Description
More than just the composition and organization of Beethoven's colossal work can be understood with the help of this thorough guide to the Ninth Symphony. It questions long-held beliefs about the sound and meaning of the music while delving into the contentious world of period instruments and performance styles. Levy lays out the components that give the Ninth Symphony its prominence as a symphony and the creative decisions that make it a monument of Western music. He also surveys and dissects the most recent research on the composition, which is information that most readers of the general public cannot access. Levy starts with the most recent Ninth performances and interpretations. Next, he travels back in time to Beethoven's era to trace the development that resulted in the composer creating, over a ten-year span,
