Beethoven's Critics: Aesthetic Dilemmas and Resolutions during the Composer's Lifetime

This book is a survey of the critical reaction to Beethoven's music as it appeared in the major musical journals, French as well as German, of his day, and represents the first book-length history of Beethoven reception. The author discusses the philosophical and analytical implications of these reviews - by, among others, Hoffmann, A. B. Marx and Berlioz - and reassesses what has come to be the accepted view of a nineteenth- century musical aesthetics rooted in Romantic Idealism. Wallace sees Beethoven's critics as in fact providing a link between two apparently antithetical approaches to music: the eighteenth-century emphasis on expression and extra-musical interpretation and the nineteenth-century emphasis on 'absolute' music and formal analysis. This book thus provides, in addition to a carefully documented study of Beethoven's critical reception, a re-evaluation of his oeuvre and its significance in music history. An index of all reviews cited is provided, and a further appendix contains the quoted material in its original language. 'Robin Wallace's book is an important addition to the literature in the field, providing a detailed, yet concisely presented examination of the critical reception of Beethoven in contemporary musical periodicals.' -- Music and Letters 'Beethoven's Critics contains a wealth of fascinating information about the ways in which the composer's contemporaries and the following generation performed, heard, studied and evaluated his music.' -- Classical MusicThis book is a survey of the critical reaction to Beethoven's music as it appeared in the major musical journals, French as well as German, of his day, and represents the first book-length history of Beethoven reception. The author discusses the philosophical and analytical implications of these reviews - by, among others, Hoffmann, A. B. Marx and Berlioz - and reassesses what has come to be the accepted view of a nineteenth- century musical aesthetics rooted in Romantic Idealism. Wallace sees Beethoven's critics as in fact providing a link between two apparently antithetical approaches to music: the eighteenth-century emphasis on expression and extra-musical interpretation and the nineteenth-century emphasis on 'absolute' music and formal analysis. This book thus provides, in addition to a carefully documented study of Beethoven's critical reception, a re-evaluation of his oeuvre and its significance in music history. An index of all reviews cited is provided, and a further appendix contains the quoted material in its original language. 'Robin Wallace's book is an important addition to the literature in the field, providing a detailed, yet concisely presented examination of the critical reception of Beethoven in contemporary musical periodicals.' -- Music and Letters 'Beethoven's Critics contains a wealth of fascinating information about the ways in which the composer's contemporaries and the following generation performed, heard, studied and evaluated his music.' -- Classical Music