The Rest Is Noise: Listening to the Twentieth Century

English language

Published July 10, 2007

ISBN:
978-0-374-24939-7
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4 stars (18 reviews)

2 editions

Review of 'The Rest Is Noise: Listening to the Twentieth Century' on 'Storygraph'

4 stars

Although this is mainly a book where white guys from the twentieth century are concerned, it's a lot more exciting than that.

I'm not from a classical music background, and as such, I don't know much about these composers, and I hardly know anything about musical theory.

Having stated that, I must say that this book really comes alive from being well-written, but first and foremost, it's really well researched; Ross is very passionate about presenting the contents, and there's fire all around. He even made me pay attention during the bits about bebop, of which I don't give a toss.

I learned - in a good and fun way - about these composers and how they opted to not give a flying fawk about rules, regulations and what one SHOULD do, but rather created a post-modern punk ethos and just recreated stuff from zilch. It's very refreshing. And yes, …

Review of 'The Rest Is Noise: Listening to the Twentieth Century' on 'Goodreads'

4 stars

Although this is mainly a book where white guys from the twentieth century are concerned, it's a lot more exciting than that.

I'm not from a classical music background, and as such, I don't know much about these composers, and I hardly know anything about musical theory.

Having stated that, I must say that this book really comes alive from being well-written, but first and foremost, it's really well researched; Ross is very passionate about presenting the contents, and there's fire all around. He even made me pay attention during the bits about bebop, of which I don't give a toss.

I learned - in a good and fun way - about these composers and how they opted to not give a flying fawk about rules, regulations and what one SHOULD do, but rather created a post-modern punk ethos and just recreated stuff from zilch. It's very refreshing. And yes, …

Review of 'The Rest Is Noise: Listening to the Twentieth Century' on 'LibraryThing'

4 stars

Although this is mainly a book where white guys from the twentieth century are concerned, it's a lot more exciting than that.

I'm not from a classical music background, and as such, I don't know much about these composers, and I hardly know anything about musical theory.

Having stated that, I must say that this book really comes alive from being well-written, but first and foremost, it's really well researched; Ross is very passionate about presenting the contents, and there's fire all around. He even made me pay attention during the bits about bebop, of which I don't give a toss.

I learned - in a good and fun way - about these composers and how they opted to not give a flying fawk about rules, regulations and what one SHOULD do, but rather created a post-modern punk ethos and just recreated stuff from zilch. It's very refreshing. And yes, …

Review of 'The Rest Is Noise: Listening to the Twentieth Century' on 'Goodreads'

5 stars

This book is highly recommended if you love music but just never really "got" classical. The fascinating stories of the composers are a gateway to getting hooked on Ross' excellent explanation of musical tropes and new inventions- all of which help you to train your ear for active listening. One of the few books I've ever read that has significantly enriched my life permanently.

Review of 'The Rest Is Noise: Listening to the Twentieth Century' on 'Goodreads'

5 stars

Art is always in dialog with the time of its creation, so this book is looking at 20th century music. But in saying that, you have to understand that it is so-called "classical" music that the author is looking at. That may be a bad term to use, since there is a technical meaning of classical that refers to a specific music of a time (Mozart and Haydn are classical, Mahler definitely is not), so some people use the term "serious" music instead, but I happen to think that the music of John Coltrane is every bit as serious as anything by Stravinsky. But if you decide to pick up this book, it does help to know what the subject matter will be. If you are expecting more than a passing glance at 20th century music like rock'n'roll, you will be very disappointed. Nonetheless, all kinds of music are in …

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