Product Description

PASSION AND PAIN, the second volume of John Suchet's compelling trilogy about the life of Ludwig van Beethoven, depicts the composer at the height of his powers, famous throughout Europe, championed by wealthy patrons, sought out by other musicians, yet all the time beset by the great tragedy of his life - his deafness - and struggling to come to terms with it. The reader is there as Beethoven compares the towering works of the so-called 'heroic period', the 'Eroica' Symphony, the Fifth, the 'Pastoral' Symphony, the 'Emperor' Concerto, the 'Appassionata' Sonata, the 'Kreutzer' Sonata. We share his triumphs and frustrations; we are with him as he receives the adulation of the audience and also as he struggles alone in the middle of the night to hear the great music he is creating. We learn of the one great love of his life, the woman he refers to as his 'Eternally Beloved' - a love that both parties know is doomed. Written as a novel, though at all times strictly in accordance with the known facts, John Suchet has produced a monumental narrative, probably the most comprehensive - and certainly the most readable - account of Beethoven's life ever written.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #70044 in Books
• Published on: 1997-11-06
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 640 pages

Review
'The heartshaking story of genius and passionate loneliness is brilliantly researched and lovingly told' - Mail on Sunday 'Suchet's achievement is masterly, bringing Beethoven and the Vienna of his day convincingly to life' - Sunday Telegraph

About the Author
John Suchet is an award-winning television journalist and newscaster. He is now the regular presenter of the EARLY EVENING NEWS and frequently presents NEWS AT TEN.

Customer Reviews

Last Master volume 1
Biographical text of composers lives has been an interest of mine for the past 20 odd years. The main reason being my own interest in composition and music in general. Many biographies
I have read in the past tended to be detailed in content but very dry, which deterred many potential readers of this fascinating topic.
My previous view of John Suchet was of a major British journalist, newscaster and coresspondent. To this I must now add the title author.
John has approached the subject matter with a sensitivity and passion which demonstrates amply his knowledge of the man, period and history. The events are accurate and credible. I felt myself becoming immersed in the book as a life story, until I had to bring myself back into the real world and realised that this was a biographical novel.
I thoroughly enjoyed both volumes of this book and look forward to reading more of John Suchet's work.

At the end of each book I experienced a sense of loss.
John Suchet's first book about Beethoven, Passion and Anger, was written sensitively and with understanding of Ludwig's rather difficult character. Both Ludwig's personal background and the effects of war with its losses of life and freedom and its painful deprivations seemed thoroughly and convincingly researched and were intelligently conveyed in this book. At the same time, the threat of Ludwig's loss of hearing, and his disappointments in his musical and love life, run like recurring themes through the whole book,leaving the reader speechless with admiration for Ludwig's strength of character and his passion for composing which overrode all obstacles. I could hardly wait to read its sequel, 'Passion and Pain', which follows a similar vein and is just as compulsive. At the end of each book, I experienced a sense of loss, as if I had lost two friends, both Ludwig and John Suchet. I am certain that the final volume will live up to the example of its predecessors and I intend to buy it as soon as possible.

A journey through a world of passion and struggle
If you like Beethoven's music then these wonderfully written books by John Suchet can only add to your enjoyment of the Master's music. Mr Suchet has researched these books thoroughly and they are written both sharply and empathetically. As with a lot of genius' Beethoven was a difficult man, and if I were to meet him today I probably wouldn't like him! John Suchet has not glossed over the difficulties of the character and the circumstances in which he finds himself, and it's through this that we come to understand somewhat the man and his music. I have yet to read volume 3, but I recommend that anyone interested in the life of Beethoven should read these powerfully written books.