50 Moments that Rocked the Classical Music World

by Darren Henley, Sam Jackson

An eclectic, fun and informative guide to the 50 moments that changed classical music forever, from technological advances in music recording and practical innovations, to landmark concerts, the births and deaths of the great composers, and much more. Seeking equally to educate, inform and entertain, 50 Moments that Rocked the Classical Music World uncovers a rich and often unexpected history of classical music

Written by the authors of the bestselling Classic FM Hall of Fame and Everything You Ever Wanted to Know About Classical Music, this will be the perfect gift for the classical music afficionado, as well as anyone new to the genre looking to get their first foothold on the mountain of classical music.

"An excellent gift for those who just attended their first performance of Beethoven's Fifth." --Library Journal's Express Reviews

Genres: Music, History

232 pages, Hardcover

First published March 1, 2013

About the author

Darren Henley OBE is chief executive of Arts Council England. His two independent government reviews into music and cultural education resulted in England's first National Plan for Music Education, new networks of Music Education Hubs, Cultural Education Partnerships and Heritage Schools, the Museums and Schools programme, the BFI Film Academy and the National Youth Dance Company. Before joining the Arts Council, he led Classic FM for fifteen years. He holds degrees in politics from the University of Hull, in management from the University of South Wales and in history of art from the University of Buckingham. A recipient of the British Academy President's Medal for his contributions to music education, music research and the arts, his books include The Virtuous Circle: Why Creativity and Cultural Education Count and The Arts Dividend: Why Investment in Culture Pays.

Reviews

[Steven · Rating 3 out of 5]

Light and sometimes fun. For a musicology degree-holder, this book broke no new ground, but it was a pleasant enough brisk walk down memory lane that I kept with it until the end.

[Keith · Rating 4 out of 5]

I like the introduction: "This ... (book) might cause arguments. ... we could be pilloried both for what we choose to include and because of what we chose to leave out." With that introduction, I was free to enjoy whatever eccentric choices the authors made, and I am enjoying their succinct approach.

Before checking this book out of the library, I looked at chapter 36, and found it interesting enough that I pretty much read to the end of the book before leaving the library.

Each chapter is so short that it doesn't get into depth on anything. Sometimes I was left longing for more detail. Generally I found it interesting and could hardly wait to find out what the next chapter had to offer.

Table of CONTENTS
Introduction
1 Banging and Blowing: The First Musical instruments
2 Sing a Song of Christmas: The Development of the Carol
3 Getting it Written Down: The Introduction of Musical Notation
4 Changing the Tune: The First Use of Polyphony
5 The Cruelest Cut: Castrati Come to Prominence
6 Strike Up the Band: The invention of the Symphony
7 Making it in a Man‘s World: Hildegard of Bingen
8 Sharing the Music: The invention of the Printing Press
9 By Royal Appointment: The Master of the King‘s Musick
10 Music and Movement: The First Ballet
11 Baroque 'n' Roll: A New Musical Era
12 A Capital Hit : Handel in London
13 Religious Change: Martin Luther and the Protestant Reformation
14 Words and Music: The First Opera
15 The World's Greatest Opera House: Scala, Milan
16 Classic Discovery: Another Era of Change
17 The Instrument-Maker Extraordinaire: Antonio Stradivari
18 Taking the Orchestra to Another Level: Hector Berlioz
19 The World's First Classical Music Superstar: Franz Liszt
20 Romanticism Arrives: Beethoven‘s ‘Eroica'
21 Putting on a Show: The Founding of the Royal Philharmonic Society
22 Beating Time: The Baton and the Conductor
23 Rewriting the Rules: The ‘Tristan Chord‘
24 A New World Order: Impressionism and Classical Music
25 A Matter of Record: The Invention of the Gramophone
26 Musical Numbers: The Advent of Serialism
27 We Predict a Riot: Stravinsky’s The Rite of Spring
28 The Lure of the Silver Screen: The First Film Soundtrack
29 A New Polish: ‘Furniture Music'
30 Making Money and All That Jazz: George Gershwin
31 Back to the Future: The Rediscovery of Vivaldi‘s Violin Concertos
32 Silence is Golden: John Cage‘s 4‘30"
33 The TV Age: Leonard Bernstein‘s Young People‘s Concerts
34 After This Break: Classical Music and Advertising
35 Russian Revolution: The Death of Joseph Stalin
36 The Pianist Who Conquered Russia: Van Cliburn
37 Cartoon Classics: Walt Disney‘s Fantasia
38 Less Is More: The introduction of Minimalism
39 Hitting the Right Note: The international Chopin Piano Competition
40 The Medium ls the Message: The Invention of the Compact Disc
41 New Ways of Doing Business: The Budget Classical Label
42 On Top of the World: The Three Tenors in Rome
43 Music for the Masses: Classic FM is Born
44 Classical ‐ But Not as You Know It: Crossover Music
45 Digital Dexterity: Composing on Computer
46 Music as Peace: The West-Eastern Divan Orchestra
47 The Next Generation: The Simon Bolivar Youth Orchestra and El Sistema
48 Technology Changes Everything Again: The Digital Download Revolution
49 World Wide Web: Eric Whitacre‘s Virtual Choir
50 Could Video Kill the Classical Star? Videogame Soundtracks

[David · Rating 3 out of 5]

Some interesting titbits.

[Chris Fluit · Rating 2 out of 5]

This was a very good book- enjoyable to read and useful as a teaching tool. I definitely learned a lot as the instructor. My student grew a little bored with the book- but that was more the subject matter than the writing style. However, the book did become a little redundant as some chapters covered the same material from different angles. For example, the introduction of musical eras, the innovation of musical forms and the arrival of specific composers often coincide yet were covered in separate chapters.