Research Catalog

Title

Hans von Bülow : a life and times / Alan Walker.

Author

Walker, Alan, 1930-

Publication

Oxford ; New York : Oxford University Press, 2010.

Items in the Library & Off-site

Holdings

Details

Description

xxv, 510 p. : ill., music; 25 cm.

Summary

"Hans von Bülow is a key figure in 19th century music whose career path was as broad as it was successful. Music history's first virtuoso orchestral conductor, Bülow created the model for the profession-both in musical brilliance and in domineering personality-which still holds forth today. He was an eminent and renowned concert pianist, a respected (and often feared) teacher and music critic, an influential editor of works by Bach, Mendelssohn, Chopin, and Beethoven, and a composer in a variety of musical genres. As a student and son-in-law of Franz Liszt, and estranged friend of Richard Wagner (for whom his wife Cosima famously left him), Bülow is intricately connected with the canonical greats of the period. Yet despite his critical and lasting importance for orchestral music, Bülow's life and significant achievements have yet to be heralded in biographical form. In Hans von Bülow: A Life and Times, Alan Walker, the acclaimed author of numerous award-winning books on the era's iconic composers, provides the first full-length English biography of this remarkable musical figure. Walker traces Bülow's life in illuminating and engaging detail, from the first piano lessons of his boyhood days, to his first American tour, to his last days as conductor of the Berlin Philharmonic. Unearthing Bülow's extensive and previously unavailable correspondence and writings, Walker conveys amusing and informative anecdotes about this unique musical legend- from his sardonic and clever personality to his meticulous devotion to his work-and reveals enlightening insights on the still-contested sensibilities of musical-compositional style and "idea" at play in the vibrant musical world of which Bülowwas a part."--Publisher's description.

Subject

• Bülow, Hans von, 1830-1894
• Conductors (Music) > Germany > Biography

Genre/Form

• Biographies
• Biographie.

Bibliography (note)

• Includes bibliographical references and index.

Processing Action (note)

• committed to retain

Contents

The Bülow chronicles -- Bülow's family tree -- Prologue. From alpha to omega ; Bülow's family background -- Book 1: On the slopes of Parnassus, 1830-1869. The early years ; With Liszt in Weimar ; The growing virtuoso, 1853-1855 ; Berlin, 1855-1864, I : a city of mingled chimes ; Berlin, 1855-1864, II : marriage to Cosima ; Catastrophe in Munich, 1864-1869 -- Book 2: Ascending the peak, 1870-1880. Bülow n Florence ; First tours of Britain -- and beyond, 1873-1875 ; The first tour of America, 1875-1876 ; A Scottish interlude, 1877-1878 ; At Hanover, 1877-1879 ; Britannia scorned, 1878-1879 : encounters and skirmishes in 'the land without music' -- Book 3: Vistas from the summit, 1880-1894. The Meiningen years, 1880-1885, I : the Meiningen miracle ; The Meiningen years, 1880-1885, II : enter Marie Schanzer ; The Meiningen years, 1880-1895, III : paths of glory ; Bülow the pedagogue : the Frankfurt masterclasses, 1884-1887 ; A new home in Hamburg, 1886 ; The Berlin Philharmonic, 1887-1892, I : the eagle's wings ; Return to America, 1889-1890 ; The Berlin Philharmonic, 1887-1892, II : 'Glory, honour, and good fortune' ; The last days and death of Bülow, 1893-1894 -- Appendix I: Bülow's autopsy report -- Appendix II: Complete catalogue of Bülow's compositions, transcriptions, and editions -- Appendix III: Bülow's titles and honours.

ISBN

• 9780195368680 (hardcover : alk. paper)
• 0195368681 (hardcover : alk. paper)

LCCN

^^2008039701

OCLC

• 256533278
• SCSB-10410697

Owning Institutions

Harvard Library