Beethoven's Letters: A Critical Edition with Explanatory Notes: Volume 1 (Cambridge Library Collection - Music)
Cambridge University Press
Edition: Illustrated, 11/6/2014
EAN 9781108078450, ISBN10: 1108078451
Paperback, 502 pages, 21.6 x 14 x 2.8 cm
Language: English
Ludwig van Beethoven (1770–1827) was a prolific letter writer. Often written in great haste - he regularly signed off 'in der Eile' - his correspondence allows us to follow his anxieties and preoccupations. From his first letter, written at the age of thirteen, wherein he declared his lifelong commitment to the craft of music, through the poignant 'Heiligenstadt Testament', up to the final codicil to his will, these documents reveal the human figure behind some of the greatest music ever written. In this two-volume English translation of 1909, John South Shedlock (1843–1919) retains as far as possible the idiosyncratic and error-ridden texts as written by the great composer. Volume 1 covers the years to 1816, and includes the heartbreaking unsent 1802 letter to his brothers in which Beethoven reveals his misery over his increasing deafness and his determination to overcome his physical and emotional weaknesses.
Preface to German edition
Preface
Letters 1-550.