Beethoven: The Man Revealed

Description

The Sunday Times bestseller; You know the music...but do you know the man?; Ludwig van Beethoven is one of the world's best loved and most influential composers. His life - its dramas, conflicts, loves and losses - is played out in his music.; Now John Suchet shows us the man behind the music in this compelling biography of a musical genius. He reveals a difficult and complex character, struggling to continue his profession as musician despite increasing deafness, alienating friends with unprovoked outbursts of anger one moment, overwhelming them with excessive kindness and generosity the next, living in a city in almost constant disarray because of war with France.; This is the real Beethoven, and Suchet brings him faithfully and vividly to life.

Promotion info

* More than 17,000 copies sold in hardback.; * Now available in paperback, this superb biography has a strong focus on Beethoven's early life, often ignored by other biographers.; * Based on extensive research, including sources never previously published in English.; * Colour plate section brings the history to life.

Author description

John Suchet presents the flagship morning programme on Classic FM, the UK's most popular classical music station. His informative style of presentation, coupled with a deep knowledge of classical music, has won a wide spectrum of new listeners to the station. Before turning to classical music, John was one of the UK's best known television newscasters, regularly presenting ITN's flagship News at Ten, as well as all other bulletins, over a period of nearly 20 years. John has been honoured for both roles. He has written the Sunday Times bestselling The Last Waltz: The Story of the Strauss Dynasty (2015) and most recently Mozart: The Man Revealed (2016).

Table of contents

Contents; Preface ... xi; Prologue ... xiv; 1. The Spaniard ... 1; 2. The Right Teacher ... 23; 3. Meeting Mozart ... 42; 4. Word Spreads ... 61; 5. Impressing the Viennese ... 88; 6. My Poor Hearing Haunts Me ... 105; 7. Only My Art Held Me Back ... 121; 8. Egyptian Hieroglyphics ... 134; 9. O, Beloved J! ... 151; 10. A Deeply Immoral Woman ... 168; 11. Under Cannon Fire ... 188; 12. Immortal Beloved ... 202; 13. An Utterly Untamed Personality ... 216; 14. Into the Witness Box ... 235; 15. A Musical Gift from London ... 252; 16. 'I Want to Be a Soldier' ... 273; 17. Two Pistols and Gunpowder ... 291; 18. Frightening the Oxen ... 307; 19. Terminally Ill ... 323; 20. The Last Master ... 339; Postscript ... 346; Acknowledgements ... 351; About Classic FM ... 353; Index ... 355; About the Author ... 364