The Composers' Letters

by Jan Fielden (Editor)

Book by

193 pages, Paperback

First published February 1, 1995

Reviews

[Vinay]

Exquisite pairing of music and letters of various composers, chronological arranged.

[Nina (the fussy reader)]

This was delightful. A short read/listen and an interesting collection of letters written by famous composers to their friends, family, or other composers.
It was a wonderful insight into who these talented people really were. Their personalities really came out strong. You can tell a lot about a person from the way they write personal letters. Some of the comments they make had me laughing out loud.
The audiobook version was particularly fun. As each letter is read, music written by the composers plays in the background. It created a whole other experience, and I really enjoyed it. There were various narrators to capture the feel of the composers at different stages in their lives. All in all, this was great and I'd recommend it to anyone who enjoys classical music or learning about the personal lives of the composers.

[Brenda]

I chose this because it was short (just being honest!) and because the letters are accompanied by excerpts of the composer's music. It was pretty good overall.