The rest is noise

Paperback, 684 pages

English language

Published Jan. 5, 2008 by Picador.

ISBN:: 978-0-312-42771-9
OCLC Number:: 213300950

(1 review)

The scandal over modern music has not died--while paintings by Picasso and Pollock sell for millions of dollars, works from Stravinsky's Rite of Spring onward still send ripples of unease through audiences. Yet the influence of modern music can be felt everywhere. Avant-garde sounds populate the soundtracks of Hollywood thrillers. Minimalist music has had a huge effect on rock, pop, and dance music from the Velvet Underground onward. Music critic Alex Ross shines a bright light on this secret world, taking us from Vienna before the First World War to Paris in the twenties, from Hitler's Germany and Stalin's Russia to New York in the sixties and seventies. We follow the rise of mass culture and mass politics, of new technologies, of hot and cold wars, of experiments, revolutions, and riots. The end result is not so much a history of twentieth-century music as a history of the twentieth century …

The scandal over modern music has not died--while paintings by Picasso and Pollock sell for millions of dollars, works from Stravinsky's Rite of Spring onward still send ripples of unease through audiences. Yet the influence of modern music can be felt everywhere. Avant-garde sounds populate the soundtracks of Hollywood thrillers. Minimalist music has had a huge effect on rock, pop, and dance music from the Velvet Underground onward. Music critic Alex Ross shines a bright light on this secret world, taking us from Vienna before the First World War to Paris in the twenties, from Hitler's Germany and Stalin's Russia to New York in the sixties and seventies. We follow the rise of mass culture and mass politics, of new technologies, of hot and cold wars, of experiments, revolutions, and riots. The end result is not so much a history of twentieth-century music as a history of the twentieth century through its music.--From publisher description.

1 edition

AudioProcessingDemogorgon reviewed The rest is noise by Alex Ross

Review of 'The rest is noise' on 'GoodReads'

5 stars

I sometimes wonder if this is my favorite nonfiction book ever merely because it lines up with my niche interests, and because I read it at the exact perfect moment in my life. Regardless, I've yet to find a book that covers this history (and not just music history) in quite this fashion. Ross manages to succinctly summarize epochs, personalities, and most importantly the impact music had on culture, and the impact that changing times had on music. This is the book that introduced me to so many fascinating topics: art done under modern totalitarianism, Shostakovich, Mahler and Strauss, Anna Ahkmatova, the Weimar Republic, Brecht & Weil, John Luther Adams, Debussy and Satie...and also introduced the gallows humor aside that I on occasion use: 'he acquiesced to death with a brick to the skull'.

I think what I appreciate most is the tone throughout the book: an unapologetically queer, holistically …

I sometimes wonder if this is my favorite nonfiction book ever merely because it lines up with my niche interests, and because I read it at the exact perfect moment in my life. Regardless, I've yet to find a book that covers this history (and not just music history) in quite this fashion. Ross manages to succinctly summarize epochs, personalities, and most importantly the impact music had on culture, and the impact that changing times had on music. This is the book that introduced me to so many fascinating topics: art done under modern totalitarianism, Shostakovich, Mahler and Strauss, Anna Ahkmatova, the Weimar Republic, Brecht & Weil, John Luther Adams, Debussy and Satie...and also introduced the gallows humor aside that I on occasion use: 'he acquiesced to death with a brick to the skull'.

I think what I appreciate most is the tone throughout the book: an unapologetically queer, holistically informed, and empathetic though slightly arch look at genuine artists in their contexts. I wouldn't be who I am without the music I found and the knowledge I gained from this book, and I'll always be grateful.

Subjects

History and criticism
Music