The Lives and Times of the Great Composers

By Michael Steen

Explore the life of Bach, the respectable burgher much of whose vast output was composed amidst petty turf disputes in Lutheran Leipzig; the ugly, argumentative Beethoven in French-occupied Vienna, obsessed by his laundry; Mozart, the over-exploited infant prodigy whose untimely death was shrouded in rumour. Steen gives us the story of Verdi, who composed against the background of the Italian Risorgimento; the family life of the Wagners; and Brahms, who rose from the slums of Hamburg to become a devotee of beer and coffee in fin-de-siècle Vienna, a cultural capital bent on destroying Mahler ... and much more.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Icon Books Ltd
• Release date: Jul 1, 2011
• ISBN: 9781848312678

Reviews for The Lives and Times of the Great Composers

[therebelprince · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

A very worthy book, although it's not really the kind of thing you'd read straight through; it's more of a reference text. Steen covers everything from historical and social contexts of the composers to the nitty-gritty of their daily lives.

I think some reviewers overreact to the idea that Steen is just being sensationalist: it's genuinely interesting to read about the more salacious aspects of these men's lives (very akin to 'The Twelve Caesars' in that sense), but he also approaches the stories from a musicologist and historical angle.

Steen's voice is sort of like an aged history teacher, trying to tell a story even if he often wanders off the point. I'm not sure you could read this reference-heavy text all the way through in one sitting, but it's a good starting point for someone with some music knowledge, interested in these stories. From here, you can peruse the endless footnotes for more expansive reading on any individual composer.