The Ninth: Beethoven and the World in 1824

This book is not only about the creation of Beethoven's Ninth Symphony, but also the situation of music, classical music as it were, in 1824 in the early half of the 19th century in Europe. This is not a book about the technical details of music, about how Beethoven crafted his work in a more

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general sense, but getting into how the man thought and did his work. It also looks back on the situation of political change in Europe, particularly that caused by Napoleon. I waited a while before pluging into the book, and realized I need to have something to say about the book. I remember my own first encounter with the Ninth, when I got all of Beethoven's nine symphonies as an intrductory offer to a record collecting series in the late 1950's. It was my first literal encounter with contrapuntal music, and I tried to sing along with the choral group in th furth movement and got thoroughly lost in the third stanza of Schiller's poem -- barely coming up for air at the end. I am returning this book to the library as an overdue, and I almost would like to own it, so it is recommended.

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