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jazzy_daveEdward Dusinberre "Beethoven For A Later Age: The Journey Of A String Quartet" (Faber & Faber)
I wasn't really sure what to expect from this book, but overall I thoroughly enjoyed it. Edward Dusinberre, first violin of the originally Hungarian Takács quartet, relates to us his experiences of being part of the quartet, with particular influence on the string quartets of Beethoven.
The book is part chronicle of the day-to-day life of a quartet and part biography of Beethoven. Obviously, there are more comprehensive biographies of Beethoven on the market, and this book doesn't claim to be one, but it was very helpful to have some cultural context when it came to describing different pieces of music.
It's not so much a narrative but it's a series of chapters based around particular Beethoven quartets (Op 18 no 1, Op 59 no 2, Ops 127, 130, 131 and 132), the title coming from a quote about the Opus 59 Quartets by Beethoven himself. It covers their background, composition and performing histories in Beethoven's time as a way of shedding light on the dynamics of the Takács Quartet at particular stages of their career. Each chapter looks at particular aspects of their life - rehearsing, performing, recording, absorbing new members (Dusinberre himself, who joined when the Tacács was 18 years old, Roger Tapping, Geraldine Walter), loss (the death of Gábor Ormai) - and meditations on the works themselves. A delightful and insightful read. I found the final chapter, on the alternative endings to Op 130 and what it said to him about the group itself, particularly affecting.
Conversations are reconstructed from long ago – but it works well. A delightful book, and one that makes you revisit the works discussed with the book in hand, the better to see them from the performer's point of view.
I wasn't really sure what to expect from this book, but overall I thoroughly enjoyed it. Edward Dusinberre, first violin of the originally Hungarian Takács quartet, relates to us his experiences of being part of the quartet, with particular influence on the string quartets of Beethoven.
The book is part chronicle of the day-to-day life of a quartet and part biography of Beethoven. Obviously, there are more comprehensive biographies of Beethoven on the market, and this book doesn't claim to be one, but it was very helpful to have some cultural context when it came to describing different pieces of music.
It's not so much a narrative but it's a series of chapters based around particular Beethoven quartets (Op 18 no 1, Op 59 no 2, Ops 127, 130, 131 and 132), the title coming from a quote about the Opus 59 Quartets by Beethoven himself. It covers their background, composition and performing histories in Beethoven's time as a way of shedding light on the dynamics of the Takács Quartet at particular stages of their career. Each chapter looks at particular aspects of their life - rehearsing, performing, recording, absorbing new members (Dusinberre himself, who joined when the Tacács was 18 years old, Roger Tapping, Geraldine Walter), loss (the death of Gábor Ormai) - and meditations on the works themselves. A delightful and insightful read. I found the final chapter, on the alternative endings to Op 130 and what it said to him about the group itself, particularly affecting.
Conversations are reconstructed from long ago – but it works well. A delightful book, and one that makes you revisit the works discussed with the book in hand, the better to see them from the performer's point of view.
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