Beethoven for a Later Age: The Journey of a String Quartet - Hardcover

Dusinberre, Edward

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0571317138 ISBN 13: 9780571317134

Verlag: Faber & Faber, 2016

Über diesen Titel

Críticas:

A richly detailed portrayal of the intimate workings of a great string quartet, in the case the magical Takács ... Fascinating certainly to someone working in another artistic realm entirely. (Philip Roth)

In the course of Edward Dusinberre's wonderful, engaging and intimate book, the eager listener (even one like me, with no technical knowledge of music) is initiated into the mysteries of composing and playing some of the greatest music ever heard. The music, as a result, seems even greater - and more mysterious than ever. (Geoff Dyer)

A fascinating book about the musical life of this group of players. (Economist)

The narrative is as potentially complex as one of Beethoven's knotty four-part fugues in the late quartets, but 20 years' experience of playing chamber music has made Dusinberre adept at handling the interplay of multiple themes. Self-awareness and a sense of humour play their part. Sleight of hand makes the book entertaining and easy to digest. (Financial Times)

In this brief but beguiling book, Edward Dusinberre ... takes us inside the complexity of [Beethoven's] masterpieces - elucidating the history of their creation and explaining, with the minimum of technicality, the challenges they pose to performers and audience .... The glimpse Dusinberre gives us of their working is fascinating ... (Rupert Christiansen Telegraph)

...full of insights...Dusinberre's concluding musical commentary moulds past and present into a powerful and thought-provoking whole. (Independent)

In this engaging and insightful account of his life with Takács Quartet ad with Beethoven's quartets, Edward Dusinberre shows himself to be as thoughtful, sincere and open a writer as he is a violinist ... Dusinberre's book has great depth, appealing themes, vivid characters, and plenty of light and shade, all cleverly structured, and I recommend it to anyone who has ever enjoyed any of these works - preferably while simultaneously listening to them. (SinfiniMusic, 4 stars)

Edward Dusinberre, first violinist of the Takacs Quartet, explains why these and the subsequent quartets are so challenging and compelling to both listener and performer, particularly to a performer entrenched within a quartet. The Takacs violist Gabor Ormai explains: "You can’t always feel good [about your performance]. But we can help each other". The "help" is often harsh and anguished; individually and together they reflect on tempo, intonation, fingering and phrasing. (Terri Apter TLS Books of the Year)

For the past 40 years, the Takacs Quartet (originally Hungarians, but long based in America) has been one of the most respected and celebrated chamber-music ensembles in the world. Dusinberre, an Englishman fresh out of music college, joined them in 1993 as first violinist. This account captures vividly his excitement and sense of discovery at tackling, above all, Beethoven’s mighty cycle of quartets. (Adam Lively The Times Books of the Year)

The first violinist of the Takács Quartet takes us on a forensically examined yet often very funny ride through his musical life and his ensemble's, shining it through the prism of the Beethoven string quartets, a lifelong journey in themselves. Dusinberre was recruited as a young violinist from Britain by the three highly experience Hungarians of the quartet after Gabor Takács-Nagy departed, not least so that he could be shaped into the leader they wanted: "Asked by András [Feher] about my professional chamber music experience, I described the handful of paid concerts my student quartet had performed while I was at the Royal College of Music in London before going to Juilliard. A highlight was our appearance at a Downing Street Christmas party hosted by the then British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher - from my account of this illustrious engagement I omitted my fifteen-pound fee and the fact that she had criticised our choice of too slow and lugubrious a tempo in 'Ding Dong Merrily on High'. (Jessica Duchen JDCMB Books of the Year)

Reseña del editor:

'They are not for you but for a later age!' Ludwig van Beethoven, on the Opus 59 quartets Beethoven's sixteen string quartets are some of the most extraordinary and challenging pieces of music ever written. They have inspired artists of all kinds - not only musicians - and have been subject to endless reinterpretation. What does it feel like to be a musician taking on these iconic works? And how do the four string players who make up a quartet interact, both musically and personally? The Takacs is one of the world's pre-eminent string quartets. Performances of Beethoven have shaped their work together for over forty years. Using the history of both the Takacs Quartet and the Beethoven quartets as the backbone to his story, Edward Dusinberre, first violinist of the Takacs since 1993, recounts the exhilarating challenge of tackling these pieces. Beethoven for a Later Age takes the reader inside the daily life of a quartet, vividly showing the necessary creative tension between individual and group expression and how four people can enjoy making music together over a long period of time. The key, the author argues, is in balancing continuity with change and experimentation - a theme that lies at the heart of Beethoven's remarkable compositions. No other composer has posed so many questions about the form and emotional content of a string quartet, and come up with so many different answers. In an accessible style, suitable for novices and chamber music enthusiasts alike, Dusinberre illuminates the variety and inherent contradictions of Beethoven's quartets, composed against the turbulent backdrop of the Napoleonic Wars and their aftermath, and shows that engaging with this radical music continues to be as invigorating now as it was for its first performers and audiences.

Über diese Auflage

• Verlag: Faber & Faber
• Erscheinungsdatum: 2016
• ISBN 10: 0571317138
• ISBN 13: 9780571317134
• Einband: Tapa dura
• Anzahl der Seiten: 272