From Silence to Sound: Beethoven’s Beginnings (pdf)

Description

This book discusses the myriad ways in which Beethoven begins his works and the structural, rhetorical, and emotional implications of these beginnings for listeners.
Examining the opening moments of nearly 200 compositions, it offers a new method of analysis of Beethoven’s music. At the same time, it sets Beethoven’s work in context through a close study of beginnings in the compositions of Haydn, Mozart, and many other, lesser-known composers of the Classical Era. The book opens by examining how a beginning works in musical and rhetorical theory and by looking at findings from neuroscience and psychology to show how a beginning is received by our brains.