The Classical Style: Haydn, Mozart, Beethoven

by Charles Rosen

Overview

A greatly expanded edition of the National Book Award-winning masterpiece by a world-class pianist and writer on music.

This outstanding book treating the three most beloved composers of the Vienna School is basic to any study of Classical-era music. Drawing on his rich experience and intimate familiarity with the works of these giants, Charles Rosen presents his keen insights in clear and persuasive language. For this expanded edition, now available in paperback for the first time, Rosen has provided a new, 64-page chapter on the later years of Beethoven and the musical conventions he inherited from Haydn and Mozart. The author has also written an extensive new preface in which he responds to other writers who have commented on his ideas.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780393317121
Publisher:	Norton, W. W. & Company, Inc.
Publication date:	01/17/1998
Edition description:	Expanded Edition
Pages:	556
Sales rank:	409,696
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 9.20(h) x 1.10(d)

About the Author

Charles Rosen, professor of music and social thought at the University of Chicago, has also taught at the State University of New York-Stony Brook and delivered the Charles Eliot Norton Lectures at Harvard University. His recitals and other performances have won the highest critical acclaim, as have his books, The Classical Style and The Romantic Generation. When he is not concertizing, Rosen lives in New York.

Editorial Reviews

The first edition of this book won the 1972 National Book Award and remained available in paperback for more than two decades. For this edition, Rosen adds a 14-page preface answering some of his friendly critics and a 26-page essay on Beethoven-which includes 44 musical examples, not seen-that emphasizes the composer's indebtedness to Haydn and Mozart. Otherwise, the text of the original edition remains unchanged. A CD (not heard) of Rosen playing two Beethoven piano sonatas (opp. 106 and 110) is also included. Libraries successful in keeping together the book and CD of Rosen's Romantic Generation (LJ 4/1/95) may want to attempt the same with this set, but once the CD is lost, the price seems high for only two new essays if the older edition is still serviceable.-Bonnie Jo Dopp, Univ. of Maryland Lib., College Park

Library Journal

A book for which both musicians and music lovers should be grateful. -- Edward T. Cone, New York Times Book Review

Edward T. Cone