Beethoven: the Man Revealed

Beethoven scholar and classical radio host John Suchet has had a lifelong, ardent interest in the man and his music. Here, in his first full-length biography, Suchet illuminates the composer's difficult childhood, his struggle to maintain friendships and romances, his ungovernable temper, his obsessive efforts to control his nephew's life, and the excruciating decline of his hearing. This absorbing narrative provides a comprehensive account of a momentous life, as it takes the reader on a journey from the composer's birth in Bonn to his death in Vienna. Chronicling the landmark events in Beethoven's career'from his competitive encounters with Mozart to the circumstances surrounding the creation of the well-known FUr Elise and Moonlight Sonata'this book enhances understanding of the composer's character, inspiring a deeper appreciation for his work. Beethoven scholarship is constantly evolving, and Suchet draws on the latest research, using rare source material (some of which has never before been published in English) to paint a complete and vivid portrait of the legendary prodigy.

Title from resource description page (Recorded Books, viewed April 25, 2016).

Intro; Half Title; Title; Copyright; Dedication; Contents; Preface; Prologue; Chapter One: The Spaniard; Chapter Two: The Right Teacher; Chapter Three: Meeting Mozart; Chapter Four: Word Spreads; Chapter Five: Impressing the Vienese; Chapter Six: My Poor Hearing Haunts me; Chapter Seven: Only my Art Held me Back; Chapter Eight: Egyptian Hieroglyphics; Chapter Nine: O, Beloved J!; Chapter Ten: A Deeply Immoral Woman; Chapter Eleven: Under Cannon Fire; Chapter Twelve: Immortal Beloved; Chapter Thirteen: An Utterly Untamed Personality; Chapter Fourteen: Into the Witness Box

Chapter Fifteen: A Musical Gift from LondonChapter Sixteen: 'I Want to be a Soldier'; Chapter Seventeen: Two Pistols and Gunpowder; Chapter Eighteen: Frightening the Oxen; Chapter Nineteen: Terminally Ill; Chapter Twenty: The Last Master; Postscript; Acknowledgments; Notes; Index