Beethoven

Anguish and Triumph

By: Jan Swafford

Narrated by: Michael Prichard

Jan Swafford's biographies have established him as a revered music historian, capable of bringing his subjects vibrantly to life. His magnificent new biography of Ludwig van Beethoven peels away layers of legend to get to the living, breathing human being who composed some of the world's most iconic music.

Swafford mines sources never before used in English-language biographies to reanimate the revolutionary ferment of Enlightenment-era Bonn, where Beethoven grew up and imbibed the ideas that would shape all of his future work. Swafford then tracks his subject to Vienna, capital of European music, where Beethoven built his career in the face of critical incomprehension, crippling ill health, romantic rejection, and "fate's hammer," his ever-encroaching deafness.

©2014 Jan Swafford (P)2015 Tantor

Critic reviews

"Indeed, readers will want to refer to the book often when they listen to Beethoven. A marvelous achievement." ( Booklist)

A good listen for the first 4/5 of the book.

Where does Beethoven rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?

Top 30%

What was one of the most memorable moments of Beethoven?

His upbring with a an abusive alcoholic father, his musical genius and persistence in getting every note and cord perfect, sometimes taking him weeks to accomplish.

What does Michael Prichard bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

Making what could be a tedious read a good listen.

Beethoven - the man and his music

This is a sad story, but also encouraging as you see how Beethoven struggled through his many physical ailments, tortured by his unrequited loves, but yet wrote some of the most beautiful and passionate music ever heard at his time.

How it would go into the pieces themselves and what makes them work.

So overall great, the material is very interesting. It weaves a great narrative of Beethoven’s life while also breaking down his most famous pieces.

At times the reader was very dry and boring. I listened to this one on and off over a year.

Great book. Terrible narration.

Very poor choice of reader for this book. The voice and affect of the performer are really spoiling it for me. Much as I want to read this, I'm not sure I can take 39 hours of this narrator's voice.

Enjoyable, engrossing.

Would you consider the audio edition of Beethoven to be better than the print version?

This is a wonderfully in depth examination of Beethoven's life and his times. My only complaint is the occasional mispronunciation.

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

Although impossible, yes.

Very Detailed Biography

What did you like best about this story?

The level of details available about his daily life. Letters and manuscripts (many records kept due to conversations written down because of his deafness).

Any additional comments?

I read other reviews that complained about too much musical composition details. I thought that I would still enjoy that part but found myself eventually skipping through those parts as they could only be enjoyed by another composer. I still enjoyed the book and learned much about Beethoven's life which is what I was hoping to learn.

Must read for anyone interested in Beethoven

An in depth look at the life and works of Beethoven, particularly good for the latter. Narrator is clear and the conveys the tone of the author well.

A Gift: Well Conceived, Well Written, Well Read

This is a monumental work that is beautifully written with a pace that moves right along, filling in historical context as needed and holding the reader's attention with vivid description. As always, Michael Prichard's narration is the icing on the cake. He doesn't do funny accents or mispronounce foreign words. He is as expressive as the text requires, but maintains a neutral delivery style that, at least for me, gets out of the way and lets the words' meanings come through. The author clearly sets up the project, giving the reader a sense of what is to come and signaling when he moves from fact to deduction.

Wonderful Biography of A Supreme Artist

Would you listen to Beethoven again? Why?

Yes. You cannot separate the music from the person. The author told the story of Beethoven and wove in the analysis of his music synchronized with his life.

What other book might you compare Beethoven to and why?

There are other masterpiece books about Beethoven, but this one gave the most expert analysis of the music.

Which scene was your favorite?

Beethoven's writing the Heiligenstadt Testament and his death bed.

If you were to make a film of this book, what would the tag line be?

No film could do justice to such a person.

Any additional comments?

Mr. Pritchard is an experienced and excellent narrator. His narration was wonderful, except he mispronounced "Pianoforte" 100s of times.

Informative look at the life of a remarkable man whose fate it was to enlarge the scope of musical expression.

I really loved Swafford's portrait of Brahms, hence the reason I bought this book. Having read Thayer's tome on Beethoven since the age of 12, I was hungry for new insights into the life of Beethoven.
I was delighted to read newer information about Beethoven the man, and felt gratified as Mr. Stafford dispelled all of the silly gossip and rumors (especially the movie "Immortal Beloved) surrounding his loves and his death.
I was a little disappointed when Mr. Stafford would analyse various works throughout the composer's life; although he does point out the turning points in Beethoven's composition styles, his analysis become largely subjective where he could have stuck to the point.
I don't know if it is a Kindle problem, but many of the paintings of Beethoven were not included. Also, links to YouTube performances of his sited compositions would have been a blessing. My Kindle edition was also missing the music scores of the pieces being analysed, with notations regarding the specific uses of harmony and rhythm being described by Swafford.
Overall, I do recommend this work. It is missing some of the objective, detailed analysis that is present in Swafford's Brahms biography, but it does clarify Beethoven's idiosyncratic personality, and the events that changed his life and music. I was able to derive that Beethoven, from an early age, was bent on enlarging the scope of musical expression, and through hard work and self-discipline, he achieved his goal! Lucky for us!