Doing research on Beethoven

1. Beethoven: the Final Years
The best we can do to understand the
music, the man and his times
Preparing for the research experience
of Music 560
Southern Oregon University
Alexander Tutunov, Professor
Kate Cleland-Sipfle, Assoc. Professor/Librarian

2. Research Genres
Books Articles Sketches?
Scores
Performed
Music

3. Some Kinds of Valuable Sources
Reference works - print (physical) example - search Title: Baker's Dictionary of Music in Hannon
Library catalog
permalink http://alliance-primo.hosted.exlibrisgroup.com/SOU:CP71108993010001451
Memoirs - e-book example search Title: Beethoven, as Revealed in His Own Words
permalink http://alliance-primo.hosted.exlibrisgroup.com/SOU:CP71208601020001451
Biographies - print example search Title: Beethoven and Author/Creator: Solomon
permalink http://alliance-primo.hosted.exlibrisgroup.com/SOU:CP7195501250001451
e-book example search Title: Beethoven and Author/Creator: Cooper
http://alliance-primo.hosted.exlibrisgroup.com/SOU:CP71199635570001451
Beethoven in his own words (or edited) - print example search Title: Beethoven, Letters,
Journals, and Conversations and Author/Creator: Beethoven or Hamburger
http://alliance-primo.hosted.exlibrisgroup.com/SOU:CP71125924150001451
Beethoven's sketchbooks - print example search Title: Beethoven Sketchbooks and
Author/Creator: Johnson
http://alliance-primo.hosted.exlibrisgroup.com/SOU:CP71125776460001451
Musical histories - e-book example search Title: Hugo Riemann and the Birth of Modern Musical
Thought and Author/Creator: Rehding
http://alliance-primo.hosted.exlibrisgroup.com/SOU:CP71188919220001451
Books about musical genres - print example search Title: Inside Beethoven's Quartets and
Author/Creator: Lockwood
http://alliance-primo.hosted.exlibrisgroup.com/SOU:CP71178043590001451
Musical criticism - print example search Title: Fullness of Dissonance and Author/Creator: Melnick
http://alliance-primo.hosted.exlibrisgroup.com/SOU:CP71172299130001451

4. Research with Articles
 Options:
SOU Hannon Library article databases on
Research Guide for Music home page
Google Scholar – set for languages in which
you can read well enough for research
Hannon Library Catalog – set for Article
scope (note that it is in Beta stage; no
materials available only through EBSCO
databases will appear)

5. The Music
Sketchbooks – search Hannon Library or Summit for
◦ Beethoven and sketchbook*
Scores – search Hannon Library catalog for Beethoven
and limit Material Type to Scores, limit to Audio CD’s
under “Refine My Results” to see Hannon’s collections,
or search by title of the work; also download scores
(public domain) from IMSLP, Petrucci Music Library (on
Research Guide for Music home page)
Performed music - search Hannon Library for
Beethoven and limit Material Type to Scores, limit to
Audio CD’s under “Refine My Results” to see Hannon’s
collections, or search by title of the work

6. Researching a past life
Pitfalls of research on long dead people:
 “Politics” – biases of memoirists or biographers
 Decades or centuries of rumors and legends
 Limited records
 Lack of or limited reliable images
 Original materials in language you don’t read
 Older sources based on past understandings

7. Unproductive Strategies
Red herrings are defined as according too much importance to a fact or
rumor that is only marginally relevant ; avoid distractions
“It’s all on the web.” – There are good introductory materials on the WWW,
but you may find misinformation and lack of depth in well formatted
presentations. Go beyond it. Google Advanced Search allows limiting to .edu
and .org domains.
Documenting scholarly material at the expense of your own synthesis and
original thinking.
Writing your own critique without synthesizing historical, critical or
musicological scholarship into your text.
Procrastination
Fearing to talk with the professor or subject librarian

8. Recommendations
Become familiar with Beethoven’s life and musical styles
Become very knowledgeable about his late years
Understand the times in which he lived
Find out how composers and musicians made a living in the
late 18th and early 19th centuries
Gain understanding of the changing critiques of Beethoven’s
late works
Identify an aspect of late Beethoven works in the context of
his life and times for which you can find more than enough
research material, and talk with your professor and librarian

9. May the study of this man’s life
enrich your own.