The Musical Human

Reviews / Votes

Entertaining, informative and philosophical ... An essential read * All About History Magazine * Extraordinary range ... All the world and more is here -- Evening Standard * Julian Glover * An ambitious and total history of music -- Charlotte Runcie * Daily Telegraph * Full of delightful nuggets ... sends the reader back to a world of musical examples time and time again * Guardian * Extraordinary ... Ranging from the Geissenkloesterle caves to K-Pop, from the lost music of the Aztecs to the role of song in hunter-gatherer societies, and drawing on a vast array of specialisations, from archaeoacoustics to ornithology, Spitzer utilises a breath-taking variety of sources ... The Musical Human will make you think differently about music, about its place in your life and about its importance to human life tout court -- Mathew Lyons * Literary Review * Bold, compelling and ear-opening -- Michael Prodger * New Statesman * A hugely ambitions work, but never daunting, and there's something thought-provoking on every page ... With scholarship, wit and passion, this book demonstrates that there is truly a soundtrack to human lives -- Catherine Bott, Classic FM A thrilling exploration of what music has meant and means to humankind -- Ian Bostridge Music changed my life. It changes my mood, my thoughts, my feelings and changes the way I move. Now I know why. This book has connected me to not only the language of love but the language of life. If you can just hum, whistle out of tune or shake a leg at a wedding then open the pages of this book and know why! A revelation -- Michael Cashman Blurring the lines between musical theory, anthropology, biology and history, Spitzer posits that music is one of our most defining achievements, fundamental to the human experience -- Rhiannon Thomas * Radio Times * An amazing book, tying together research in archaeology, anthropology, music history, and human origins to form a compelling and exciting account of the many ways music has developed across the world and across time. Michael Spitzer has pulled off the impossible: a Guns, Germs and Steel for music -- Daniel Levitin