Despite his hearing impairment, Ludwig van Beethoven was one of music’s most admired composers. Discover his life and work with these reads.
The Ninth by Harvey Sachs explores the famed symphony as Beethoven’s answer to bringing joy in dark times, featuring the Ode to Joy. This masterpiece was premiered in 1824, just as Metternich was turning Austria into a police state.
Matthew Guerrieri takes a deep dive into Beethoven’s Fifth Symphony, one of the most popular ever written, with his book The First Four Notes. Guerrieri examines what may have inspired Beethoven to write this masterpiece. This work still asserts its influence to this day.
Jan Caeyers portrays the deeply human and complex side of the composer in Beethoven. Caeyers examines his troubled youth, his unpredictable mood swings, his hopes and desires, and his relationships with friends and family. The author taps the archives at the Beethoven House in Bonn to dive deep into the composer's life.
In Beethoven's Hair, Russell Martin tells the story of how musician Ferdinand Hiller retrieved a lock of hair as he was paying his respects to the composer. The well-preserved lock of hair much later offered the most compelling evidence yet of why Beethoven spent most of his life in silence.
Jan Swafford unmasks Beethoven’s legendary life in his biography Beethoven. Swafford takes us to the Enlightenment era, when Beethoven grew up. The ideas of the Enlightenment would nurture his music. The author mines sources never before used in English language biographies to bring this era to life.
How have you been inspired by someone with a disability, who has beaten the odds?
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