Beethoven by Stephen Johnson
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

"[...] the composer Igor Stravinsky (1882-1971) called the 'Grosse Fuge' 'that absolutely contemporary work that will be contemporary for ever.' "

A nice little book that presents the life and works of Ludwig van Beethoven (1770 - 1827) comes from the Compact Companion series that combines the biography, the list of complete works, and the list of recommended recordings of greatest composers. The book, written by Stephen Johnson and published in 1994, is accompanied by a compact disk and is richly illustrated.

Considering the small volume of the text (130 pages, of which about a third are illustrations), Beethoven's life is presented in quite some detail. Beginning with the mentions of Beethoven's Flemish roots, his childhood, and his first "serious" work composed at the age of 11, we read how Beethoven grows into a brilliant, virtuoso piano performer and improviser, who - as an early teenager - gets introduced to the music of J.S. Bach, meets Mozart at 16, and studies under Haydn in Vienna.

We read about the first signs of progressing deafness, which afflicts Beethoven already in his twenties. The dramatic and famous Heiligenstadt Testament, a letter to his brothers, which the composer wrote at the age of 28 at one of the low points of his life, is quoted in its entirety, as is the equally famous Eternally Beloved - a love letter to a woman whose identity still remains a mystery. We read about the further events in his life, the struggles with deafness and other illnesses, which led to his premature death at 56.

I am more interested in Beethoven's musical output than in his biography so I am happy to report that the book guides the reader through the major works of the composer, setting them against the backdrop of turbulent times of the end of the 18th century and the beginning of the 19th. My favorite compositions of Beethoven are mentioned in quite some detail, for example the Hammerklavier piano sonata (Op. 106):

"the most agonizingly soul-searching music Beethoven ever wrote"

and piano sonata No. 32 (Op. 111)

"wildly dancing, and finally reaching an ecstatic calm."

To me, the five string quartets composed in the 1820s, are the pinnacle of Beethoven's work and, together with some works of Bach and Mozart, belong to the most magnificent music ever composed. The author quotes music critics, many of whom agree that the last five string quartets are Beethoven's "finest achievement."

The quartets were composed in the 1820s, yet they are timeless; their sound is not the sound of the 19th century but the sound of ageless beauty. Igor Stravinsky is right: some of Beethoven's music has always been and will always be contemporary.

Four stars.

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