The Concert Companion: A Comprehensive Guide to Symphonic Music

A comprehensive guide to symphonic music. In one volume, the largest most informative collection of concert notes ever made! An indispensable guide and companion for those who appreciate good music. Not only will you find little-known anecdotes and dramatic details of composers' lives, but you will learn how a masterwork was first conceived in the composer's mind, the problems that beset him, what he was urgently trying to express, how his composition was first received in concert form, and how it is now generally regarded by music critics. It covers standard symphonic music--pieces frequently performed by the major symphony orchestras, and includes lesser known works which are important because of their significance. One hundred and sixty-two composers-- from Handel and Bach to Shostakovich and Bernstein-- are presented alphabetically, and concise interpretations and descriptions are given more than 500 compositions, grouped by symphony, concerto, overture, suite, etc. Instrumentation, scores, and themes are analyzed so you learn the human side of the composer's creative process, and are able to find what you want to know technically about the music. Because you learn, often in the composer's own words, exactly what he was trying to do in his music, musical scores suddenly become more alive, more colorful and exciting, and stimulate the mind to a new kind of listening. Consequently, the music-- whether you hear it over the radio, by phonograph, or in a concert hall-- becomes far more dramatic and satisfying than it ever was before. The Concert Companion is a book than can used for years-- that will never be exhausted. It will become an indispensable guide to be referred to before attending a concert, while listening to a broadcast, or when buying music. As you use the book, you will discover how the drama and romance and tragedy in the lives of the composers are often echoed in their music.