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Rest Is Noise Listening to the Twentieth Century - Signed Edition
by
Alex Ross
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ISBN13:
9780374249397
ISBN10:
0374249393
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Standard
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Awards
2007 National Book Critics Circle Award Winner for Criticism
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Mitzi
, January 18, 2008
If you are interested in the world of classical music, including those composers not yet dead, then you'll enjoy Mr. Ross' tour de force. Classical music, by the author's definition, did not stop with the death of Beethoven. There are many contemporary/20th Century composers who are creating very listenable music. The problem, according to Ross, is that the very term Classical has frozen the concept in time. This chill has made it difficult if not impossible for contemporary composers to break through into popular consciousness. If you are a fan of mr. Ross' weekly column in the New Yorker, then this is a must read.
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Grady Harp
, December 07, 2007
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A Richly Informative, Engrossing Examination of Twentieth Century Music Alex Ross has the ability and the resources to write about the music of the 20th Century and to establish himself as the creator of the definitive volume with the publication of THE REST IS NOISE: LISTENING TO THE TWENTIETH CENTURY. His depth of knowledge is matched only by his ability to communicate with a writing style that places him in the echelon of our finest biographers. This book is indeed a comprehensive study of the music created in the 20th Century, but it is also a survey of all of the arts and social changes, effects of wars, industrialization, and quirks and idiosyncrasies that surfaced in that recently ended period of history: Ross may call this 'listening' to the 20th century, but is also visualizing and feeling the changes of that fascinating period. Ross opens his survey with a detailed description of the premiere of Richard Strauss' opera SALOME and in doing so he references all of those in attendance (from Mahler to Schoenberg, the last of the great Romantics to the leader of the Modernist innovators) and focuses not only on the chances Strauss took using a libidinous libretto by the infamous Oscar Wilde to the astringent dissonances that surface in this tale of evil and necrophilia. The ballast of that evening is then followed throughout the book, a means of communicating music theory and execution in a manner that is wildly entertaining while simultaneously informative. Ross studies the influence of nationalism in music (the German School, the French School, the British and the American Schools) and then interweaves the particular innovations by showing how each school and each composer was influenced by the simultaneous destruction and reconstruction of the world borders resulting form the wars of that century. He dwells on the pacifists (Benjamin Britten et al) and those trapped by authoritarian regimes (Shostakovich et al), following the great moments as well as the dissonant chances that found audience at times far from the nidus of origin. Ross crosses the 'pond' showing how American music nurtured in the European schools ultimately found grounding in a sound peculiar to this country (Ives, Copland, etc) and allows enough insight as to the influence of jazz to finally satisfy the most critical of readers. Ross, then, accompanies us on the journey from melody to atonality and back, all the while giving us insights into the composers that help us understand the changes in music landscape they induced. The book is long and demanding, but at the same time it is one of the finest 'novels on a music theme' ever written. Highly recommended not only to musicologists, ardent music lovers, and students of the arts, but to the reading public who simply loves history enhanced by brilliant prose. Grady Harp
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andreaburnsworth
, October 23, 2007
Strauss, Stravinsky, Korngold and "What about" Schrecker, Wagner, The Beatles, Phillip Glass, Steve Reich, Ligeti, Gershwin, Chuck Berry, Brian Eno, David Bowie, The Grateful Dead, Jefferson Airplane, Frank Zappa and so many more composers all influencing, no, all *richocheting* influences back and forth on each other in an uniquely and delightfully, yet plenty scholarly, Alex Rossian romp through the space-time continuum known as 20th century music.
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Product Details
ISBN:
9780374249397
Binding:
Hardcover
Publication date:
10/01/2007
Publisher:
FARRAR STRAUS & GIROUX
Pages:
624
Copyright Year:
2007
UPC Code:
2800374249399
Author:
Alex Ross
Subject:
Music
Subject:
Criticism
Subject:
History and criticism
Subject:
20th century
Subject:
History
Subject:
Music -- 20th century -- History and criticism.
$16.95
Used Hardcover
Ships in 1 to 3 days
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1
Burnside
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Used, Trade Paperback, $17.95
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