The Musical Human
A History of Life on Earth - a BBC Radio 4 'Book of the Week'
1st Edition
Published on 1. April 2021
480 pages
978-1-5266-0274-9 (ISBN)
Description
A RADIO 4 BOOK OF THE WEEK
'Full of delightful nuggets' Guardian online
'Entertaining, informative and philosphical ... An essential read' All About History
'Extraordinary range ... All the world and more is here' Evening Standard
165 million years ago saw the birth of rhythm.
66 million years ago came the first melody.
40 thousand years ago Homo sapiens created the first musical instrument.
Today music fills our lives. How we have created, performed and listened to music throughout history has defined what our species is and how we understand who we are. Yet it is an overlooked part of our origin story.
The Musical Human takes us on an exhilarating journey across the ages - from Bach to BTS and back - to explore the vibrant relationship between music and the human species. With insights from a wealth of disciplines, world-leading musicologist Michael Spitzer renders a global history of music on the widest possible canvas, from global history to our everyday lives, from insects to apes, humans to artificial intelligence.
'Michael Spitzer has pulled off the impossible: a Guns, Germs and Steel for music' Daniel Levitin
'A thrilling exploration of what music has meant and means to humankind' Ian Bostridge
'Full of delightful nuggets' Guardian online
'Entertaining, informative and philosphical ... An essential read' All About History
'Extraordinary range ... All the world and more is here' Evening Standard
165 million years ago saw the birth of rhythm.
66 million years ago came the first melody.
40 thousand years ago Homo sapiens created the first musical instrument.
Today music fills our lives. How we have created, performed and listened to music throughout history has defined what our species is and how we understand who we are. Yet it is an overlooked part of our origin story.
The Musical Human takes us on an exhilarating journey across the ages - from Bach to BTS and back - to explore the vibrant relationship between music and the human species. With insights from a wealth of disciplines, world-leading musicologist Michael Spitzer renders a global history of music on the widest possible canvas, from global history to our everyday lives, from insects to apes, humans to artificial intelligence.
'Michael Spitzer has pulled off the impossible: a Guns, Germs and Steel for music' Daniel Levitin
'A thrilling exploration of what music has meant and means to humankind' Ian Bostridge
More details
Edition
1. Auflage
Language
English
Place of publication
London
United Kingdom
ISBN-13
978-1-5266-0274-9 (9781526602749)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Other editions
Additional editions
Book
04/2022
Bloomsbury Publishing PLC
€19.00
Shipment within 10-20 days
Book
04/2021
Bloomsbury Publishing PLC
€57.20
Article exhausted; check different version
Person
Michael Spitzer is Professor of Music at the University of Liverpool. Previously he taught for twenty years at Durham University. An accomplished pianist, Spitzer is a world-leading authority on Beethoven, but he also writes widely on the philosophy and psychology of music. He lives just off Penny Lane with his wife and two daughters.
Content
- Cover
- Praise
- Author biography
- Title
- Copyright
- Dedications
- Contents
- Part One Life
- Chapter 1 Voyager
- Chapter 2 Cradle and All
- Chapter 3 The Soundtrack of Our Lives
- Chapter 4 Imaginary Landscapes, Invisible Cities
- Part Two History
- Chapter 5 Ice, Sand, Savannah and Forest
- Chapter 6 The Tuning of the West
- Chapter 7 Superpowers
- Chapter 8 Endgames
- Part Three Evolution
- Chapter 9 Animal
- Chapter 10 Human
- Chapter 11 Machine
- Chapter 12 Eleven Lessons on Music's Nature
- Notes
- Index
