Beethoven was a genius so universal that his popularity, extraordinary even during his lifetime, has never ceased to grow. It now encircles the globe: Beethoven's most famous works are as beloved in Beijing as they are in Boston. Biographer Morris brings the composer to life as a man of astonishing complexity and overpowering intelligence. A gigantic, compulsively creative personality unable to tolerate constraints, he was not so much a social rebel...

The stories of the lives of the great composers are told, including interviews with musical scholars, readings of their letters, and studio performances of their works.

Complete with a 50-minute CD of excerpts from his most revered works, a picture book provides a comprehensive look at the life, times, inspirations, and accomplishments of one of the world's most celebrated composers.

Beethoven's extraordinary ability to compose great music despite severe health problems, including deafness and depression, has puzzled and inspired. The author looks at the relationship between Beethoven's health and creativity to show how the composer was able to transcend physical and emotional torment to produce some of the most powerful and beautiful music in Western culture.

An esteemed music historian provides a rich, detailed overview of the life of Ludwig van Beethoven, traveling from Enlightenment-era Bonn to the musical capital of Europe, Vienna, to vividly describe the composer's career, ill health and romantic rejections.

Professor Greenberg combines perceptive analysis of extensive musical excerpts with historical anecdotes, metaphors, and humor to show what goes on inside a musical composition: how it came to be written, how it works, and how, as is often the case with Beethoven, it may break all former rules to achieve a completely new and powerful effect. This course is somewhat technical and although musical knowledge is helpful, it is not a necessity.

A fascinating and in-depth exploration of how the Enlightenment, the French Revolution, and Napoleon shaped Beethoven's political ideals and inspired his groundbreaking compositions. Beethoven imbibed Enlightenment and revolutionary ideas in his hometown of Bonn, where they were fervently discussed in cafes and at the university. Moving to Vienna at the age of 21 to study with Haydn, he gained renown as a brilliant pianist and innovative composer....

"In a historic manor, Scott Yoo makes a landmark recording, centered around Beethoven's famous Ghost Trio. This summons Beethoven's ghost, who's spent the afterlife analyzing his output ... trailed by the ghost of Sigmund Freud, who's come to analyze him. Based on the most current research, this witty, ingenious mix of ghost story and documentary reveals the composer as you've never known him before."--Back of container