This comprehensive A-to-Z reference is comprised of detailed and authoritative entries on every aspect of the great composer’s life. Ludwig van Beethoven is one of the most famous and revered composers in classical music. His instantly recognizable concertos and symphonies continue to be among the most performed by symphonies across the globe. In this definitive reference volume, eminent musicologist Paul Nettl provides students and researchers with an in-depth biographical resource organized in alphabetical entries. The Beethoven Encyclopedia covers the German composer’s music, personal life, and patrons, among other topics, such as the forces that inspired his genius.

Written for the general reader, this book reveals how Beethoven's works reflect both his artistic individuality and the deepest philosophical and political currents of his age.

Following the author's acclaimed biographical dictionaries on Schubert and Mozart, 'Beethoven and His World' offers an extremely comprehensive and up-to-date survey of the composer's relations with a multitude of persons with whom he associated on a personal or professional basis: relatives,friends, acquaintances, librettists, poets, publishers, artists, patrons, and musicians. With more than 450 entries, the dictionary is the result of a wide-ranging examination of primary and secondary sources, and critically assesses the use which scholars have made of the considerabledocumentation now available. In particular, there are numerous references to Beethoven's correspondence and conversation books, which have recently been published in excellent new editions. The book places the composer and his music in a fuller context and a wider perspective than might bepossible in a traditional biography; it will appeal to all music lovers, both the scholar and the non-specilaist alike.

Sourcebooks MediaFusion and Naxos proudly present this fascinating biography, complete with two CDs of his greatest works plus an exclusive website with extended compositions. Jeremy Siepmann draws an accessible portrait of the turbulent, troubled but determined figure of Beethoven, regarded by many as the greatest composer who ever lived. And with the words comes the music: Two CDs of carefully chosen pieces covering all the different genres in which Beethoven made his mark. Readers also gain access to an exclusive website that offers the musical works in full, the music of Beethoven's contemporaries, new essays and more. This revolutionary biography utilizes traditional and new media to provide a uniquely rounded portrait of the composer himself. Naxos is the world's leading classical music label and provider of classical music over the Internet at www.naxos.com.

A resource on classical music provides coverage of composers, works, musical terminology, and performers, along with recommended recordings and access to an interactive Web site that allows readers to listen to sample works, techniques, and performers discussed in the reference.

'My compositions bring me in a good deal ... I state my price and they pay.' Beethoven was an inspired composer but he was also a working musician with sound commercial sense. David Wyn Jones's account of Beethoven the man and composer reveals the life of a creative musician in Bonn and Vienna in the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries. While paying due regard to the image of Beethoven as one of the most single-minded composers in the history of music, this biography places his work in the context of the musical life of the period. Through an understanding of the changing nature of musical patronage, the private and public concert, the impact of the Napoleonic Wars on culture and society, and the increasing ambition of musical life in the period after the end of the wars, a varied and dynamic picture of Beethoven's musical career emerges.