Beethoven Essays

“Solomon’s most important achievement is to demonstrate with astonishing clarity the connection between psychological dramas of the life and the stylistic transformations of the music… Solomon’s vision of the life has all the energy and reflection of the music itself.”—Edward Rothstein, New Republic

“The Essays share with [Solomon’s biography of Beethoven] the Enlightenment qualities of reasonableness, humour, learning, lucidity… Intellectually challenging contributions that illustrate so compellingly the ‘overlappings’ between life and works and delineate the extent to which even genius must finally be comprehended as a product of its time and circumstances.”—Theodore Ziolkowski, Times Literary Supplement

“Solomon writes knowledgeably, clearly and forcefully. The book is highly and warmly recommended to anyone interested in Beethoven.”—F. E. Kirby, Music Teacher

“Solomon’s greatest achievement…has been to chart a course of discovery by exacting musicological principles and sail it home.”—Donal Henahan, New York Times Book Review

“Solomon has put the entire field on a new footing. This book is a major contribution to Beethoven studies and to current work in artistic biography.”—Lewis Lockwood