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The scandal over modern music has not died down. While modern paintings by Picasso and Pollock sell for a hundred million or more, shocking musical works from Stravinsky's Rite of Spring onward still send ripples of unease through audiences; yet the influence of modern sound can be felt everywhere. Alex Ross, music critic for the New Yorker, shows how modern music has pervaded every corner of twentieth-century life.
The Rest Is Noise takes the listener inside the labyrinth of modern sound, from turn-of-the-century Vienna to bohemian Paris, from Hitler's Germany and Stalin's Russia to downtown New York in the sixties and seventies. We meet the maverick personalities who have defied the classical past, and we follow the rise of mass culture and mass politics on this sweeping tour of twentieth-century history as told through its music.
The scandal over modern music has not died down. While modern paintings by Picasso and Pollock sell for a hundred million or more, shocking musical works from Stravinsky's Rite of Spring onward still send ripples of unease through audiences; yet the influence of modern sound can be felt everywhere. Alex Ross, music critic for the New Yorker, shows how modern music has pervaded every corner of twentieth-century life.
The Rest Is Noise takes the listener inside the labyrinth of modern sound, from turn-of-the-century Vienna to bohemian Paris, from Hitler's Germany and Stalin's Russia to downtown New York in the sixties and seventies. We meet the maverick personalities who have defied the classical past, and we follow the rise of mass culture and mass politics on this sweeping tour of twentieth-century history as told through its music.
Due to publisher restrictions the library cannot purchase additional copies of this title, and we apologize if there is a long waiting list. Be sure to check for other copies, because there may be other editions available.
Due to publisher restrictions the library cannot purchase additional copies of this title, and we apologize if there is a long waiting list. Be sure to check for other copies, because there may be other editions available.
Alex Ross, music critic for the New Yorker, is the recipient of numerous awards for his work, including two ASCAP Deems Taylor Awards for music criticism. In 2008 he was a recipient of a MacArthur Foundation fellowship, given for achievements in creativity and potential for making important future cultural contributions.
Reviews-
Twentieth-century classical music can be intimidating and alienating-- indeed, some composers intended it to be exactly that. Neither of these adjectives applies to THE REST IS NOISE, by longtime NEW YORKER music critic Alex Ross. This history of the century as seen--or heard--through its music is lucid and unpretentious. It begins in fin-de-sicle Vienna, moves through fascinating chapters on music's place in the regimes of Stalin and Hitler, and continues right up to the present day. At 23 hours, this is a long listen, and some sections inevitably drag. But Grover Gardner's delivery is as welcoming as Ross's writing, and the performance as a whole is a masterwork. D.B. (c) AudioFile 2008, Portland, Maine
Starred review from July 23, 2007 Ross, the classical music critic for the New Yorker , leads a whirlwind tour from the Viennese premiere of Richard Strauss's Salome in 1906 to minimalist Steve Reich's downtown Manhattan apartment. The wide-ranging historical material is organized in thematic essays grounded in personalities and places, in a disarmingly comprehensive style reminiscent of historian Otto Friedrich. Thus, composers who led dramatic lives—such as Shostakovich's struggles under the Soviet regime—make for gripping reading, but Ross treats each composer with equal gravitas. The real strength of this study, however, lies in his detailed musical analysis, teasing out—in precise but readily accessible language—the notes that link Leonard Bernstein's West Side Story to Arnold Schoenberg's avant-garde compositions or hint at a connection between Sibelius and John Coltrane. Among the many notable passages, a close reading of Benjamin Britten's opera Peter Grimes stands out for its masterful blend of artistic and biographical insight. Readers new to classical music will quickly seek out the recordings Ross recommends, especially the works by less prominent composers, and even avid fans will find themselves hearing familiar favorites with new ears.
Publishers Weekly (starred review)
[G]ripping reading…[a] masterful blend of artistic and biographical insight. Readers new to classical music will quickly seek out the recordings Ross recommends…even avid fans will find themselves hearing familiar favorites with new ears.
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Twentieth-century classical music can be intimidating and alienating-- indeed, some composers intended it to be exactly that. Neither of these adjectives applies to THE REST IS NOISE, by longtime NEW YORKER music critic Alex Ross. This history of the century as seen--or heard--through its music is lucid and unpretentious. It begins in fin-de-sicle Vienna, moves through fascinating chapters on music's place in the regimes of Stalin and Hitler, and continues right up to the present day. At 23 hours, this is a long listen, and some sections inevitably drag. But Grover Gardner's delivery is as welcoming as Ross's writing, and the performance as a whole is a masterwork. D.B. (c) AudioFile 2008, Portland, Maine
