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John Suchet has, to date, published four books on Beethoven. The hallmark of John’s books – which sets him apart from so many writers and musicologists – is that John concentrates on the man as much as the music. *******************
The Classic FM Friendly Guide differs from all the many thousands of books on Beethoven, in that it concentrates primarily on Beethoven’s life. This is a book for every lover of Beethoven’s music. It will tell you whether Beethoven was in love when he wrote a particular piece, or where he was living. What was the inspiration? What effect did his deafness have on his life and music? Who were his friends and loves? Did he drink too much? This book brings you Beethoven the man. The Friendly Guide is available from bookshops, as well as from Classicfm.com and Amazon.co.uk ****************** John’s trilogy The Last Master, a three-part biographical novel of Beethoven, was published to great acclaim in the late 1990’s. The three books, written as a series of novels but sticking scrupulously to the known facts, bring Beethoven’s personality to life, set against the turbulent backdrop of the Napoleonic Wars. The three novels in the Last Master series are available from Amazon.co.uk, and as a special order from bookshops. Tell your local bookshop to order them from publishers Time Warner. Sadly the boxed set is no longer available.
All three books in the Last Master series, Passion and Anger, Passion and Pain and Passion and Glory, have been critically acclaimed by reviewers - click here to read what they say. Purchasers in the UK should use the Amazon.co.uk links, while buyers in the United States and elsewhere in the world should use the links to Amazon.com. Simply click on the relevant logo below to order the book directly. You will be taken straight to the book order you want.
Passion and Anger
We learn of the great love of his life, his 'Eternally
Beloved', meet the loyal friends who eased the suffering of the genius
among them, encounter Johanna, the sister-in-law he despises, and witness
the invasion of Vienna by French forces, as Beethoven seeks shelter from
the shells in his brother's cellar. Written as a novel, though strictly in
accordance with the known facts, Passion and Pain is a monumental
narrative
Passion and Glory
Through a vivid narrative culminating in the remarkable
moment of his death on 26 March 1827, the 'raging at the fates' epiphany,
John Suchet invests Beethoven with a tragic grandeur missing from
conventional biographies and brings to stunning life the extraordinary
story of the Last Master's personal anguish and artistic triumph.
What the critics have said about the Last Master trilogy Volume 1: Passion and Anger 'A novel of great seriousness and
integrity' 'Suchet's fictional framework may attract
readers who would never dream of opening a biography of Beethoven...a very
good story indeed' Volume 2: Passion and Pain 'A finer piece of literature than the
first book...this is not for academics but for you and me and anyone moved
by Beethoven's music, and will probably do more to further understanding
than any professorial paper' Volume 3: Passion and Glory 'Suchet's achievement is masterly,
bringing Beethoven and the Vienna of his day convincingly to life' 'The heart-shaking story of genius and
passionate loneliness is brilliantly researched and lovingly told'
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© John Suchet |
In January
2006 Classic FM radio, to which John is a frequent contributor,
commissioned him to write their Classic
FM Friendly Guide to Beethoven. The book, with contributions from
Classic FM’s Station Manager, was published in August 2006.
The
Last Master is a magnificent fictional biography of Ludwig van Beethoven,
arguably the greatest composer of all time. Beginning before his birth and
ending with the famous Heiligenstadt Testament of 1802, Beethoven's
acknowledgement that his deafness was incurable, the opening volume
follows the prodigy as he emerges from the shadow of his father's thwarted
ambitions to cultivate his own unique place in the musical life of Vienna,
Europe's musical capital but a city caught up in the war against Napoleon.
Passion
and Pain, the second volume, depitcts the composer at the height of his
powers - yet all the time beset by his deafness, the greatest tragedy of
his life. Famous throughout Europe, championed by wealthy patrons, sought
out by other musicians, Beethoven's triumphs and frustrations are shared
with the reader as he composes and performs the towering works of the
'heroic period' - the 'Eroica' Symphony, the 'Emperor' Concerto, the Fifth
and the 'Appassionata' Sonata - and as he struggles alone in the middle of
the night to hear the great music he is creating.
In
Passion and Glory, the concluding volume, the reader witnesses the great
dramas of the composer's last years. This is the era of the 'Battle'
Symphony, the Seventh, and the 'Ode To Joy', of monumental pieces composed
in solitude and performed with ferocious energy. After his love for his
'Eternally Beloved' is consigned to the past, we witness Beethoven's
return to Vienna in 1812, a period of glorious creativity amid a city
celebrating the defeat of Napoleon. But we also see a genius, divinely
blessed, being unjustly punished as disease ravages Ludwig's body and he
becomes increasingly deaf.
