This is a sober and informative biography of the great composer and the grandfather of the symphony and symphonic form. I started reading this paperback published in 1989 when I recently looked back at an old copy of Wire magazine again. It was on their recommended introductions into the music of a composer. This book was highlighted at the end of the article.

The second section of the book is a musical analysis of some of his scores, and as I am unable to read music scores, my bad, this section was less interesting to me. However, it did bring me back to the music and the pleasure of listening. ( )