Beethoven: A Political Artist in Revolutionary Times

Beethoven: A Political Artist in Revolutionary Times © 2021 by The University of Chicago Press

The University of Chicago Press ha publicado Beethoven – A Political Artist in Revolutionary Times de William Kinderman, profesor de música en el Leo M. Klein and Elaine Krown Klein Chair in Performance Studies de UCLA (University of California, Los Ángeles), un volumen de 256 páginas en formato de tapa dura con un precio de 31,79 €, ISBN  978-0226669052 

En Beethoven: A Political Artist in Revolutionary Times, Kinderman ilumina la omnipresencia de lo político en la vida, obra y legado de Beethoven. Lewis Lockwood, patriarca de los estudios científicos beethovenianos, ha descrito el nuevo libro de Kindeman como:

una contribución oportuna a la tendencia actual a la interpretación del arte desde una perspectiva primordialmente política. Al ubicar su análisis estético en un contexto biográfico e histórico bien fundamentado, Kinderman ilumina los aspectos políticos de la vida y la creación de Beethoven. A partir de esta perspectiva, analiza las formas en que una serie de obras importantes de Beethoven reflejan la firme y constante fe del compositor en la libertad y el progreso como valores tanto personales como universales.

Reproducimos a continuación la descripción del volumen facilitada por la propia editorial:

This book explores the animating presence of the political in almost every aspect of Beethoven's life, work, and legacy. Beethoven was a civically engaged thinker confronted with severe challenges. Inspired by the ideals of the Enlightenment at Bonn and of the French Revolution, Beethoven experienced the reactionary turn of politics in Austria after 1792, disappointment with Napoleon Bonaparte, recurrent war and the repression of the Metternich era. Many new sources are assessed in this reevaluation of Beethoven as a competitor to Napoleon in the cultural sphere, a "Generalissimo" in the world of tones who fashioned Schillerian "effigies of the ideal" in his compositions. Works such as the Pathétique and Appassionata, the Eroica, Fidelio and Ninth Symphony reflect Beethoven's response to the political turbulence of his time, embracing a moral force that strongly resonates in our own troubled political times. The Fifth Symphony helped galvanize resistance to fascism, the Sixth has energized the environmental movement. During the Congress of Vienna, on the other hand, Beethoven sought a different approach, as a pioneer of kitsch, writing for the occasion rather than seeking to promote an "empire of the mind or spirit." His "Flea Song" based on Goethe's Faust shows Beethoven as master of political satire, whose art has lost none of its bite in the 21st century. Assessment of the worldwide reception of the Ninth Symphony, with examples from Asia and Africa, South America and Europe, demonstrate how Beethoven's music today is more relevant than ever before, inspiring activists around the globe.

Índice de Beethoven: A Political Artist in Revolutionary Times

Dedication

Preface

Chapter I A Tale of Two Cities: Bonn to Vienna

Chapter II The Sublime and Inverted Sublime

Chapter III Beethoven in Heiligenstadt

Chapter IV Path to the Eroica

Chapter V Leonore as “Angel of Freedom”

Chapter VI From Grätz to Wagram and Leipzig

Chapter VII A Double Chill: Beethoven in Metternich’s Vienna

Chapter VIII Then and Now: The Ninth Symphony

Acknowledgments

Illustrations and Examples

Note about Abbreviations

Sources and Documents

Index