The Story of Music

Description

Published to accompany Howard Goodall's major new BBC TV series, this is an accessible history for all music lovers *** Accompanies BBC2's major new TV series and The Story of Music in 50 Pieces on Radio 3 *** In his dynamic tour through 40,000 years of music, from prehistoric instruments to modern-day pop, Howard Goodall leads us through the story of music as it happened, idea by idea, so that each musical innovation - harmony, notation, sung theatre, the orchestra, dance music, recording, broadcasting - strikes us with its original force. He focuses on what changed when and why, picking out the discoveries that revolutionised man-made sound and bringing to life musical visionaries from the little-known Perotin to the colossus of Wagner. Along the way, he also gives refreshingly clear descriptions of what music is and how it works- what scales are all about, why some chords sound discordant and what all post-war pop songs have in common.

HOWARD GOODALL is an Emmy, BRIT and BAFTA award-winning composer of choral music (Eternal Light- A Requiem), stage musicals (The Hired Man, Love Story), film and TV scores - among them The Vicar of Dibley, Q.I., Red Dwarf, Blackadder and Into the Storm. He was awarded the CBE in 2011 for service to music education.

A lively zip through some 45 milennia -- Christopher Hart * Sunday Times * Goodall is an engaging and erudite guide and this work is both accessible and illuminating -- Caroline Jowett * Daily Express * Great length but still leavened with lively wit -- Sameer Rahim * Telegraph * [Goodall] knows his stuff, and tells it well -- Nicholas Lezard * Guardian * Highly knowledgeable, and a brilliant communicator, Goodall has an infectious enthusiasm and is genuinely respectful of all forms of music * Good Book Guide *