Reading List: 2024/25 Composers and Creators
Considering Beethoven
Beethoven’s is a name that stands above much of what we do, quite literally: the proscenium in Boston’s Symphony Hall bears the name “Beethoven” alone. In the 2024/25 season, seven classical artists feature his work directly, to say nothing of the artists inspired by Beethoven’s catalogue.
Beethoven: Anguish and Triumph by Jan Swafford (2014, HarperCollins) explores the places, the intellectual movements, and the circumstances that made Beethoven who he was. Journey through the music, as well as the places, that shaped this singular composer.
Why Beethoven: A Phenomenon in One Hundred Pieces by Norman Lebrecht (2023, Pegasus Books) begins with our most readily available keys to the man behind the music: the works themselves. Lebrecht reviews recordings and considers Beethoven’s works in the context of their creator’s life and times in this catalogue of genius.
Advice from Robert Schumann
Cellist Steven Isserlis invites young musicians and music lovers of any age to explore Robert Schumann’s Advice to Young Musicians in this beautiful annotated edition of the composer’s 1850 how-to guide. We might not want to take his dating advice, but his musical advice is insightful and poetic.
Schumann’s work features prominently this season, on programs curated by Emanuel Ax, Dover Quartet, Lang Lang, Julia Fischer & Jan Lisiecki, and Zlata Chochieva.
A Bird’s-Eye View of Mozart
In Mozart’s Starling (2018, Little, Brown & Co.), author and birder Lyanda Lynn Haupt tells the stories of two birds: a charming starling that became Mozart’s friend and confidant for three years and an orphaned baby starling that Haupt raises and rehabilitates. Haupt considers human-animal friendships and inspiration through these paired stories. A Booklist Starred Review.
Hear Mozart this season on Julia Fischer and Jan Lisiecki’s program.
The Forgotten Women of Classical Music
In Sounds and Sweet Airs: The Forgotten Women of Classical Music (2017, Oneworld Publications), author Anna Beers tells the stories of eight female composers who faced bitter struggles to get their voices heard. From Renaissance Florence to the twentieth century, composers Francesca Caccini, Barbara Strozzi, Élisabeth Jacquet de la Guerre, Marianna Martines, Fanny Hensel, Clara Schumann, Lili Boulanger, and Elizabeth Maconchy were overshadowed by their contemporaries and overlooked by history. Companion to a Classic FM radio series.
Book Club: 2024/25
Coming soon: we’ll announce plans for two Celebrity Series Book Club opportunities, related to upcoming performances in the 2024/25 season!
Explore Celebrity Series’ full 2024/25 season, with over 70 ticketed and free events across Boston! CelebritySeries.org
