Beethoven and the Grosse Fuge: Music, Meaning, and Beethoven's Most Difficult Work

Description

This book looks closely at both Beethoven and the Grosse Fuge, placing both in their historical and social contexts. It considers interesting questions about whether absolute music—music without words—can have meaning and speculates that some works of Western music can evoke synesthesia in listeners—a sense of motion through three-dimensional volumes of space. The author also speculates that Beethoven's long creative dry spell in his late 40s was caused by an extended bout with clinical depression. Cover Title Page Copyright Page Dedication Page Table of Contents Preface Chapter 1: Beethoven and the Grosse Fuge The Grosse Fuge and Opus130 Beethoven's Depression Chapter 2: Beethoven the Freelance Musician Inflation in Vienna The Social Status of Musicians Beethoven' s Sources of Income The Development of the Public Concert The Business of Music Publishing "Those Arch Villains" Chapter 3: Beethoven's Character Beethoven and Schindler Beethoven's Noble Friends Chapter 4: Music and Meaning Music is an Evolved Trait Music is a Natural Language Musical Perception is a Form of Synesthesia Chapter 5: The Grosse Fuge Bibliography Index About the Author