Recent Beethoven and Beethoven-Related Books and Music Editions (1998-2001)

The following descriptions of books and scores recently acquired by 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 books as being for general reader or specialist, we have utilized their categorizations. Part III lists critical editions and other selected scores. All publications are paperbacks unless otherwise noted. I. Books for General Reader IA. Books in English Alai, Fariba Joubine. Beethoven Glorified in Statues. London: Homa, 2000. 79 pp. ISBN 0-95381090 -00 -9. £10 ($15). This slim paperback describes sixteen busts and monuments made during Beethoven's lifetime and into late twentieth century. It includes some of best-known works, such as busts by Franz Klein and Josef Danhauser, Hahnel monument in Bonn and its counterpart by Zumbusch in Vienna, and modern concrete sculpture erected in 1990 at Beethovenhalle in Bonn. Also described are metal bust by Ferncorn in Beethovensruhe in Heiligenstadt and statue by Weigl in Heiligenstadt Park. Most of selected statues are located in Germany and Austria, with exception of Schaller bust now at British Library and eighty busts and statues of Beethoven by Bourdelle, many of which are in Paris. The book contains fine photographs of most of statues, some in color. Baker, Christine L. Beethoven, My Immortal Beloved. London: Minerva Press, 1998. 496 pp. ISBN 0-75410-110-X. £11.99 ($18). In this work of fiction, protagonist Joanna Ashleigh's infatuation with Beethoven leads her across boundaries of time and place in pursuit of a romantic relationship with composer. Through dreams and fantasies of her young adulthood, she discovers that she was Beethoven's Immortal Beloved. Beethoven materializes in Joanna's modern world and they marry and have a child. But in Beethoven's second life he is free of deafness and his earlier physical and emotional sufferings. Before end of his reincarnation he composes a magnificent new symphony, whose second movement is the music of a man fulfilled, a man whose heart is expressing contentment rather than yearning. Berlioz, Hector. A Critical Study of Beethoven's Nine Symphonies with a Few Words on His Trios and Sonatas, a Criticism of Fidelia, and an Introductory Essay on Music. Translated by Edwin Evans. Introduction by D. Kern Holoman. Urbana, Illinois: University of Illinois Press, 2000. xvii, 165 pp. ISBN 0-252-06942-0. $15. Berlioz first published his Beethoven essays in journals Revue et Gazette musicale and Journal des Debats. Some of these were subsequently reprinted in his first book, Voyage musical ( 1844) and again in more extensive collection, A Travers Chants, Etudes Musicales, Adorations, Boutades et Critiques (1862). Berlioz began writing music criticism at age twenty-eight and contributed hundreds of insightful and witty essays, some of which are only now being collected and republished in series Critique musicale. This volume is a reprint of Beethoven essays translated into English by Edwin Evans and first published in 1913. Holomon's new introduction provides a brief review of Berlioz's Beethoven criticism. Caplin, William E. Classical Form: A Theory of Formal Functions for Instrumental Music of Haydn, Mozart, and Beethoven. New York: Oxford University Press, c1998, 2001. xii, 307 pp. ISBN 0-19-514399-X. $29.95. This is a paperback reprinting of book first published in 1998 (see this journal, Vol. 13, no. …