The years between roughly 1760 and 1810, a period stretching from the rise of Joseph Haydn's career to the height of Ludwig van Beethoven's, are often viewed as a golden age for musical culture, when audiences started to revel in the sounds of the concert hall. But the latter half of the eighteenth century also saw proliferating optical technologies--including magnifying instruments, magic lanterns, peepshows, and shadow-plays--that offered new performance tools, fostered musical innovation, and shaped the very idea of "pure" music. Haydn's Sunrise, Beethoven's Shadow is a fascinating...