What Beethoven Books Do You Own?

[DavidO]

I thought it would be interesting to hear which Beethoven books you own & have read.

I own & have read:

1. "Beethoven," Maynard Solomon, 2nd edit.
2. "Beethoven," Joseph Kerman & Alan Tyson (The New Grove)
3. "Beethoven: Impressions By His Contemporaries," edited by O.G. Sonneck
4. "Beethoven," R.M. James
5. "Beethoven: The Symphonies 5 & 6," Black Dog Music Library
6. "Beethoven: Letters, Journals & Conversations," edited & translated by Michael Hamburger
7. "The Revolutionary from Bonn," from Harold Schonberg's "Lives of the Great Composers"

I'd also like to read those John Suchet fictionalized bios (three volumes), but I'm having trouble finding copies.

Next up, I think, is Thayer. Might as well dive into that multivolume sea.

[Joy]

Sounds like you have a fine Beethoven library there. Here's a few of mine:

Beethoven's Bicentennial Edition 1770-1970; a nice 'coffee table' book with great illistration.

Beethoven: His Life and Times
Beethoven: Solomon
Beethoven's Hair: Russell Martin
Beethoven's Letters
Thayer Vol. I and II; (Forbes)

to name a few plus several other books and have read several books from the library.
Thayer is a very good book to delve into Beethoven's life personally and musically.
Enjoy!

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'Truth and beauty joined'

[Nightklavier]

1. "Beethoven" by Maynard Solomon
2. "The Interior Beethoven" by Irving Kolodin (Alfred A. Knopf)
3. "Beethoven" by David Jacobs (Horizon Caravel)
4. "Ludwig van Beethoven: His Life and his Works in Pictures" by Robert Bory (Atlantis Books Zurich) - This is a huge red hardbound book similar to the bicentennial edition with illustrations, photographed letters, and portraits of every person Beethoven ever met it seems.
5. "Beethoven: The Universal Composer" by Edmund Morris

The one's with the publisher in the parentheses are the somewhat rare books that I found over the course of years through various old antique book stores.

I've wanted to read Thayer's famous work on the subject but I'd like to find a nice hardcover that's not too expensive.

[This message has been edited by Nightklavier (edited 07-11-2006).]

[Rod]

Originally posted by Nightklavier:
[B]
I've wanted to read Thayer's famous work on the subject but I'd like to find a nice hardcover that's not too expensive.

I've got a deluxe hardback, boxed edition of Thayer. I got it from a school jumble sale in absolute mint condition for £5, and they were only asking for £2! However this version is slightly abridged. I've never seen this edition anywhere else in London, even in the very best bookshops.

In addition I have the unabridged single volume edition of Thayer in softback,
'Beethoven's Letters' Dr A.C. Kalischer,
'Beethoven on Beethoven - Playing his piano music his way' William S. Newman,
'Beethoven as I knew him' Anton Schindler,
'Memories of Beethoven' Gerhard von Breuning
'Beethoven' Denis Mattews.



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"If I were but of noble birth..." - Rod Corkin

[Joy]

Originally posted by Rod:

'Memories of Beethoven' Gerhard von Breuning

I've read this one too and really enjoyed it. It was interesting to read something from someone who was actually with Beethoven at the time.



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'Truth and beauty joined'

[Rod]

Originally posted by Joy:
I've read this one too and really enjoyed it. It was interesting to read something from someone who was actually with Beethoven at the time.

I recommend Schinder's book, it's probably the most interesting contemporary account - not primarily from the point of view of the biography section (which we know has to be treated carefully), but he wrote a whole host of appendices including some interesting accounts of contemporary Beethoven performances after his death. You can't beat these 'hands-on' opinions/conceptions, even if you do not neccessarily accept or agree with them.

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"If I were but of noble birth..." - Rod Corkin


[This message has been edited by Rod (edited 07-11-2006).]

[Roehre]

I thought it would be interesting to hear which Beethoven books you own & have read.

I own & have read:

1. "Beethoven," Maynard Solomon, 2nd edit.
2. "Beethoven," Joseph Kerman & Alan Tyson (The New Grove)
3. "Beethoven: Impressions By His Contemporaries," edited by O.G. Sonneck
4. "Beethoven," R.M. James
5. "Beethoven: The Symphonies 5 & 6," Black Dog Music Library
6. "Beethoven: Letters, Journals & Conversations," edited & translated by Michael Hamburger
7. "The Revolutionary from Bonn," from Harold Schonberg's "Lives of the Great Composers"

I'd also like to read those John Suchet fictionalized bios (three volumes), but I'm having trouble finding copies.

Next up, I think, is Thayer. Might as well dive into that multivolume sea.

This thread prompted me to have a look at my shelves.
I don't think you'd like to know all the titles of the 250+ Beethoven books there (not counting articles). Most of them in German, as there are the Brandenburg letters ( 7 vols), the Konversationshefte (11 vols), the Beethoven Jahrbuch-series (10 vols), the sketch-books facsimiles and transcriptions and other series (Bonner Beethoven Studien, Berliner Beethoven Studien, Münchner Beethoven Studien), as well as the publications from the BeethovenHaus and especially the Henle-verlag and the Laaber-Verlag (Beethoven Handbuch).
The rest is in English (Beethoven Studies), French, Dutch or Welsh (the latter a brilliant study on the roots of the Welsh Folksong arrangments).

[Michael]

This thread prompted me to have a look at my shelves.
I don't think you'd like to know all the titles of the 250+ Beethoven books there (not counting articles). Most of them in German, as there are the Brandenburg letters ( 7 vols), the Konversationshefte (11 vols), the Beethoven Jahrbuch-series (10 vols), the sketch-books facsimiles and transcriptions and other series (Bonner Beethoven Studien, Berliner Beethoven Studien, Münchner Beethoven Studien), as well as the publications from the BeethovenHaus and especially the Henle-verlag and the Laaber-Verlag (Beethoven Handbuch).
The rest is in English (Beethoven Studies), French, Dutch or Welsh (the latter a brilliant study on the roots of the Welsh Folksong arrangments).

I thought I was doing well with about forty books. You must like Beethoven, Roehre.

[Roehre]

I thought I was doing well with about forty books. You must like Beethoven, Roehre.

I certainly don't hate him

[Bonn1827]

What about HC Robbins Landon (died November)? I think he wrote a couple of books on LvB. Which is best? I haven't read anything except Tovey, circa 1930s, printed 1948. Was a bit daunted by Thayer and, because of revisions, thought it mightn't be authoritative. Can anyone set me straight on this?

[Hollywood]

Here's my Beethoven book list:

1. The Beethoven Bicentennial Collection Book from Time -Life (1970)
2. Beethoven: An Illustrated Biography by Ernst Herttrich
3. Beethoven by Ates Orga
4. Thayer's Life of Beethoven
5. Solomon's Beethoven
6. Beethoven: Biography of a Genius by George Richard Marek
7. Beethoven: Letters, Journals and Conversations edited and translated by Michael Hamberger
8. Beethoven's Letters from Dover
9. Beethoven: Impressions by His Contemporaries edited by O.G. Sonneck
10. Memories of Beethoven by Gerhard von Breuning
11. Beethoven by Dennis Matthews
12. Beethoven's Empire of the Mind by John Crabbe
13. Beethoven by HC Robbins Landon
14. Beethoven by Walter Riezler
15. Beethoven and His Nine Symphonies by George Grove
16. The New Grove Beethoven by Joseph Kerman and Alan Tyson
17. Ludwig van Beethoven by Martin Geck
18. Beethoven: The Composer as Hero by Philippe Autexier
19. Beethoven: The Man and Artist As Revealed in His Own Words edited by Friedrich Kerst and Henry Edward Krehbiel
20. Ludwig van Beethoven translated from the german of Franz Hoffman by George P. Upton (1904)

[Hofrat]

I have many of the books that were posted by other members. Here are a few others that I have:

"Beethoven Encyclopedia" by Nettl
"Beethoven's Sketches" by Mies
"Beethoven" by Alan Pryce-Jones
"Fidelio" by Nicolas John
"Beethoven; "Moonlight" and other sonatas, opus27 and 31" by Jones
"Beethoven: Eroica Symphony" by Sipe
"The Life and Works of Beethoven" by Burk
"The Beethoven Compendium" by Cooper et.al.
"The New Hess Catalog of Beethoven's Works" by James Green

I might have a few other unmentioned books laying about (I am terribly short on shelf space!). I am grateful that the question was not "Which Beethoven scores do you have? as that would take forever to write up!!

[Zevy]

My most used Beethoven Books:

The complete String Quartets (score)
The Beethoven Quartet Companion (California Press)

You can tell what I've been listening to lately

[Roehre]

The complete String Quartets (score)
The Beethoven Quartet Companion (California Press)

You can tell what I've been listening to lately

Let's guess: his symphonies

Excellent book btw. Do you Kerman's book on the Quartets?
IMO even better.

[Zevy]

Do you Kerman's book on the Quartets?
IMO even better.

Do you mean William Kinderman?