This book, as the editor warns us, should be approached with caution, as some of the contributors embellish their own importance in the life and affairs of the composer. Nevertheless, as a record of how Beethoven worked, dressed, ate and socialised, it is required reading for any devotee of the greatest composer of his age. Interesting, also is the reaction by some of his contemporaries (Spohr, for instance) to Beethoven's later compositions - generally unfavourable - although it serves to remind the reader just how far his music had advanced in thirty-odd years of serious composition. The book ends with Franz Grillparser's funeral oration, at times florid but heartfelt, with which few of us would argue.

"Thus he was, thus he died, thus he will live to the end of time." ( )