By Lawrence Kramer, author of Experiencing Sound: The Sensation of BeingOn the two-hundredth anniversary of Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony, which premiered on May 7th, 1824, The New York Times ran an opinion piece on the work by the distinguished pianist and conductor Daniel Barenboim. The next day Beet...
By Lawrence Kramer, author of Musical Meaning: Toward a Critical History
In his classic study of perception, the French philosopher Maurice Merleau-Ponty describes the experience of listening to a classical sonata, which he takes to be representa...
Ludwig van Beethoven was born in December, and while the exact date of his birth is not known, that has not kept the world from celebrating his life and work for the 250th anniversary of his birth in 2020. Published to coincide with this momentous moment—and available in English for the f...
This post is part of our AMS 2020 conference blog series. Check out our virtual exhibit page for more.
As a conductor of Beethoven’s music, what draws you to this composer’s life and works?
Beethoven’s music fascinates like no other, as it stimulates in equal measure both th...