Beethoven's Century

The essays are each like a rich dessert and perhaps should not be all consumed at once. – Christa Pehl * NINETEENTH CENTURY MUSIC *
These are gems in the genre of the literary-musicological essay… . Macdonald’s wit emerges frequently in this volume… . I learned a great deal, and my attention and interest never wavered. A must read for anyone interested in modern French music and musical life. – Glenn Stanley. Read the full review at http://www.h-france.net/vol9reviews/vol9no120stanley.pdf * H-FRANCE *
Gems – sometimes irreverent, always profound – from one of the masters in our field. – Michael Beckerman, Professor and Chair of Music, New York University
Few writers today can match Hugh Macdonald’s breadth and depth of scope. The essays in Beethoven’s Century are often cast in the civilized, liberal traditions of the era that they describe. The writing is varied in texture and nourished by fascinating factual details. Macdonald urges us to think afresh, to go against the grain, to take the broader sweep. This book provides answers to questions you knew should be asked but never had the time (or the courage) to pursue. – David Charlton, Professor Emeritus of Music History, Royal Holloway, University of London
Macdonald’s curiosity is boundless… and he satisfies it with unfailing scholarship and wit… . He gives the most thorough account yet of Hugo Wolf’s complicated critical attitude to Wagner in a musically complicated Vienna… Depth of thought and high critical intelligence… mark all these essays, and make them an invigorating read. Raise your glass to Hugh Macdonald! – John Warrack * OPERA *
The considered judgement of a receptive and immensely well-informed observer of the Western musical landscape of the past two centuries. Times Literary Supplement [Leon Plantinga] * . *

HUGH MACDONALD was the Avis Blewett Professor of Music, Washington University, St Louis from 1987 to 2011. He is the author of many important books, including Beethoven’s Century: Essays on Composers and Themes (URP, 2008), Music in 1853: the Biography of a Year (Boydell Press, 2012), and Saint-Saëns and the Stage (CUP, 2019).

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