Recent Beethoven and Beethoven-Related Books, Music Editions, and Facsimiles (1998-2000)

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 their individual interests. Part I, Books for General Reader, encompasses biographies, histories, repertory guides and other reference books, and introductory texts appropriate for music student. Part II, Books for Specialist, lists books with a highly analytical or philosophical focus intended for readers with substantial knowledge of music. In those cases where authors have identified their book as being for general reader or specialist, we have accepted their categorization. Part III lists critical editions and other selected scores and manuscript facsimiles. I. Books For General Reader IA. Books in English and His World, ed. by Scott Burnham and Michael P. Steinberg. Princeton, New Jersey: Princeton University Press, 2000. x, 383 pp. ISBN 0-691-07072-5 (cloth: $55); ISBN 0-691-07073-3 (pbk.: $19-95). This is volume 11 of a series of essays devoted to major composers published in conjunction with Bard Music Festival at Princeton. In Part 1, Heroic Beethoven, Reinhold Brinkmann (In Time of 'Eroica') explores philosophical shift during revolutionary era that was mirrored in Beethoven's works composed after 1800, particularly Eroica Symphony. Lewis Lockwood examines concept of heroic in Fidelia and then deconstructs this categorization of Beethoven's middle period works (Beethoven, Florestan, and Varieties of Heroism). He concludes by proposing three heroic categories in Beethoven's works: fallen hero, visionary heroism, and heroism of endurance. second section turns to Beethoven's late style with essays by Elaine Sisman, Glenn Stanley, and Nicholas Marston. In Memory and Invention at Threshold of Beethoven's Late Style, Sisman explores recurring material that evokes memories of previous moments in Beethoven's late works. used this device of reminiscence, a device closely associated with fantasy and invention, to link past with present and future. Fortepiano Sonata in A Major, Opus 101, and Sonata for Violoncello and Fortepiano, Opus 102, no. 2 are main focus of Sisman's essay, while Glenn Stanley shares his thoughts on interpretation and analysis of another late sonata in Voices and Their Rhythms in First Movement of Beethoven's Piano Sonata Op. 109. In first movement he finds a lyrical quality - a dialogue between voices - that is an aspect of Beethoven's late style that has not received sufficient attention by recent critics. Nicholas Marston (Voicing Beethoven's Distant Beloved) takes up themes of spatial and temporal distance in An die feme Geliebte as expressed in text and music. He brings into his discussion interpretations of other critics, notably Joseph Kerman and Charles Rosen. A break from hermeneutics comes with The Keyboard Instruments of Young by Tilman Skowronick, who reexamines Beethoven's relationship with these instruments during his early period. Skowronick posits that with rapid development of fortepiano during Beethoven's lifetime, his attitude toward instrument changed as well. An appendix cites contemporary reports of Beethoven's playing from 1791-1800. Returning to criticism of music, William Kinderman (Contrast and Continuity in Beethoven's Creative Process) explores the relation between freedom and determination, or chaos and order in fortepiano sonatas from different stages of Beethoven's output. Discussed are Sonata in E-flat Major, Opus 7; Waldstein Sonata, Opus 53; and last three sonatas, Opus 109-111. Beethoven in World is broad category for last group of essays on reception history. Christopher Gibbs looks at Beethoven's death and posthumous life in Performances of Grief: Vienna's Response to Death of Beethoven. …