For virtually all of our lives, we are surrounded by music. From lullabies to radio to the praises sung in houses of worship, we encounter music at home and in the street, during work and in our leisure time, and not infrequently at birth and death. But what is music, and what does it mean to humans? How do we process it, and how do we create it?Musician Leo Samama discusses these and many other questions while shaping a vibrant picture of music's importance in human lives both past and present. What is remarkable is that music is recognised almost universally as a type of language that we can use to wordlessly communicate. We can hardly shut ourselves off from music, and considering its primal role in our lives, it comes as no surprise that few would ever want to. Able to transverse borders and appeal to the most disparate of individuals, music is both a tool and a gift, and as Samama shows, a unifying thread running throughout the cultural history of mankind.
- Cover
- Table of Contents
- 1. By way of a foreword
- Part A
- 2. Looking over Franz Schubert’s shoulder
- 3. What is music?
- 4. Where does music come from?
- 5. Music as imitation
- 6. Music as language
- Part B
- 7. Bach: Prelude in C major
- 8. Music and communication
- 9. Music as notation
- 10. Music as a temporal art
- 11. Music and emotion
- 12. On depth and elevation
- Part C
- 13. Beethoven: the Fifth
- 14. Classical music
- 15. Hearing, listening and remembering
- 16. On composing
- Part D
- 17. Dvořák and the Bohemian overcoat
- 18. A memorable moment
- 19. The conductor
- 20. The performing artist
- Part E
- 21. Lully: the King is dancing
- 22. As the ancients sang
- 23. The history of the history of music
- 24. By way of an epilogue: music now
- Further Reading
- Index of names
- About the author
Text
Audio
Adobe DRM
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