Book

We have three of the author's previous books, each of which have received 3-6 circulations, pretty good for academic titles. This fact, combined with the positive reviews below, makes this look like a desirable acquisition.

Solomon, Maynard. Late Beethoven: music, thought, imagination. California, 2003. 327p indexes afp ISBN 0-520-23746-3, $29.95 .

Choice: "profound and wide-ranging...provides many intellectual, cultural, and musical insights...Minor quibbles: at times the author's tone loses objectivity and becomes worshipful...The author also neglects to say that Beethoven was not well educated; thus, the reader might incorrectly assume Beethoven was a true intellectual. Solomon's prose is challenging, but as the book progresses, his language eases into fluency. Summing Up: Essential. All collections; all levels, lower-division undergraduate and above." Library Journal: “brilliant…We have come to expect well-researched, insightful, and thought-provoking studies from Solomon; this book does not disappoint. Highly recommended.” Nation: “For sheer interpretive genius and an uncommon gift for rendering in prose the complex, humanly compelling subtleties of Beethoven’s music and life, few approach Maynard Solomon…The range of material in this book is striking indeed. Solomon moves gracefully between literature, philosophy, literary theory, social history, musical analysis and informed intellectual speculation. What is so impressive about the writing is the extraordinary tact and precision of Solomon's prose…every chapter in Solomon's book is full of subtle, deeply satisfying accounts of what actually went into Beethoven's late-style works…What distinguishes so much of Solomon's work is his fearless way of connecting human concerns of the utmost importance with the exigencies of music…My one nagging reservation about what Solomon does so well as an inventive critic and generously sympathetic cultural interpreter is that it isn't clear how his findings might be related to actual performances of Beethoven's music today.” Musical Times: “horizon expanding, informative, over-written yet often beautiful, controversial in its wealth of speculative interpretations and implications of referential meanings…Solomon’s erudition and breadth of reference are exhilarating…The prologue does not give enough weight to the separation from society his deafness created…music examples in the book are underused…no major genuinely late work is considered in any detail…” New York Times Book Review: “immense erudition…The matter is complex, and almost inevitably Mr. Solomon’s lucid prose can grow dense in such specialized and nuanced discussions. In addition the copious music examples may challenge nonmusicians.”