Product Description

An extraordinary gifted musician and writer, Charles Rosen is a peerless commentator on the history and performance of music. This book brings together many of the essays that have established him as one of the most influential and eloquent voices in the field of music in our time. These essays cover a broad range of musical forms, historical periods, and issues - from Bach through Brahms to Carter and Schoenberg, from contrapuntal keyboard music to opera, from performance practices to music history as a discipline. They revisit Rosen's favourite subjects and pursue some less familiar paths. They court controversy (with strong opinions about performance on historical instruments, the so-called new musicology, and he alleged "death" of classical music) and offer enlightenment on subjects as diverse as music dictionaries and the aesthetics of stage fright. All are unified by Rosen's abiding concerns and incomparable style. This book should be of interest to all music lovers.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #1283587 in Books
• Published on: 2001-10-02
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 336 pages

Review
"[A] stimulating read... Over the course of 300 pages, Rosen addresses such disparate subjects as stage fright, the keyboard music of Bach and Handel, the libretto for 'Le Nozze di Figaro'... and the 'Double Concerto' (1961) by the American composer Elliott Carter." -Tim Page, Washington Post Book World; "This occasional book... is written for performers and non-performers alike, for literate newcomers as well as for seasoned specialists, and its author is a generous sharer of his insights. No one writing about music today has wiser things to say about the passage from an initial difficulty in the act of listening to an eventual sense of enjoyment and illumination." -Malcolm Bowie, Times Literary Supplement

About the Author
Charles Rosen is a pianist and Professor Emeritus of Music and Social Thought at the University of Chicago. In addition to The Classical Style, which won the National Book Award, he has written several other books.