# Any great composer biographies?



## mahlernerd (Jan 19, 2020)

Hello, I was wondering if anybody knew any really good biographies about any composer. I have found myself to be really bored lately and have wanted to read a new book for awhile. So if you have read any or know about any great composer biographies (can be about any classical composer), please let me know!

P.S. Sorry if there has already been a thread about this.


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## MatthewWeflen (Jan 24, 2019)

Jan Swafford's "Beethoven: Anguish And Triumph" is quite good. It narrates his life nicely, situates him within the Enlightenment and Revolutionary milieus of the Europe of his day, and talks knowledgeably about the music and its creation.


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## elgar's ghost (Aug 8, 2010)

I'd try this. It's less than 200 pages long but contains more than enough detail to prevent it from being too cursory. There is little speculation about the more enigmatic/darker side of Schubert's character, but I think that's a good thing - I prefer plain facts over pseudo-psychoanalysis anytime. One big plus is the complete list of Schubert's works at the end, with dates, D-numbers and authors for the vocal works' texts, and the main text itself contains various musical examples in notation.


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## Handelian (Nov 18, 2020)

Swafford’s on Beethoven


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## consuono (Mar 27, 2020)

Christoph Wolff's and John Gardiner's books on Bach.


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## mbhaub (Dec 2, 2016)

I have a whole library of them. A few of the best:

This one volume Mahler is terrific.








There are many excellent ones for Elgar, but Michael Kennedy is great. Look for it in the used market.








Brendan Carroll is the Korngold specialist, and this bio is fantastic.


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## HenryPenfold (Apr 29, 2018)

If you're up for something off the beaten track, you might consider this. I enjoyed it very much indeed, if that's anything to go by.

Written by Loiuse Varèse, his wife, it was published in 1972. I like her expressive style, and she is clearly erudite.

She died in 1989 aged 98.

















Mr & Mrs in the 1960s


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## MarkW (Feb 16, 2015)

I am in the minority here, but have problems with Swafford's biography of Beethoven. Louis Lockwood's is both shorter, a less affected read, and has some surprising anecdotes that humanize the composer a little more than we usually think of him. Your results may vary.

Michael Steinberg's book of program notes, The Symphony, from Oxford U Press, contains a lot of biographical material about each composer, is thorough, well and entertainingly written, and will teach you a lot of nonstandard things. The sections on the Mahler symphonies are exceptionally revelatory.


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## EmperorOfIceCream (Jan 3, 2020)

I have read 3 of Swafford's books, and I have to say that I think he is a good biographer but not a good writer. His writing is fine; it's clear and organized, but it's just fine. However, I do strongly recommend his Charles Ives biography. Ives is one composer I think you need to learn about to get. People always say "Ives was the first to do [biotonality/polytonality/quater-tone strings/etc...]!" But that doesn't tell you anything about him and makes you think he was just some experimenter (as Bernstein insinuated). Swafford situates him within his real tradition, which is American transcendentalism, and Ives is the composer within the line of figures encompassing Emerson, Thoreau, Whitman, and Melville. Some Ives quotes: "Take your dissonances like a man! ... no more music for the lilypad ears!"


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## Lisztian (Oct 10, 2011)

Alan Walker Liszt, in three volumes.


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## mbhaub (Dec 2, 2016)

There's something else I should have mentioned, and that's the old Milton Cross Encyclopedia. It's out of print, but used copies abound. He covers several hundred composers and their most important works. The biographies are not as detailed as a full length bio, but for most people would be more than sufficient. I'ave had my set for 50 years and still consult it.


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## Olias (Nov 18, 2010)

All of the above suggestions are good, however, if you prefer an "audio lecture" presentation you can't go wrong with these:

https://www.thegreatcourses.com/category/music.html?CFM=mega_menu

They are all on sale right now as well.


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## Pat Fairlea (Dec 9, 2015)

This biography of Malcolm Arnold is not an easy read and caused a lot of anguish when it was first published. None the less, I would recommend it if you want an insight into a remarkable and in many ways disastrous character.


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## starthrower (Dec 11, 2010)

Wagner by Derek Watson. And there are many good documentaries of various composers on YouTube.

There is also an old book called Men Of Music which contains brief bios of the major composers from Bach to Stravinsky. It's very well written and entertaining to read.


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## Roger Knox (Jul 19, 2017)

I liked Alan Walker's biography of Chopin, although it is long. It includes a lot on the factual basis or otherwise of stories about Chopin. There are some clearly explained and illustrated analytical passages. It conveys tellingly what it was like to be Chopin or George Sand. Also, as with MarkW above, the biography of Beethoven by Lewis Lockwood was appealing to me.


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## Rogerx (Apr 27, 2018)

Related thread

Music Books - A Quick Reference


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## Fabulin (Jun 10, 2019)

The biographies by Steven C. Smith are quite good


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## Open Book (Aug 14, 2018)

I just received Swafford's Beethoven biography. It's a massive hardcover, weighs about 4 pounds. I prefer to read lying on my back in bed but I'm afraid of dropping this on my face. The paperback version seems to be rare and more expensive. Paperbacks can be heavy, too. I wish they would print big books in multiple volumes.

It looks good, though. I enjoyed Swafford's (smaller) Brahms biography.


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## Handelian (Nov 18, 2020)

Open Book said:


> I just received Swafford's Beethoven biography. It's a massive hardcover, weighs about 4 pounds. I prefer to read lying on my back in bed but I'm afraid of dropping this on my face. The paperback version seems to be rare and more expensive. Paperbacks can be heavy, too. I wish they would print big books in multiple volumes.
> 
> It looks good, though. I enjoyed Swafford's (smaller) Brahms biography.


Get a forklift!


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## David Phillips (Jun 26, 2017)

Imogen Holst's biography of her father is a great book but she can be a little hard on his music.


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## Open Book (Aug 14, 2018)

Alma Mahler's autobiography of her life with her husband is good. I read it years ago. What stood out from the first read is the death of their little daughter from disease. Shocking that it was a common occurrence for people to lose children in those days, they lived with that agony. That event was responsible for the deep emotion expressed in his symphonies.

I read bits and pieces again and learned that she was at first critical of his music (she was a composer herself) but that they were drawn to each other immediately, soul mates.


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## MRJames (Nov 10, 2020)

The two volume biography of Stravinsky by Stephen Walsh is, I would say, a major achievement.


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## wkasimer (Jun 5, 2017)

Olias said:


> All of the above suggestions are good, however, if you prefer an "audio lecture" presentation you can't go wrong with these:
> 
> https://www.thegreatcourses.com/category/music.html?CFM=mega_menu
> 
> They are all on sale right now as well.


I agree. I thought that the Verdi one was particularly good. The Brahms and Shostakovich lectures are also fine, but shorter.


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## wkasimer (Jun 5, 2017)

Open Book said:


> I just received Swafford's Beethoven biography. It's a massive hardcover, weighs about 4 pounds. I prefer to read lying on my back in bed but I'm afraid of dropping this on my face.


I bought the Kindle version when it was on sale for a couple of bucks.


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## Open Book (Aug 14, 2018)

wkasimer said:


> I bought the Kindle version when it was on sale for a couple of bucks.


Yeah, if anything were to convert me to trying Kindle, you'd think this would be it.


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## Simon Moon (Oct 10, 2013)

This is a biography about 3 composers. Very informative and pretty well written.

Schoenberg, Berg, and Webern: A Companion to the Second Viennese School


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## wkasimer (Jun 5, 2017)

Open Book said:


> Yeah, if anything were to convert me to trying Kindle, you'd think this would be it.


You hit on the main reason I use a Kindle. I like to read while laying on the couch, and I've had too many incidents of dozing off and having the book bounce off my nose.


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## jim prideaux (May 30, 2013)

Swafford Brahms VG!

Have often considered the Beethoven!


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## Open Book (Aug 14, 2018)

wkasimer said:


> You hit on the main reason I use a Kindle. I like to read while laying on the couch, and I've had too many incidents of dozing off and having the book bounce off my nose.


Swafford's Beethoven would break your nose.


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## Vienne (Aug 21, 2020)

Alfred Einstein on Mozart is written with considerable stylistic elegance.


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## Handelian (Nov 18, 2020)

Vienne said:


> Alfred Einstein on Mozart is written with considerable stylistic elegance.


Mozart's Women by Dr Jane Glover


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## Vienne (Aug 21, 2020)

Handelian said:


> Mozart's Women by Dr Jane Glover


A recommendation for me? I will take a look.


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## trazom (Apr 13, 2009)

Speaking of Jan Swafford, I believe his latest biography, which is on Mozart, will be released on the 8th. Can't comment on how good it is for obvious reasons, but it's something for fans of his writing to look forward to.


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## pianozach (May 21, 2018)

I think you just like biographies. Here's one that you might have missed:

*The First American : The Life and Times of Benjamin Franklin*









Certainly a minor *composer*, but a fascinating man. Invented the *Glass Armonica*. "Of all my inventions," Franklin wrote, "the glass armonica has given me the most personal satisfaction."

Benjamin Franklin's talents extended far beyond his writing desk and workshop and into the world of music. A lifelong fan of song, Franklin played many instruments, including the guitar, harp, and viola da gamba.

https://uh.edu/engines/epi1377.htm


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## Merl (Jul 28, 2016)

MarkW said:


> I am in the minority here, but have problems with Swafford's biography of Beethoven. Louis Lockwood's is both shorter, a less affected read, and has some surprising anecdotes that humanize the composer a little more than we usually think of him......


I have the Swafford and also have a few problems with it but it is extremely thorough and it's still a decent book. Some of his descriptions of the music I find annoying. I also take issue with some of his comments about tempo, which are based on his own assumptions and not fact. 
.


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## Handelian (Nov 18, 2020)

Merl said:


> I have the Swafford and also have a few problems with it but it is extremely thorough and it's still a decent book. Some of his descriptions of the music I find annoying. I also take issue with some of his comments about tempo, which are based on his own assumptions and not fact.
> .


He does at least tell you they are his own assumptions.


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## Judith (Nov 11, 2015)

Recently read
Tchaikovsky the man revealed 
John Suchet 

Very detailed and easy reading
Enjoyed it very much


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## Open Book (Aug 14, 2018)

trazom said:


> Speaking of Jan Swafford, I believe his latest biography, which is on Mozart, will be released on the 8th. Can't comment on how good it is for obvious reasons, but it's something for fans of his writing to look forward to.


Thanks, I had no idea about this. I'm interested.

From Amazon:

Mozart: The Reign of Love Hardcover - December 8, 2020
by Jan Swafford (Author)

"From the acclaimed composer and biographer Jan Swafford comes the definitive biography of one of the most lauded musical geniuses in history, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart.

At the earliest ages it was apparent that Wolfgang Mozart's singular imagination was at work in every direction. He hated to be bored and hated to be idle, and through his life he responded to these threats with a repertoire of antidotes mental and physical. Whether in his rabidly obscene mode or not, Mozart was always hilarious. He went at every piece of his life, and perhaps most notably his social life, with tremendous gusto. His circle of friends and patrons was wide, encompassing anyone who appealed to his boundless appetites for music and all things pleasurable and fun.

Mozart was known to be an inexplicable force of nature who could rise from a luminous improvisation at the keyboard to a leap over the furniture. He was forever drumming on things, tapping his feet, jabbering away, but who could grasp your hand and look at you with a profound, searching, and melancholy look in his blue eyes. Even in company there was often an air about Mozart of being not quite there. It was as if he lived onstage and off simultaneously, a character in life's tragicomedy but also outside of it watching, studying, gathering material for the fabric of his art.

Like Jan Swafford's biographies Beethoven and Johannes Brahms, Mozart is the complete exhumation of a genius in his life and ours: a man who would enrich the world with his talent for centuries to come and who would immeasurably shape classical music. As Swafford reveals, it's nearly impossible to understand classical music's origins and indeed its evolutions, as well as the Baroque period, without studying the man himself."


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## Open Book (Aug 14, 2018)

Swafford's Mozart book was released today. It already has two amazon ratings and used copies are for sale.


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