of Beethoven also appears in the short essay on musical meaning by Jacques Barzun and in the essays on Berlioz reception by Gunther Braam and Pepijn van Doesburg. Although some Parisians regarded Berlioz as their Beethoven, not all who heard Berlioz during his tour of Germany in 1842-1843 found the comparison justified. On hearing a Berlioz concert, one chorus master in Mannheim remarked only a lunatic could make such a comparison, because the music of Berliotz [sic], while highly original, is also highly deranged [Verruuckt']. Includes bibliographical references and index. Bertagnolli, Paul A. Prometheus in Music: Representations of the Myth in the Romantic Era. Aldershot, Hants, U.K.: Ashgate, 2007. xv, 369 pp. ISBN 978-0-7546-5468-1 (hardback). $99.95. In Greek mythology Zeus and the Olympians defeated rival gods, the Titans. Prometheus, one of the defeated, rebelled against Zeus's rule by giving the gift of fire to man. In retaliation Zeus ordered Prometheus chained to a cliff where he suffered the daily attacks of eagles that fed on his liver. In spite of this torture, Prometheus remained defiant until rescued by Hercules. In the arts and literature, Prometheus came to symbolize the heroic champion of mankind but also represented the sufferings of the outcast and misunderstood artist. Both themes found numerous expressions during the Romantic era. After Bertagnolli summarizes earlier uses of the Prometheus myth, he selects representative works from the nineteenth century for closer study. …