Anthony Kim

The Heroic Symphony - Anna Harwell Celenza

The book Heroic Symphony is about the story of Ludwig Van Beethoven and his his struggles with his soon to be disability of hearing loss. Instead of giving up, Beethoven decides to change from performing to composing and in doing so creates a piece known as “Heroic Symphony.” In the book, the author writes about the journey and reasoning behind Beethoven’s melodic lines and instrumentation throughout the piece and its movements. This book is useful for educational purposes because it not only talks about a famous musician’s problems and how he overcame them, but also teaches students the complexity in music. The book emphasizes to the reader to listen to certain sounds which emulate real life noises in war or peace so that later in the reader’s life he/she can be cognizant of musical motifs in the future.