Notes on Brahms: 20 Crucial Works

The "Notes on ..." series by distinguished music critic Conrad Wilson illuminates the music of some of history's greatest composers in relation to their private lives. In each volume Wilson selects twenty crucial works of a given composer, discusses these masterpieces with insight and verve, and tells why these particular works are fundamental to understanding the composer.

Wilson's vast musical expertise and succinct, polished prose style permeate these pages. Meant for any general reader interested in music, these guidebooks are ideal for dipping into as well as reading straight through.

The stern beauty of Brahms's last works sometimes causes listeners to forget that Brahms was a man who enjoyed himself. Wilson looks anew at the summer composer inspired by sunshine, who once remarked that the lakeside air was so full of melodies that he had to take care not to trample on them. These melodies today infuse his most memorable works.

Conrad Wilson is a respected music critic, the author of several books, the editor of the revised "Collins Encyclopedia of Music," and a contributor to the authoritative, multivolume "New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians." His lifetime of listening to and writing about music includes sixteen years as program editor of the Edinburgh International Festival.