The Beethoven Song Companion

摘要

There has been much discussion in the literature of Beethoven's orchestral, chamber and piano works, but very little has been published in English on his songs, although there have been studies in French and German, and so this is a very welcome survey of them. One reason for their neglect is obviously the achievement of later song composers, notably Schubert, Schumann, Brahms and Wolf. The author freely acknowledges the format of this book to Reed's (1985) The Schubert Song Companion. It includes all the songs composed for voice and piano, including a handful of choral works with piano accompaniment, and also includes unfinished songs and sketches, possibly intended for those forces, and even a couple of lost songs.