From the agile beauty of Mozart's "Jupiter" and the fierce power of Beethoven's Fifth to the celebration of heroism in Shostakovich's "Leningrad," the symphony has long held a prime place in the Western musical pantheon. Now, in The Symphony, renowned teacher and critic Michael Steinberg

offers music lovers a monumental guide to this most celebrated of musical forms, with perceptive commentaries on some 118 works by 36 major composers.

Enriched by biographical detail, historical background, musical examples, and many finely nuanced observations, this volume is a treasury of insight and information. Readers will find illuminating discussion of the complete symphonies of Beethoven, Schumann, Brahms, Elgar, Sibelius, and Mahler, as

well as of the most loved symphonic works of Schubert, Bruckner, Dvorak, Tchaikovsky, Vaughan Williams, Prokofiev, and others. We learn, for example, how to listen more sharply for Haydn's humor, to Mozart's singular combination of pathos with grace, and to the evolution of Beethoven's musical ideas

in his epoch-making nine symphones. The range and variety of composers are remarkable--Schumann's musical poetry, Tchaikovsky's melodic genius, Mendelssohn's patrician elegance, Mahler's wild and beautiful innovations, Bruckner's mighty cathedrals in tone, the brooding mysteries of Sibelius,

Stravinsky's fascinating engagements with the past, and Aaron Copland's ebullient American athleticism--and all are illuminated by Steinberg's deft, inviting, and intensely personal essays. The book boasts generous coverage of American composers, with sections on Howard Hanson, Walter Piston, Roger

Sessions, Aaron Copland, William Schuman, and John Harbison. Steinberg gives us such a vivid portrait of each composer's personality that we get the most immediate sense of how the work is a direct expression of the person from whose soul and brain it has sprung.

Tracing the ways in which composers have dealt with the extraordinary musical challenges that have engaged them throughout the centuries, Steinberg takes us through the revolutions of expression, sound, and form that have shaped the symphony's remarkable history. Whether beginners or veterans,

music lovers will listen to the symphony with enlivened interest and deeper understanding with Steinberg's masterful guide in hand.

"Michael Steinberg represents the gold standard of music criticism. His is a mind of immense subtelty and learning that expresses itself with generosity, humor, accessibility, and a noticeable absence of pomposity. This is a book of 1001 pleasures."--John Adams, Composer

"Michael Steinberg is one of the very few writers who can really bring a listener close to the music. He not only knows what he is talking about--and eminently so--but finds the most elegant, striking, and often surprising ways of saying it. He is a true artist who uses words, instead of bows or

fingers, to articulate what he has found in the music. He is the composer's and interpreter's unfailing ally, and the listener's devoted friend. His love of music is contagious."--Herbert Blomstedt

"The Symphony may be recommended warmly to music lovers on all levels of interest and expertise.... The writing is wonderfully clear, personal, and specific."--The Washington Post

"Lucid, witty, and composed by a master stylist, Steinberg's essays offer a magnificent blend of biographical detail, accessible musical analysis, subjective reflection, and entertaining whimsy. Whether he is guiding a reader through the intricacies of a Mahler symphony, unearthing new treasures in

a familiar Beethoven score or correlating the strange performance history of Charles Ives's symphonies with his own concert-going life, Steinberg's writing is both authoritative and deeply personal. His immense knowledge of music, and the ease with which he deploys it, have made him the acknowledged

master of this particular form."--San Francisco Chronicle

This text offers a guide on symphonies, with perceptive commentaries on some 118 works by 36 major composers.

Enriched by biographical detail, historical background, musical examples, and many finely nuanced observations, this volume is a treasury of insight and information. Readers will find illuminating discussion of the complete symphonies of Beethoven, Schumann, Brahms, Sibelius, and Mahler, as

well as of the most loved symphonic works of Schubert, Bruckner, Dvorak, Tchaikovsky, Prokofiev, and others. We learn how to listen more sharply for Haydn's humor, to Mozart's singular combination of pathos with grace, and to the evolution of Beethoven's musical ideas in his nine symphonies. This

remarkable range and variety of composers are illuminated by Steinberg's deft, inviting, and intensely personal essays, which give such a vivid portrait of each composer's personality that the reader gets an immediate sense of how the work is a direct expression of the person from whose soul and

brain it has sprung.

Tracing the ways in which composers have dealt with the musical challenges that have engaged them throughout the centuries, Steinberg takes us through the revolutions of expression, sound, and form that have shaped the symphony's remarkable history. Whether beginners or veterans, music lovers will

listen to the symphony with enlivened interest and deeper understanding with Steinberg's masterful guide in hand.

Michael Steinberg is the program annotator of the San Francisco Symphony and the New York Philharmonic and earlier served the Boston Symphony in the same capacity. He has been on the faculty of the Manhattan School of Music and the New England Conservatory, has lectured and taught widely in America

and Europe, and was the music critic for The Boston Globe for twelve years.

Fresh breeze — Hot, still — Wafting — Gale.