Language of the Spirit
An Introduction to Classical Music
Published on 11. April 2017
336 pages
978-0-465-09755-5 (ISBN)
Description
A preeminent composer, music scholar, and biographer presents an engaging and accessible introduction to classical music
For many of us, classical music is something serious -- something we study in school, something played by cultivated musicians at fancy gatherings. In Language of the Spirit, renowned music scholar Jan Swafford argues that we have it all wrong: classical music has something for everyone and is accessible to all. Ranging from Gregorian chant to Handel's Messiah, from Vivaldi's The Four Seasons to the postmodern work of Philip Glass, Swafford is an affable and expert guide to the genre. He traces the history of Western music, introduces readers to the most important composers and compositions, and explains the underlying structure and logic of their music.
Language of the Spirit is essential reading for anyone who has ever wished to know more about this sublime art.
For many of us, classical music is something serious -- something we study in school, something played by cultivated musicians at fancy gatherings. In Language of the Spirit, renowned music scholar Jan Swafford argues that we have it all wrong: classical music has something for everyone and is accessible to all. Ranging from Gregorian chant to Handel's Messiah, from Vivaldi's The Four Seasons to the postmodern work of Philip Glass, Swafford is an affable and expert guide to the genre. He traces the history of Western music, introduces readers to the most important composers and compositions, and explains the underlying structure and logic of their music.
Language of the Spirit is essential reading for anyone who has ever wished to know more about this sublime art.
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04/2017
Basic Civitas Books
€38.50
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Person
Jan Swafford is a preeminent composer and music scholar and the author of bestselling The Vintage Guide to Classical Music. A regular contributor to Slate, the Guardian, and the Boston Globe and a former professor of composition at the Boston Conservatory, Swafford lives in Medford, Massachusetts.
Content
- Intro
- Title Page
- Copyright
- Table of Contents
- Introduction
- PART I: MUSIC FROM THE BEGINNING
- Chapter 1: Through the Middle Ages (up to 1400)
- Chapter 2: The Renaissance (ca. 1400-1600)
- PART II: BAROQUE
- Chapter 3: The Baroque Period (ca. 1600-1750)
- Chapter 4: Claudio Monteverdi (1567-1643)
- Chapter 5: Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750)
- Chapter 6: George Frideric Handel (1685-1759)
- Chapter 7: Further Baroque Listening
- PART III: CLASSICAL
- Chapter 8: The Classical Period (ca. 1750-1830)
- Chapter 9: Joseph Haydn (1732-1809)
- Chapter 10: Wolfgang Amadé Mozart (1756-1791)
- Chapter 11: Ludwig van Beethoven (1770-1827)
- PART IV: ROMANTIC
- Chapter 12: The Romantic Period (ca. 1830-1900)
- Chapter 13: Franz Schubert (1797-1828)
- Chapter 14: Hector Berlioz (1803-1869)
- Chapter 15: Robert Schumann (1810-1856)
- Chapter 16: Frédéric Chopin (1810-1849)
- Chapter 17: Richard Wagner (1813-1883)
- Chapter 18: Franz Liszt (1811-1886)
- Chapter 19: Johannes Brahms (1833-1897)
- Chapter 20: Pyotr Ilich Tchaikovsky (1840-1893)
- Chapter 21: Antonín Dvorák (1841-1904)
- Chapter 22: Gustav Mahler (1860-1911)
- Chapter 23: Further Romantic Listening
- PART V: MODERNISM AND BEYOND
- Chapter 24: The 20th and 21st Centuries (ca. 1900-present)
- Chapter 25: Claude Debussy (1862-1918)
- Chapter 26: Richard Strauss (1864-1949)
- Chapter 27: Maurice Ravel (1875-1937)
- Chapter 28: Igor Stravinsky (1882-1971)
- Chapter 29: Arnold Schoenberg (1874-1951)
- Chapter 30: Charles Ives (1874-1954)
- Chapter 31: Béla Bartók (1881-1945)
- Chapter 32: Dmitry Shostakovich (1906-1975)
- Chapter 33: Benjamin Britten (1913-1976)
- Chapter 34: Aaron Copland (1900-1990)
- Chapter 35: György Ligeti (1923-2006)
- Chapter 36: Further Modernist Listening
- Conclusions
- About the Author
- More Advance Praise for "Language of the Spirit
- Suggested Further Reading
- Index
