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The widely held belief that Beethoven was a rough pianist, impatient with his instruments, is not altogether accurate: it is influenced by anecdotes dating from when deafness had begun to impair his playing. Presenting a new, detailed biography of Beethoven's formative years, this book reviews the composer's early career, outlining how he was influenced by teachers, theorists and instruments. Skowroneck describes the development and decline of Beethoven's pianism, and pays special attention to early pianos, their construction and their importance for Beethoven and the modern pianist. The book also includes new discussions of legato and Beethoven's trills, and a complete annotated review of eyewitnesses' reports about his playing. Skowroneck presents a revised picture of Beethoven which traces his development from an impetuous young musician into a virtuoso in command of many musical resources.
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BEETHOVEN THE PIANIST The widely held belief that Beethoven was a rough pianist, impatient with his instruments, is not altogether accurate: it is influenced by anecdotes dating from when deafness had begun to impair his playing. Presenting a new, detailed biography of Beethoven’s formative years, this book reviews the composer’s early career, outlining how he was influenced by teachers, theorists, and instruments. Skowroneck describes the development and decline of Beethoven’s pianism, and pays special attention to early pianos, their construction, and their importance for Beethoven and the modern pianist. The book also includes new discussions of legato and Beethoven’s trills, and a complete annotated review of eyewitnesses’ reports about his playing. Skowroneck presents a revised picture of Beethoven which traces his development from an impetuous young musician into a virtuoso in command of many musical resources. tilman skowroneck is a postdoctoral researcher at the University of Southampton, and is also a freelance harpsichordist and fortepianist. His main area of interest is the early piano, its construction, and its repertoire. This is his first book. MUSICAL PERFORMANCE AND RECEPTION General editors John Butt and Laurence Dreyfus This series continues the aim of Cambridge Musical Texts and Monographs to publish books centered on the history of musical instruments and the history of performance, but broadens the focus to include musical reception in relation to performance and as a reflection of period expectations and practices. Published titles John Butt Playing with History: The Historical Approach to Musical Performance James Garratt Palestrina and the German Romantic Imagination: Interpreting Historicism in Nineteenth-Century Music John Haines Eight Centuries of Troubadours and Trouvères: The Changing Identity of Medieval Music Christopher Hogwood (ed.) The Keyboard in Baroque Europe Daniel Leech-Wilkinson The Modern Invention of Medieval Music: Scholarship, Ideology, Performance Michael Musgrave and Bernard Sherman (eds.) Performing Brahms: Early Evidence of Performance Style Stewart Pollens Stradivari Tilman Skowroneck Beethoven the Pianist BEETHOVEN THE PIANIST TILMAN SKOWRONECK cambridge university press Cambridge, New York, Melbourne, Madrid, Cape Town, Singapore, São Paulo, Delhi, Dubai, Tokyo Cambridge University Press The Edinburgh Building, Cambridge cb2 8ru, UK Published in the United States of America by Cambridge University Press, New York www.cambridge.org Information on this title: www.cambridge.org/9780521119597 © Tilman Skowroneck 2010 This publication is in copyright. Subject to statutory exception and to the provisions of relevant collective licensing agreements, no reproduction of any part may take place without the written permission of Cambridge University Press. First published 2010 Printed in the United Kingdom at the University Press, Cambridge A cata