Beethoven Forum, Volume 2: Beethoven Forum

An annual of international Beethoven studies, Beethoven Forum sustains and promotes the high level of scholarship inspired by Beethoven's extraordinary works. Volume 2 represents the wide range of approaches that enrich the understanding and appreciation of Beethoven and his interpreters. 

 

Michael C. Tusa describes Beethoven's life-long affinity for the key of C-minor, showing Beethoven's consistencies in technique and structure. Tia Denora clarifies how Beethoven's early recognition as a great musician was linked to the social aspirations of his Viennese patrons. Beginning with Tovey's renowned metaphor of the harmonic "Cloud" in the Eroica symphony, Lawrence Earp reconsiders the extensive attention Beethoven gave to the passage.

 

Lewis Lockwood resolves issues that have troubled scholars and musicians about the Scherzo of the F Major String Quartet (Op. 59, No. 1). William Drabkin, one of the world's premier authorities on the Missa Solemnis, analyzes the sketches and autographs of that mass's later movements. Noting the renewed interest in questions about the meaning of music, Kevin Korsyn proposes a rereading of J. W. N. Sullivan's Beethoven: His Spiritual Development and shows its relevance to the comprehension of the A Minor String Quartet, (Op. 132).

 

The importance of Carl Dahlhaus's Ludwig van Beethoven und seine Zeit was immediately acknowledged upon its publication in 1987. Translated into English in 1991, the book will further extend its influence. To assess that influence, three Beethoven scholars provide independent appraisals of the book. Hermann Danuser places the book in the context of Dahlhaus's other works and stresses Beethoven's determination to give each of his works individuality. John Daverio discusses the cultural background to Dahlhaus's outlook on "wit" and "reflectivity." And James Webster critiques the assumptions that underlie Dahlhaus's musical analyses. All relate the book to Dahlhaus's other works and indicate in what ways the book can serve as a catalyst for future study.