The Beethoven Quartets.

Rating:
Summary: very interesting book
Review: Don't be scared away from this book, which is actually very interesting and well writen. I don't have a degree in music but have read little bit about music history, hamony, fugue and some music forms, which seems enough to comprehend this book. I do prefer the music analysis in detail rather than a few sentence of descriptions or generization of a piece of music, especially from the great composer like Beethoven. I just got this book and have read only a few pages, but it already attracts me. It has very detailed historical background of each Beethoven's string quartet and the analysis of it. I am really pleased to have this book!

Rating:
Summary: Not for someone who has not had formal training in music
Review: I am unqualified to write a review of this highly acclaimed book, because I am neither a musicologist nor a student of music.

If you have training in music, please ignore this review. I give it 5 stars merely because it is highly acclaimed.

I'm writing this mostly because it is not mentioned here on Amazon, or elsewhere, what the book consists of, and whether "casual listeners" can read it. The answer is "no".

I purchased this book because I love the late quartets intensely, and I was looking for something that would be a pleasure to read, and something that might deepen my understanding of the quartets (especially the late quartets).

I found that I could not comprehend more than a few sentences in the entire book. Almost nothing is said about the non-musicological aspects of the quartets; nothing that evokes wonder or inerest - for the casual listener, of course. Although I would not use the word "casual" to describe myself as a listener - I've been listening to the quartets for more than a decade now, and find something new every time - it remains that without formal training, this book is entirely incomprehensible. It is a series of technical analyses, and might as well have been written in Japanese as far as I am concerned.

If you're like me - someone who loves the quartets but does not have a formal grounding in music - this book is not for you. Read Sullivan's "Beethoven" if you haven't read it already.

Rating:
Summary: Extremely technical, yet interesting...
Review: This book is really only for serious music students or musicologists - I would bet that most normal musicians or instrumentalists would have a difficult time even understanding it. As far as deep analysis and technical/structural interpretation goes, this book is probably one of the best available for the subject matter it covers. It is not for the "casual listener" or for those of you who are interested in the quartets and want to just read amusing anecdotes about their composition. This is a serious, scholarly study of the music itself, not a biography or history - although those subjects do play a part, of course, in relating the music to Beethoven's personal psychology. As such, I think it is vital for most Beethoven scholars or advanced music students to have - for reference if not for pleasure. Those of you who just want to read about Beethoven, his times, the genesis of his music, and to lightly touch on some technical matters might want to try a standard like Burk's "The Life and Works of Beethoven" or some of the more recent volumes.