Sunday, February 5, 2012

Welcome to New Daily Blog!

After several years of obsessive Beethoven tweeting (and sending links to friends), I've finally decided to launch Roll Over, Beethoven, partly because of our brand new book but also to offer possibly the only daily Web postings on  LvB (after the recent demise of Ed Chang's "Daily Beethoven") with  links, video and comments.  And yeah, I'm still fiddling with the design and colors.

For now, let's start with the book, and upcoming movie.

Just out this week in print,  joining the e-book editions (for Kindle, iPad etc.  and the Nook):   Journeys With Beethoven: Following the Ninth, and Beyond, with film director Kerry Candaele, published by Sinclair Books.   It's just $3.99 for the e-book and $12.99 for print.  This is a dream project for me, as some may know from my Beethoven posts at The Nation, at Huff Post  and on Twitter.

Kerry has a great documentary coming out this year (see trailer below) that follows the Ninth Symphony and it's cultural and political influence around the world today.  So the book takes us from Chile to China and Japan, plus a stop in London for a full chapter with Billy Bragg, and then back in the USA.   In the "Beyond" section of the book I explore my own obsessive "travels" with Ludwig, as a longtime rock 'n roller, in recent years, via concerts and movies and CDs -- but also through new "Beethoven delivery systems" (YouTube, web forums, Twitter, etc.)  I also interview at length pianist Jeremy Denk, who wrote a terrific piece for this week's New Yorker. 

Those who know me from my infamous Crawdaddy and Springsteen days might be a bit...surprised?  Maybe it's now, "Roll Over, Chuck Berry."  In any case, it's a totally unique book on Beethoven--a Beethoven for our time, at last.  Again, e-book here and print here.  Not in bookstores for awhile.  I'm @GregMitch and:  epic1934@aol.com.  Kerry Candaele will also be contributing to this blog. Here's Kerry's site for the movie and the cool trailer:

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