James's review
The Rest Is Noise: Listening to the Twentieth Century
by Alex Ross
James's review
The Rest Is Noise: Listening to the Twentieth Century by Alex Ross
James's review
rating:
As a recovering Band Nerd, I assumed that this book, subtitled “Listening to The Twentieth Century,” would be an enjoyable companion to my amateur musical education. I have had the privilege of performing hundreds of renowned musical compositions, from Gershwin to Hindemith, and even conducted several hundred marching musicians playing Dvorak’s New World Symphony. Attending grade school in Connecticut, I can even remember a relative of Charles Ives visiting our music class and telling us disinterested ankle-biters about her famous composer-relative.
But alas, The Rest is Noise is a book about classical music.
A book. About classical music.
It’s a bit like macramé about kite flying. That is, an obscure, archaic, and largely ignored medium conveying a rather dismissed subject. A quilt about baking contests? Stained glass about some dead dude on a cross? An election to decide world leaders?
Ross does acknowledge that, “Classical music is widely mocked as a stuck-up,...more
But alas, The Rest is Noise is a book about classical music.
A book. About classical music.
It’s a bit like macramé about kite flying. That is, an obscure, archaic, and largely ignored medium conveying a rather dismissed subject. A quilt about baking contests? Stained glass about some dead dude on a cross? An election to decide world leaders?
Ross does acknowledge that, “Classical music is widely mocked as a stuck-up,...more
