Barry Cooper is Professor of Music at the University of Manchester and is known worldwide for his knowledge of the Beethoven sketchbooks.He is the editor of the complete edition of the Beethoven Piano Sonatas for ABRSM, and his books include Beethoven and the Creative Process and his biography of the composer for the Oxford Master Musicians series.

For those unfamiliar with Beethoven's compositional process, Cooper's The Creation of Beethoven's Nine Symphonies will be revelatory. But even scholars well versed in this complex and nuanced topic will doubtless gain new insights from this comprehensive, if not exhaustive, synthesis of Beethoven's canonic symphonies.

• Introduction1. The Long and Hazardous Road to the First Symphony, Op. 212. A Creation in Two Parts: The Second Symphony, Op. 363. Elevating the Genre: The Third Symphony (Eroica), Op. 55 4. The Oppersdorff Connection: The Fourth Symphony, Op. 605. Motivic Intensity: The Fifth Symphony, Op. 67 6. 'More an Expression of Feeling than Painting': The Sixth Symphony (Pastoral), Op. 687. 'Great, Exalted' Work: The Seventh Symphony, Op. 928. 'Just because it is much better': The Eighth Symphony, Op. 93 9. The Philharmonic Connection: The Ninth Symphony, Op. 12510. Epilogue BibliographyIndex of music manuscriptsIndex of Beethoven's worksGeneral index

Barry Cooper is Professor of Music at the University of Manchester and is known worldwide for his knowledge of the Beethoven sketchbooks.He is the editor of the complete edition of the Beethoven Piano Sonatas for ABRSM, and his books include Beethoven and the Creative Process and his biography of the composer for the Oxford Master Musicians series.

For those unfamiliar with Beethoven's compositional process, Cooper's The Creation of Beethoven's Nine Symphonies will be revelatory. But even scholars well versed in this complex and nuanced topic will doubtless gain new insights from this comprehensive, if not exhaustive, synthesis of Beethoven's canonic symphonies.

• Introduction1. The Long and Hazardous Road to the First Symphony, Op. 212. A Creation in Two Parts: The Second Symphony, Op. 363. Elevating the Genre: The Third Symphony (Eroica), Op. 55 4. The Oppersdorff Connection: The Fourth Symphony, Op. 605. Motivic Intensity: The Fifth Symphony, Op. 67 6. 'More an Expression of Feeling than Painting': The Sixth Symphony (Pastoral), Op. 687. 'Great, Exalted' Work: The Seventh Symphony, Op. 928. 'Just because it is much better': The Eighth Symphony, Op. 93 9. The Philharmonic Connection: The Ninth Symphony, Op. 12510. Epilogue BibliographyIndex of music manuscriptsIndex of Beethoven's worksGeneral index

Barry Cooper is Professor of Music at the University of Manchester and is known worldwide for his knowledge of the Beethoven sketchbooks.He is the editor of the complete edition of the Beethoven Piano Sonatas for ABRSM, and his books include Beethoven and the Creative Process and his biography of the composer for the Oxford Master Musicians series.

For those unfamiliar with Beethoven's compositional process, Cooper's The Creation of Beethoven's Nine Symphonies will be revelatory. But even scholars well versed in this complex and nuanced topic will doubtless gain new insights from this comprehensive, if not exhaustive, synthesis of Beethoven's canonic symphonies.

• Introduction1. The Long and Hazardous Road to the First Symphony, Op. 212. A Creation in Two Parts: The Second Symphony, Op. 363. Elevating the Genre: The Third Symphony (Eroica), Op. 55 4. The Oppersdorff Connection: The Fourth Symphony, Op. 605. Motivic Intensity: The Fifth Symphony, Op. 67 6. 'More an Expression of Feeling than Painting': The Sixth Symphony (Pastoral), Op. 687. 'Great, Exalted' Work: The Seventh Symphony, Op. 928. 'Just because it is much better': The Eighth Symphony, Op. 93 9. The Philharmonic Connection: The Ninth Symphony, Op. 12510. Epilogue BibliographyIndex of music manuscriptsIndex of Beethoven's worksGeneral index