Beethoven’s Conversation Books, Vol. 1

Ed. and trans. Theodore Albrecht

Boydell ISBN 978-1-783-27150-4;

384pp (hb) £45.00

‘Paper. Barber’s razor. Archduke’s receipt. Watch. Suspenders. Blotting paper. Shoe-horn for Karl. Chamber pot.’ This to-do list from an

1818 conversation book reflects Beethoven’s preoccupations on one particular day: while his friends and visitors wrote their questions to him, he mostly replied verbally, so his own entries tended to be memos-to-self. When all 12 of these volumes are published, they will provide an extraordinary in-depth portrait of the composer’s last years. Although dense with footnotes, they wear their learning lightly: by presenting state-of-the-art scholarship in an enjoyably accessible manner, Albrecht and his publishers have pulled off a brilliant feat.

Beethoven was a creature of habit, and we get a vivid sense of his daily routine: getting up at 5am and working till midday, when he stopped to eat with friends; going to a coffee house at five to chat and read newspapers, and getting to bed by ten; he walked everywhere. We get frequent glimpses of his nephew Karl – ‘I am very hungry today,’ says the young man as they tuck in at a gourmet restaurant. Quack cures for deafness come up, but no more frequently than the search for the ideal stove. This volume is dominated by quotidian concerns; musical concerns will surface later. It would be nice if the next volume could give us an illustration of one typical page. Michael Church ★★★★★