Beethoven's chamber music - Victor Lederer

Ludwig van Beethoven's chamber works are some of his most revered compositions. Victor Lederer guides the serious nonprofessional listener through this oeuvre in his new book Beethoven's Chamber Music: A Listener's Guide.Lederer shows how Beethoven's sonatas for violin and piano overflow with high energy and spirits
showing a creative force that transcended personal struggles. The
Kreutzer
sonata
Op. 47
displays all the power of the master's middle period
while the G Major sonata
Op. 96
foreshadows Beethoven's mellower late works. The author also considers the sonatas for cello and piano
which span Beethoven's early
middle
and late periods
and examines the piano trios
including the immense
Archduke
trio.A highlight of the book is an exploration of the sixteen string quartets
which represent the pinnacle of Beethoven's achievement in chamber music. Lederer explains how the middle-period quartets
starting with the epic
Razumovsky
set
shatter molds and create new procedures
often on a stunning scale
and why the five late quartets and the Great Fugue are considered the peaks of the quartet literature and of Beethoven's own output. Lederer helps both new and experienced listeners grasp the strangeness and grandeur of these astonishing creations.The book comes with a compact disc containing musical selections drawn from critically acclaimed performances on Naxos Records.