The Story of Music
OCLC 802294392 | | |
Website | Playlists for The Story of Music |
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The Story of Music is a work of nonfiction by English composer and broadcaster
Background
Television series
The Story of Music is associated with a six-episode television series, Howard Goodall's Story of Music, produced by
Publication history
The book was first published in 2013 under the
Contents
The book is organised on a similar scheme to the television series, based on time periods but with slightly different divisions into eight chapters plus the introduction. "The Age of Discovery, 40,000 BC–AD 1450" starts with the earliest evidence for musical instruments, and goes on to cover the invention of modern musical notation[2] by Guido of Arezzo in around 1000 AD. The chapter also reviews the earliest named composers including Hildegard of Bingen and Pérotin. "The Age of Penitence, 1450–1650" covers the development of improved musical instruments and the introduction of opera, as well as composers including Josquin, Dowland and Monteverdi.[2]
"The Age of Invention, 1650–1750" focuses on J. S. Bach and the invention of the equal temperament tuning system[2] and the piano. It also reviews other composers of the era, including Lully, Corelli, Biber, Vivaldi and Handel. "The Age of Elegance and Sentiment, 1750–1850" surveys the classical era, focusing on Haydn and Mozart. It then goes on to cover the early Romantic era, focusing on Beethoven and also reviewing Schubert, Mendelssohn, Field, Schumann and Chopin. The later Romantic era is covered in "The Age of Tragedy, 1850–1890", with composers including Berlioz, Verdi, Liszt, Dvořák and Wagner.[2]
"The Age of Rebellion, 1890–1918" opens by reviewing Modernist composers broadly within the classical tradition including Satie, Mahler, Schoenberg, Richard Strauss, Mussorgsky, Debussy and Stravinsky. It then introduces popular music including jazz and Blues.[2] The chapter also covers the invention of recording technology. The final pair of chapters, "The Popular Age I, 1918–1945" and "The Popular Age II, 1945–2012", open with the invention of radio broadcasting, and focus on the growth of pop music and its interaction with classical forms.[2][12]
The book is illustrated with 38 photographs, mainly in colour, as well as occasional diagrams and musical quotations interspersed throughout the text. There is a 17-page index. A playlist is appended, listing a few key pieces of music for each chapter; these are also available for download via Spotify on Goodall's website.[13] There are 2 pages of books suggested for further reading.
Critical reception
Reviews of the book in British newspapers were generally broadly positive.
The book's unearthing of numerous unusual facts is foregrounded in several reviews: Lezard mentions "surprising and fascinating factoids"[4] and Hart calls them "entertaining ClassicFM-style snippets". Several reviewers comment on the "thought-provoking and sobering"[4] notion on the book's opening page that, until the invention of recording in the latter part of the 19th century, a music lover would only ever hear their favourite works a handful of times.[4][5][7] Multiple reviews highlight Goodall's habit of unexpectedly referencing modern pop culture;[4][7][8][12] East states that the "populism... grate[s] at times".[7] Hewett calls attention to the fact that the last two chapters covering the 20th century focus on pop music;[12] Kelly considers these chapters to raise "provocative" issues.[2]
Goodall's treatment of the atonal movement and especially its exponent Schoenberg also draws criticism from several reviewers. Lezard calls attention to Goodall's dismissive treatment of both atonality and serialism, criticising the work as falling within what he terms the "grand British tradition of near-philistinism";[4] Hewett describes the material on Schoenberg as "wrong-headed" and a "serious blot" on the work as a whole.[12] Kelly describes the coverage of Schoenberg as "intemperate", and also criticises Goodall's dismissal of Wagner.[2] Hart, however, agrees with Goodall's assessment of the atonal movement.[8]
See also
- The Rest Is Noise: Listening to the Twentieth Century, a 2007 book by Alex Ross
References
- ^ Palmer 2015, p. 209
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Stuart Kelly (13 January 2013), "Book review: The Story Of Music - Howard Goodall", The Scotsman, retrieved 12 April 2018
- S2CID 54074214
- ^ a b c d e f g h Nicholas Lezard (22 October 2013), "The Story of Music by Howard Goodall – review", The Guardian, retrieved 15 February 2019
- ^ a b c "Story time: Howard Goodall's The Story of Music", Classical Music, 16 December 2012, retrieved 15 February 2019
- ^ Palmer 2015, p. 213
- ^ a b c d e Ben East (6 October 2013), "The Story of Music by Howard Goodall – review", The Observer, retrieved 15 February 2019
- ^ a b c d e Christopher Hart (13 January 2013), "Tuned in and turned on" (PDF), The Sunday Times, retrieved 15 February 2019
- ^ a b Howard Goodall's Story of Music, BBC, retrieved 12 April 2018
- ^ a b c Jason Deans, Imogen Tilden (12 December 2012), "Blackadder composer to present music history series", The Guardian, retrieved 16 May 2018
- ^ The Story of Music: Howard Goodall, Penguin, retrieved 17 February 2019
- ^ a b c d e f Ivan Hewett (8 January 2013), "The Story of Music by Howard Goodall: review", The Daily Telegraph, retrieved 15 February 2019
- ^ "Playlists for The Story of Music", Howard Goodall's website, retrieved 17 May 2018
- ^ Liz Thomson (25 January 2013), "The Story of Music, By Howard Goodall", The Independent, archived from the original on 2022-06-18, retrieved 15 February 2019
- Sources
- Palmer, Andrew (2015), Encounters with British Composers, Boydell & Brewer, ISBN 978-1783270705