"No classical composer put more drama or originality into his opening
ideas than Beethoven, so this first special study of these musical
beginnings is particularly welcome." LEWIS LOCKWOOD
This book discusses the myriad ways in which Beethoven begins his works
and the structural, rhetorical, and emotional implications of these
beginnings for listeners.
Examining the opening moments of nearly 200 compositions, it offers a
new method of analysis of Beethoven's music. At the same time, it sets
Beethoven's work in context through a close study of beginnings in the
compositions of Haydn, Mozart, and many other, lesser-known composers of
the Classical Era. The book opens by examining how a beginning works in
musical and rhetorical theory and by looking at findings from
neuroscience and psychology to show how a beginning is received by our
brains. It then considers categories of beginnings in depth: their
structure, sonority, texture, and dynamics; the establishment of a
beginning as a "storehouse" or for wit or humor; beginnings as public
statements, as attention getters, as sneaky fade-ins; beginnings that
deceive, puzzle, or pretend; beginnings that are endings; and beginnings
that nod to another composer. The author carefully and sensitively
observes the strategies that Beethoven and others employed, enabling
consideration of issues of originality, emulation, influence,
competition, and cross-fertilization. Analysis of the composer's
manuscript scores shows how Beethoven can be seen in the process of
refining his ideas of how to open a work. The book closes by examining
the correlation between the psychology of listening and the creative
ways composers of the eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries,
especially Beethoven, crafted their opening gestures. It will appeal not
only to Beethoven scholars but to all those interested in listening
closely to music of the Classical Era.
JEREMY YUDKIN is Professor of Music and Co-Director of the Center for
Beethoven Research at Boston University.
