"Padel's imagery and imagination took me deeper into Beethoven than many biographies I've read." -Anthony Tommasini, The New York Times
A fascinating poetic journey into the mind and heart of a musical genius, from the author of the celebrated Darwin: A Life in Poems
Ruth Padel's new sequence of poems, in four movements, is a personal voyage through the life and legend of one of the world's greatest composers. She uncovers the man behind the music, charting his private thoughts and feelings through letters, diaries, sketchbooks, and the conversation books he used as his hearing declined. She gives us Beethoven as a battered four-year-old, weeping at the clavier; the young virtuoso pianist agonized by his encroaching deafness; the passionate, heartbroken lover; the clumsy eccentric making coffee with exactly sixty beans. Padel's quest takes her into the heart of Europe and back to her own musical childhood: Her great-grandfather, who studied in Leipzig with a pupil of Beethoven's, became a concert pianist before migrating to Britain; her parents met making music; and Padel grew up playing the viola, Beethoven's instrument as a child. Her book is a poet and string player's intimate connection across the centuries with an artist who, though increasingly isolated, ended even his most harrowing works on a note of hope.
| ISBN: | 9780593317723 |
| Publication date: | 2nd February 2021 |
| Author: | Ruth Padel |
| Publisher: | Knopf an imprint of Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group |
| Format: | Hardback |
| Pagination: | 131 pages |
| Genres: |
Poetry Biography: arts and entertainment Art music, orchestral and formal music Composers and songwriters Musicians, singers, bands and groups |
"Padel's imagery and imagination took me deeper into Beethoven than many biographies I've read." -Anthony Tommasini, The New York Times
A fascinating poetic journey into the mind and heart of a musical genius, from the author of the celebrated Darwin: A Life in Poems
Ruth Padel's new sequence of poems, in four movements, is a personal voyage through the life and legend of one of the world's greatest composers. She uncovers the man behind the music, charting his private thoughts and feelings through letters, diaries, sketchbooks, and the conversation books he used as his hearing declined. She gives us Beethoven as a battered four-year-old, weeping at the clavier; the young virtuoso pianist agonized by his encroaching deafness; the passionate, heartbroken lover; the clumsy eccentric making coffee with exactly sixty beans. Padel's quest takes her into the heart of Europe and back to her own musical childhood: Her great-grandfather, who studied in Leipzig with a pupil of Beethoven's, became a concert pianist before migrating to Britain; her parents met making music; and Padel grew up playing the viola, Beethoven's instrument as a child. Her book is a poet and string player's intimate connection across the centuries with an artist who, though increasingly isolated, ended even his most harrowing works on a note of hope.
Beethoven Variations features in the following genres: Poetry, Biography: arts and entertainment, Art music, orchestral and formal music, Composers and songwriters, Musicians, singers, bands and groups
Beethoven Variations is available in Hardback, Ebook, Paperback
Beethoven Variations was written by Ruth Padel and published by Knopf an imprint of Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group
Beethoven Variations has 131 pages