Beethoven's Conversation Books Volume 6

Nos. 60 to 71 (March 1824 - June 1824)
Erscheinungsjahr 2026
ISBN: 978-1-83765-483-3
Verlag: Boydell & Brewer Ltd.

Buch, Englisch, 382 Seiten, Print PDF, Format (B × H): 156 mm x 234 mm, Gewicht: 666 g

A complete new edition of Beethoven's conversation books, in 12 volumes, now translated into English in their entirety for the first time. Covering a period associated with the revolutionary style of what we call "late Beethoven", these lively and compelling conversations are now finally accessible in English for the scholar and Beethoven-lover.

Ludwig van Beethoven (1770-1827) is recognized the world over as a composer of musical masterpieces exhibiting heroic strength, particularly in the face of his increasing deafness from ca. 1798. By 1818, the Viennese composer had begun carrying blank booklets with him, for his acquaintances to jot their sides of conversations, while he answered aloud. Often, he himself used the pocket-sized booklets to make shopping lists and other reminders, including occasional early sketches for his compositions. Today, 139 of these booklets survive, covering the years 1818 up to the composer's death in 1827 and including such topics as music, history, politics, art, literature, theatre, religion, and education as perceived on a day-to-day basis in post-Napoleonic Europe. An East German edition, begun in the 1960s and essentially complete by 2001, represents a diplomatic transcription of these documents. It is a masterpiece of pure scholarship but is difficult to use for anyone who is not a specialist. Moreover, Beethoven scholarship has moved on significantly since the long-ranging genesis of the German edition.

These important booklets are here translated into English in their entirety for the first time. The volumes in this series include an updated editorial apparatus, with revised and expanded notes and many new footnotes exclusive to this edition, and brand new introductions, which together place many of the quickly changing conversational topics into context. Due to the editor's many years of research in Vienna, his acquaintance with its history and topography, as well as his familiarity with obscure documentary resources, this edition represents an entirely new venture in source studies - vitally informative for scholars not only in music but also in a wide variety of disciplines. At the same time, these often lively and compelling conversations are now finally accessible for the English-speaking music lover or history buff who might want to dip into them and hear what Beethoven and his friends were discussing at the next table.

Autoren/Hrsg.

Albrecht, Theodore

Fachgebiete

• Geisteswissenschaften Musikwissenschaft Musikgattungen Sinfonische Musik & Ensembles
• Geisteswissenschaften Musikwissenschaft Musikwissenschaft Allgemein Einzelne Komponisten und Musiker

Inhaltsverzeichnis

General Introduction to the English Edition
Acknowledgements
Reader's Guide
Directionality in Vienna (True and Perceived)

Highlights of Volume 6

Heft 60. (March 19, 1824 - April 1, 1824)
Heft 61. (April 8, 1824 - ca. April 14, 1824)
Heft 62. (ca. April 15, 1824 - ca. April 20, 1824)
Heft 63. (ca. April 23, 1824 - ca. April 29, 1824)
Heft 64. (ca. April 29, 1824 - May 3, 1824)
Heft 65. (May 4, 1824 - May 6, 1824)
Heft 66. (May 6, 1824 - May 8, 1824)
Heft 67. (ca. May 9, 1824 - May 18, 1824)
Heft 68. (ca. May 19, 1824 - May 22, 1824)
Heft 69. (ca. May 20, 1824 - ca. May 25, 1824)
Heft 70. (ca. May 26, 1824 - ca. May 30, 1824)
Heft 71. (ca. May 31, 1824 - June 10, 1824)

Appendix A: Descriptions of the Conversation Books in Volume 6

Bibliography
Index of Writers of Conversational Entries
Index of Beethoven's Compositions

General Index

Über Autor(innen)

Albrecht, Theodore
THEODORE ALBRECHT, Professor Emeritus of Music at Kent State University, Ohio, was an award-winning Beethoven scholar. He authored many important articles on the composer and was the editor of Letters to Beethoven and Other Correspondence (1996) as well as translator and editor of Beethoven's Conversation Books (Boydell Press).