Composers' Houses - Hardcover

Gefen, Gérard

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0865659982 ISBN 13: 9780865659988

Publisher: Vendome Press, 1998

Synopsis

"Composers' Houses" that takes us around the world from Mozart's home in Salzburg to Chopin's in Nohant, where he conducted a passionate affair with Georges Sand. Here are the astonishing houses of great operatic composers. The author, Gerard Gefen, links the composers' houses, work and life in a beautiful, all-color book that was years in the making. It will delight all classic music lovers and fascinate anybody touched by the miracle of artistic creation.

About this title

About the Author

Gerard Gefen, musicologist, writer, record producer, and world traveler, has written several books on the history of music. Christine Bastin and Jacques Evrard have illustrated many books on art, architecture, design and gardening over a twenty-year period.

Reviews

Most of the musicians' homes Gefen and his two photographer collaborators present are the capacious structures successful people buy or build, yet a handful conform to the romantic image of the impecunious, austere composer. Schubert was born above the school his father ran and died in his brother's home; both buildings appear in warmer hues than one who lived in them might have seen. Beethoven could have dwelt in considerable comfort but moved a lot; the "almost rural cottage" in which he sojourned in the summer of 1802 is represented, though only by views of its courtyard and second-floor exterior gallery. Wagner, Verdi, Meyerbeer, Puccini, and Lehar lived quite grandly, as seems fitting for creators of musical drama, and Chopin lived well, for a time, in the novelist George Sand's house. Most impressive is the only noncomposer's home in the book, Norwegian violinist Ole Bull's elaborate summer home, a fantasia of carved wood resembling a Moorish mosque incongruously located on a far northern island. A luscious, luxurious browsing album. Ray Olson

In this delightful sequel to Writers' Houses (Vendome, 1995), G?fen, who has authored several music biographical and historical works, richly describes the homes or haunts of some 23 composers. His clear prose is accompanied by some 250 beautiful color photographs. There are some rather surprising omissions and inclusions among the featured composers, however; Johann Sebastian Bach and Georg Friedrich Handel are missing, while Ole Bull and Vincent d'Indy are included. But music lovers will nonetheless be fascinated by the intimate glimpses into the lives and habitats of Chopin, Liszt, Wagner, Verdi, Elgar, Ravel, and others. Brief biographies of the composers and the addresses of the featured houses conclude the volume. This is not an essential purchase, but it is warmly recommended for libraries that support the leisure or browsing interests of their readers.AP. Steven Thomas, Central Michigan Univ. Lib., Mt. Pleasant
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Edition details

• Publisher: Vendome Press
• Publication date: 1998
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0865659982
• ISBN 13: 9780865659988
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 200