BEETHOVEN'S HAIR.
by Russell, Martin
- Used
- first
- Condition
- Very good in illustrated wrappers.
- Seller
-
Ione, California, United States
Payment Methods Accepted
About This Item
Synopsis
Ludwig van Beethoven lay dying in 1827, a young musician named Ferdinand Hiller came to pay his respects to the great composer. In those days, it was customary to snip a lock of hair as a keepsake, and this Hiller did a day after Beethoven's death. By the time he was buried, Beethoven's head had been nearly shorn by the many people who similarly had wanted a lasting memento of the great man. Such was his powerful effect on all those who had heard his music.For a century, the lock of hair was a treasured Hiller family relic, and perhaps was destined to end up sequestered in a bank vault, until it somehow found its way to the town of Gilleleje, in Nazi-occupied Denmark, during the darkest days of the Second World War. There, it was given to a local doctor, Kay Fremming, who was deeply involved in the effort to help save hundreds of hunted and frightened Jews. Who gave him the hair, and why? And what was the fate of those refugees, holed up in the attic of Gilleleje's church?After Fremming's death, his daughter assumed ownership of the lock, and eventually consigned it for sale at Sotheby's, where two American Beethoven enthusiasts, Ira Brilliant and Che Guevara, purchased it in 1994. Subsequently, they and others instituted a series of complex forensic tests in the hope of finding the probable causes of the composer's chronically bad health, his deafness, and the final demise that Ferdinand Hiller had witnessed all those years ago. The results, revealed for the first time here, are startling, and are the most compelling explanation yet offered for why one of the foremost musicians the world has ever known was forced to spend much of his life in silence.In Beethoven's Hair, Russell Martin has created a rich historical treasure hunt, an Indiana Jones-like tale of false leads, amazing breakthroughs, and incredible revelations. This unique and fascinating book is a moving testament to the power of music, the lure of relics, the heroism of the Resistance movement, and the brilliance of molecular science.An astonishing tale of one lock of hair and its amazing travels--from nineteenth-century Vienna to twenty-first-century America.From the Hardcover edition.
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Details
- Seller
- Bookfever.com, IOBA (US)
- Seller's Inventory #
- 39675
- Title
- BEETHOVEN'S HAIR.
- Author
- Russell, Martin
- Format/Binding
- First edition -
- Book Condition
- Used - Very good in illustrated wrappers.
- Publisher
- Broadway Books,
- Place of Publication
- New York:
- Date Published
- (2000.)
- Keywords
- world war ii, dna, denmark, history, deafness,
- Bookseller catalogs
- Music and Musicians;
Terms of Sale
Bookfever.com, IOBA
Free media mail shipping in US included; priority is $7.50 and international at cost. Books are packed carefully, shipped promptly with delivery confirmation and insurance at our expense. It is important for our customers to be totally satisfied with their purchase and guarantee all of our books to be as described. Want lists welcomed.
About the Seller
Bookfever.com, IOBA
About Bookfever.com, IOBA
Glossary
Some terminology that may be used in this description includes:
- First Edition
- In book collecting, the first edition is the earliest published form of a book. A book may have more than one first edition in...
- Wrappers
- The paper covering on the outside of a paperback. Also see the entry for pictorial wraps, color illustrated coverings for...
- Reading Copy
- Indicates a book that is perfectly serviceable for reading. It may have a defect or damage. As such, reading copy is not a...