A sweeping musical history that goes from the salons of pre-war Vienna to Velvet Underground shows in the sixties. In The Rest is Noise, Alex Ross, music critic of the New Yorker, gives us a riveting tour of the wild landscape of twentieth-century classical music: portraits of individuals, cultures, and nations reveal the predicament of the composer in a noisy, chaotic century. Taking as his starting point a production of Richard Strauss's Salome, conducted by the composer on 16 May 1906 with Puccini, Schoenberg, Berg and Adolf Hitler seated in the stalls, Ross suggests how this evening can be considered the century's musical watershed rather the riotous premiere of Stravinsky's Rite of Spring seven years later. Ross goes on to explore the mythology of modernism, Sibelius and the music of small countries, Kurt Weill, the music of the Third Reich, Britten, Boulez and the post-war avant-garde, and interactions between minimalist composers and rock bands in the sixties and seventies. / A breath-taking work -- music critic, Alex Ross, journeys back to the twentieth century and explores the individuals, cultures and nations who all contributed to the classical music produced during this time. / A book for serious music lovers -- however 'The Rest is Noise' is also the story of the twentieth century told through through music and will therefore also appeal to a much wider audience. From 'Salome' and Stravinsky's 'Rite of Spring' to music of The Third Reich and Bob Dylan -- Alex Ross examines a wide range of music to provide an insightful, in-depth and fascinating account. / Guaranteed review and feature coverage on publication.
Alex Ross is music critic of The New Yorker magazine. He was born in Washington, DC and studied English literature and music at Harvard College. He first wrote music critcism for The New Rebuplic and for Fanfare. He has also written articles on film and television for the Times Sunday Arts and Leisure section. He has also contributed to Lingua Franca, Transition, BBC Music Magazine, Slate, Feed, Spin, and the forthcoming new edition of the Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians.
'Alex Ross's incredibly nourishing book will rekindle anyone's fire for music.' Bjork 'One of the best living writer's about rock .' Steven Poole, Guardian 'Picks for 2008' 'A superb and inclusive account by a champion of modern music.' Sunday Times 'Print is silent. Which is why the task of writing about music is so difficult. I should therefore probably explain that the noise you now ought to be hearing is the sound of my hands as they stop typing and start applauding this vital, engaging, happily polyphonic book.' Peter Conrad, Observer 'Alex Ross is music critic for The New Yorker, so you can be sure that The Rest is Noise is going to be stylish and meticulously written. It is this but more too: an accessible, illuminating narrative of classical music in the 20th century. For anyone interested in classical music, this is pretty much required reading.' Metro, Non Fiction of the Week, 5 stars 'This is a long book and a slow read: slow not because it is especially difficult, but because it is full of material you really need to savour. It is the superb selection of image and anecdote that makes this book work so well. Best of all are the moments when Ross really strikes you dumb with wonder, moments when the author's passion for the supreme significance of music raises his erudition to a new level. Warm, joyful and unfailingly adroit in his evocation of music in words -- Ross, with this book, establishes himself as the supreme champion of modern music. Read this and listen.' Sunday Times 'Ross will whisk you on to the fast--moving train that was 20th--century music; he will fascinate, challenge and delight you, but above all he will never, ever patronise you.' Stephen Pritchard, Observer Music Monthly 'Stunning narrative. Visionary music critic Alex Ross comes closer than anyone to describing the spellbinding sensations music provokes.' Blair Tindall, Financial Times 'Alex Ross, music critic at the New Yorker, has confronted this colossal task with all the necessary qualities and produced a book that makes some sense of the most convoluted musical century of human history. Ross takes the extremes, the wild diversity and contradictions as manifest realities to be understood through their relationships, rather than antagonisms that must cancel each other out.' The Wire 'Alex Ross has produced an introduction to twentieth-century music that is also an absorbing story of personalities and events that is also a history of modern cultural forms and styles that is also a study of social, political, and technological change. The Rest Is Noise is cultural history the way cultural history should be written: a single strong narrative operating on many levels at once. What more do you want from a book? That it be intelligently, artfully, and lucidly written? It's those things, too.' Louis Menand, author of The Metaphysical Club 'He writes with unfailing grace and clarity for a non-specialist audience and he alludes without pretension or glibness to a wide range of aesthetic, social and political contexts. He is enthusiastic without being pushy or naive and his tastes are both wide and discriminating. This book is, in sum, a remarkable achievement, quite outstripping comparable surveys by the likes of Paul Griffiths, H.H. Stuckenschmidt and Wilfred Mellers. A highly enjoyable book of impressive scholarship and critical intelligence that every music lover should read.' Rupert Christiansen, Spectator
'Alex Ross's incredibly nourishing book will rekindle anyone's fire for music.' Bjork 'One of the best living writer's about rock .' Steven Poole, Guardian 'Picks for 2008' 'A superb and inclusive account by a champion of modern music.' Sunday Times 'Print is silent. Which is why the task of writing about music is so difficult. I should therefore probably explain that the noise you now ought to be hearing is the sound of my hands as they stop typing and start applauding this vital, engaging, happily polyphonic book.' Peter Conrad, Observer 'Alex Ross is music critic for The New Yorker, so you can be sure that The Rest is Noise is going to be stylish and meticulously written. It is this but more too: an accessible, illuminating narrative of classical music in the 20th century. For anyone interested in classical music, this is pretty much required reading.' Metro, Non Fiction of the Week, 5 stars 'This is a long book and a slow read: slow not because it is especially difficult, but because it is full of material you really need to savour. It is the superb selection of image and anecdote that makes this book work so well. Best of all are the moments when Ross really strikes you dumb with wonder, moments when the author's passion for the supreme significance of music raises his erudition to a new level. Warm, joyful and unfailingly adroit in his evocation of music in words -- Ross, with this book, establishes himself as the supreme champion of modern music. Read this and listen.' Sunday Times 'Ross will whisk you on to the fast--moving train that was 20th--century music; he will fascinate, challenge and delight you, but above all he will never, ever patronise you.' Stephen Pritchard, Observer Music Monthly 'Stunning narrative. Visionary music critic Alex Ross comes closer than anyone to describing the spellbinding sensations music provokes.' Blair Tindall, Financial Times 'Alex Ross, music critic at the New Yorker, has confronted this colossal task with all the necessary qualities and produced a book that makes some sense of the most convoluted musical century of human history. Ross takes the extremes, the wild diversity and contradictions as manifest realities to be understood through their relationships, rather than antagonisms that must cancel each other out.' The Wire 'Alex Ross has produced an introduction to twentieth-century music that is also an absorbing story of personalities and events that is also a history of modern cultural forms and styles that is also a study of social, political, and technological change. The Rest Is Noise is cultural history the way cultural history should be written: a single strong narrative operating on many levels at once. What more do you want from a book? That it be intelligently, artfully, and lucidly written? It's those things, too.' Louis Menand, author of The Metaphysical Club 'He writes with unfailing grace and clarity for a non-specialist audience and he alludes without pretension or glibness to a wide range of aesthetic, social and political contexts. He is enthusiastic without being pushy or naive and his tastes are both wide and discriminating. This book is, in sum, a remarkable achievement, quite outstripping comparable surveys by the likes of Paul Griffiths, H.H. Stuckenschmidt and Wilfred Mellers. A highly enjoyable book of impressive scholarship and critical intelligence that every music lover should read.' Rupert Christiansen, Spectator
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. (Oct.) Copyright 2007 Reed Business Information.
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