The Lives and Times of the Great Composers Book Reviews

The Lives and Times of the Great Composers by Michael Steen Book Summary

'A glorious plum-pudding of a book, to be consulted, with pleasure and profit, over and over again' Sir Jeremy Isaacs
Michael Steen's 'Great Composers' was originally published in 2003. A lifetime's work and almost 1000 pages long, it has since become 'the' reference point and key read on the biographical backgrounds to classical music's biggest names.
Authoritative and hugely detailed - but nonetheless a joy to read - this new edition will expand its readership further and capitalise on a newfound popular interest in classical music.
Steen's book helps you explore the story of Bach, the respectable burgher much of whose vast output was composed amidst petty turf disputes in Lutheran Leipzig; or the ugly, argumentative Beethoven in French-occupied Vienna, obsessed by his laundry; or Mozart, the over-exploited infant prodigy whose untimely death was shrouded in rumour.
Read about Verdi, who composed against the background of the Italian Risorgimento; or about the family life of the Wagners; and, Brahms, who rose from the slums of Hamburg to become a devotee of beer and coffee in fin-de-siecle Vienna, a cultural capital bent on destroying Mahler ... and much, much more.

👋 Do you love The Lives and Times of the Great Composers books? Please share your friends!

The Lives and Times of the Great Composers (Michael Steen) Book Reviews 2024

Michael Steen - The Lives and Times of the Great Composers Discussions & Comments

Have you read this book yet? What do you think about The Lives and Times of the Great Composers by Michael Steen book? Ask the bookpedia.co community a question about The Lives and Times of the Great Composers!