Hans von B?low is a key figure in 19th century music whose career path was as broad as it was successful. Music history's first virtuoso orchestral conductor, B?low created the model for the profession-both in musical brilliance and in domineering personality-which still holds forth today. He was an eminent and renowned concert pianist, a respected (and often feared) teacher and music critic, an influential editor of works by Bach, Mendelssohn, Chopin, and Beethoven, and a composer in a variety of musical genres. As a student and son-in-law of Franz Liszt, and estranged friend of Richard Wagner (for whom his wife Cosima famously left him), B?low is intricately connected with the canonical greats of the period. Yet despite his critical and lasting importance for orchestral music, B?low's life and significant achievements have yet to be heralded in biographical form. In Hans von B?low: A Life and Times, Alan Walker, the acclaimed author of numerous award-winning books on the era's iconic composers, provides the first full-length English biography of this remarkable musical figure. Walker traces B?low's life in illuminating and engaging detail, from the first piano lessons of his boyhood days, to his first American tour, to his last days as conductor of the Berlin Philharmonic. Unearthing B?low's extensive and previously unavailable correspondence and writings, Walker conveys amusing and informative anecdotes about this unique musical legend- from his sardonic and clever personality to his meticulous devotion to his work-and reveals enlightening insights on the still-contested sensibilities of musical-compositional style and "idea" at play in the vibrant musical world of which B?lowwas a part.
Auteur
ALAN WALKER is Professor Emeritus of Music at McMaster University, Canada. Before settling in North America he was on the staff of the Music Division of the British Broadcasting Corporation in London. He has broadcast for the BBC, for the CBC, and for CJRT - FM (Toronto), and gives regular public lectures on the music of the Romantic Era, a period in which he specializes. His thirteen published books include A Study in Musical Analysis, An Anatomy of Musical Criticism, and symposia on Chopin, Schumann, and Liszt. Dr. Walker is also author of a three-volume, prize winning biography of Franz Liszt, a project which took him twenty-five years to complete, and for which the President of Hungary bestowed on him the medal ProCulturaHungarica. The biography also received the Royal Philharmonic Society Prize, presented by HRH The Duke of Kent in London. He is the recipient of the Music Teachers National Association 2010 Achievement Award and the Knight's Cross of the Order of Merit from Hungary.
Contenu
Illustrations The B?low Chronicles B?low's Family Tree Prologue From Alpha to Omega B?low's Family Background Book One: On the Slopes of Parnassus, 1830-1869 The Early Years With Liszt in Weimar The Growing Virtuoso, 1853-1855 Berlin, 1855-1864 I: A City of Mingled Chimes Berlin, 1855-1864 II: Marriage to Cosima Catastrophe in Munich, 1864-1869 Book Two: Ascending the Peak, 1870-1880 B?low in Florence First Tours of Britain-and Beyond, 1873-1875 The First Tour of America, 1875-1876 A Scottish Interlude, 1877-1878 At Hanover, 1877-1879 Britannia Scorned, 1878-1879 Book Three: Vistas from the Summit, 1880-1894 The Meiningen Years, 1880-1885 I: The Meiningen Miracle The Meiningen Years, 1880-1885 II: Enter Marie Schanzer The Meiningen Years, 1880-1885 III: Paths of Glory B?low the Pedagogue: The Frankfurt Masterclasses, 1884-1887 A New Home in Hamburg, 1886 The Berlin Philharmonic, 1887-1892 I: The Eagle's Wings Return to America, 1889-1890 The Berlin Philharmonic, 1887-1892: II: 'Glory, Honour, and Good Fortune' The Last Days and Death of B?low, 1893-1894 Appendix I: B?low's Autopsy Report Appendix II: Complete Catalogue of B?low's Compositions, Transcriptions, and Editions Appendix III: B?low's Titles and Honours List of Sources Index