The Rest Is Noise: Listening to the Twentieth Century

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, the next generation of composers just turns everything on its head once again.

All in all: it's a long book. But don't be frightened of it. There's a web site - www.therestisnoise.com/2007/01/book-audiofiles.html - that complements the book very well, and Ross' tips at the end of the book could be great.

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, the next generation of composers just turns everything on its head once again.

All in all: it's a long book. But don't be frightened of it. There's a web site - www.therestisnoise.com/2007/01/book-audiofiles.html - that complements the book very well, and Ross' tips at the end of the book could be great.

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, the next generation of composers just turns everything on its head once again.

All in all: it's a long book. But don't be frightened of it. There's a web site - www.therestisnoise.com/2007/01/book-audiofiles.html - that complements the book very well, and Ross' tips at the end of the book could be great.

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 dialog with their times, so you can draw relationships if you look closely. For example, the book mentions that Stockhausen was an influence on The Beatles, and appears on the cover of Sgt. Pepper's as a result.

20th Century music is profoundly influenced by 2 World Wars, the atomic bomb, genocide, Fascism, and Communism. One major result is the move away from tonality, which has proceeded to the point that by the 1980s it had become almost impossible to secure any academic position if you were not a 12-tone composer. But this also meant a move away from popular acceptance, since 12-tone compositions are almost by definition impossible to listen to for the average listener. But if you are curious about why composers did what they did, what their aim was, and how they lived in this dialog with their time, this is an excellent book.

BTW, I listened to this book as an audiobook purchased from eMusic.com. They offer audiobooks in straight MP3 format without any DRM, which is why I like them.