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The Character of a Genius Beethoven in Perspective
(Click to Enlarge)
Peter J. Davies
Book Code: GM1913
ISBN: 0-313-31913-8
ISBN-13: 978-0-313-31913-6
376 pages, photos, tables
Greenwood Press
Publication: 10/30/2001
List Price: $131.95 (UK Sterling Price: £75.00)
Availability: In Stock
Media Type: Hardcover
Trim Size: 6 1/8 x 9 1/4
Subjects:
Series Title: Contributions to the Study of Music and Dance
Series Number: 60
Reviews:
  • ...essential reading for all who wish to gain knowledge and understanding of the life and death of the greatest composer that western civilization has produced.
    —Internal Medicine Journal     2003
  • ...a deeply researched study of the composer's ancestry and life...a most interesting additional facet to complete the perspective of this prodigiously gifted man. As well as being well written, the book is nicely illustrated and richly documented, and will be employed by music lovers, medical and non-medical.
    —Journal of Medical Biography     2002
Description: Beethoven's often-discussed "dark side"--marked by paranoia, narcissism, and obsession--is brought into focus by Peter J. Davies, who examines both the composer's genetic roots and the familial cruelty and neglect that defined his childhood. But this book is more than a biography, eschewing facile psychoanalysis in favor of a real exploration of how Beethoven's character shaped the work now universally regarded as among the best music ever written. Davies acutely observes the ways in which suffering can bring, at the same time, both madness and genius. The author begins by tracing the medical history of mental disorders in Beethoven's family, and then goes on to detail the composer's religious beliefs and attitudes, his daily work habits and pastimes, and elements of his character including manic depression. Though the work does not purport to be a musical analysis, it does consider the many ways in which the things that shape an artist go on to shape his art.
Table of Contents:
  • Introduction
  • Chronological Calendar
  • Childhood and Adolescence
  • Religious Beliefs and Attitudes
  • Beethoven's Religious Music
  • Work Habits and Pastimes
  • Beethoven's Personality I: Paranoid Character
  • Beethoven's Personality II: Other Traits Stresses Humour and the Eternal Feminine
  • Beethoven's Personality III: Manic-Depressive Tendencies: The Suffering Depressive Composer
  • Beethoven's Personality IV: Manic-Depressive Tendencies, Upswings of Mood, Sanity, Genetics, Creativity
  • Bibliography
  • Index of Beethoven's Works in This Volume
  • General Index
LC Card Number: 2001018022
LCC Class: ML410
Dewey Class: 780
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