500-plus years of music have inspired a whole lot of words.
From epic histories to composer biographies to musical minutiae, many writers have found a treasure trove of subjects in the world of classical music.
Aside from listening to the music itself, exploring that treasure trove is one of the best ways to gain a deeper understanding of this classical music world. And here at WCRB, we’re constantly seeking that deeper understanding. From new releases to old favorites, here are some books about classical music we wholeheartedly recommend, for your personal library, or, just maybe, as a gift for someone else.
If there is anyone on the CRB staff that could give you a great book recommendation, it’s midday host Edyn-Mae Stevenson, who seemingly has a new book in her hands every other day.
Edyn-Mae recommends a book featuring two Japanese giants of the arts: writer Haruki Murakami and conductor Seiji Ozawa. The book, Murakami’s Absolutely on Music: Conversations with Seiji Ozawa, Edyn-Mae says, is “pretty much exactly what it says on the tin – two friends who are masters of their respective crafts talking all things music. The reader gets the very real sense of being a ‘fly on the wall,’ and Murakami even details which recordings they're listening to, so you can listen along with them. The effect is a multi-sensory experience that has stayed with me for years.”
For morning host Laura Carlo, biographies come to mind, and two in particular. Laura says the first biography – Maynard Solomon’s Mozart (published in 2005 in anticipation of the 250th anniversary of Mozart’s birth, in 1756) – is “equal parts history lesson and true life stories, bringing the child prodigy-turned-classical icon into our 21st Century lives.”
Her second choice – this one published in 2000 to mark the 250th anniversary of the death of its subject in 1750 – is Christoph Wolff's Johann Sebastian Bach: The Learned Musician. In the Pulitzer Prize-winner, Laura says Wolff “describes the genius, and the talent, but also the imperfect human as well.”
Laura adds, “with both books, the composers became real to me.”
Weekend host Katie Ladrigan also has more than one recommendation, all giving behind-the-scenes peeks into the world of pianos, and those who care for them.
In Thad Carhart’s The Piano Shop on the Left Bank, the author meets the owner of a piano shop in Paris, and begins “learning about the inner workings of an instrument he hadn't played since childhood, eventually buying a small grand piano, and starting to play again. Very charming look at a hidden world of piano rebuilding.”
Katie’s second pick gives “a window into the world of piano manufacturing, alternating history of the Steinway company and piano design development with tracing one particular concert grand from raw materials to final product.” You’ll find this story in James Barron’s Piano: The Making of a Steinway Concert Grand.
And speaking of Steinway, Katie’s third piano pick, My Life with the Great Pianists, was written by Franz Mohr. Mohr, she says, was “THE concert tech at Steinway NY for years and years – he's got some great ‘tales from the field,’ and lots of great anecdotes about great pianists (Horowitz, Rubinstein, Cliburn, etc), the pianos they play, and what a concert technician does beyond working with the piano.”
Host Emily Marvosh also has a couple of books in mind. “I really loved Errollyn Wallen's new memoir, Becoming a Composer,” Emily says. “She just became Master of the King's Music but she's been around in the contemporary scene for a long time. Really great insight into the composer's process.”
And for friends and family who may not have much experience with classical music, Emily suggests Alex Ross's The Rest is Noise.
Director of Production Brian McCreath passionately recommends a book he called “the best book I read not only last year, but in many years” — Time’s Echo: Music, Memory, and the Second World War, by Jeremy Eichler.
Brian continues: “The weaving together of centuries of cultural history and the tales of four distinct works and their composers is elevated by just the right dose of personal reflection, a rarity in this kind of book. Somehow, what Eichler communicates is vital, invaluable context for specific times and places while simultaneously reinforcing what art, the humanities, and, most powerfully, music does for our knowledge, for our connection across generations, and for our souls.”
Sunday afternoon host Jamie Kmak is drawn not to the soul, but to the music-brain connection. He recommends Musicophilia: Tales of Music and the Brain by Oliver Sacks.
Jamie says: “I read this for the first time back in high school while in the midst of college audition season. As a kid, I always felt a bit odd that I could completely forget where my locker was despite being six months into the school year, but could learn the lyrics to most any song I heard by ear with no problem after one to two listens.
There are tons of studies showing the many ways music is great for our brain health; and this book explores the ways music can imbed itself into our psyche—for better or for worse. Brains are weird. Music is weird. And this book helped me feel a little less weird.”
Host and producer Alan McLellan is excited by the convergence of music and the wider world. Of his pick, James R. Gaines’ Evening in the Palace of Reason: Bach Meets Frederick the Great in the Age of Enlightenment, Alan says: “I’m always excited to find a book that links music with the history of the wider world, and this is a great example. Through the course of an engrossing narrative, Gaines reveals some surprising personal connections between Johann Sebastian Bach, the great genius of Baroque music, and Frederick the Great, military ruler, Enlightenment thinker and patron of the arts. At the climax of this true story, the two meet at Frederick’s residence in Potsdam, where the king presents Bach with a complex musical theme. And that theme becomes the basis for his Musical Offering.”
And one more recommendation for you, with a local connection, from host James Demler, who says “the best books are the ones given as gifts, and I was given Tanglewood, A Group Memoir (by Peggy Daniel) back in 2010....Great old photographs, a bit of juicy old gossip, and so much insight into composers such as Lukas Foss and Aaron Copland.”
There may be as many books about classical music as musical pieces ever written, but hopefully you’ve found a few gems here that you’ll want to share with loved ones, or simply devour on your own. And new books about classical music are published all the time — so check back periodically on classical.org for our updated recommendations!
I’m off to track a few down. Happy reading!
