The Rest Is Noise by Alex Ross

More info:

http://www.therestisnoise.com/2004/05/what_is_this.html

http://www.amazon.com/Rest-Noise-Listening-Twentieth-Century/dp/0374249393

on the cover of the nyt book review today. i want to read this.

I just started reading the Alex Ross, and it's excellent so far. I'm reading it in tandem with Paul Hegarty's Noise/Music: A History which is equally entertaining/educational in a pretentious, juuuuustaboutmakessense kinda way. And which has a beautiful cover design.

this sounds great

totally looking forward to this, also excited abt ben ratliff's book on john coltrane.

Yeah, I totally want to read both of those (the Ross book and the Ratliff book).

Maybe this thread will motivate me to get it read faster so I can actually talk about it with someone.

He's posted links to tons of reviews of his book on his blog:

http://www.therestisnoise.com/2007/01/reviews-of-the-.html

According to the blog:

"One of the New York Times's 10 Best Books of 2007; also on best-of-the-year lists in the Washington Post, Amazon.com, the LA Times, New York (also voted Best Non-Fiction Book), Time, The Economist, Slate, and Newsweek."

Yikes.

I bought this with full intention of giving this to my brother for Christmas but couldn’t resist reading it beforehand. It is fucking unbelievable. Seriously one of the best books on music EVER written.

Yeah I am digging it muchly after just a few pages.

i'm getting this for christmas!

I'll get this from the library today.

This book is great. I'm really enjoying the chapters on 1933-1945 -- music in Stalin's Russia/FDR's USA/Hitler's Germany. Getting this book and D. Wolk's book on comics in one package was like ten years of Xmases.

Now available in paperback. And I'm reading it and it's pretty great. Love the historical context of all the composers, their surrounding political and social climates, etc.

Finding it helpful to use Pandora and Last.fm to listen along with Alex's descriptions.

Excellent. I've been waiting for the paperback version before picking this up.

so i was just given the hb for my birthday.

Waterstones gives the paperback a date of 5th March; are you in the US or UK or elsewhere Macallan?

really want to read this

i got given the hb of this also and havent read it yet cuz it's massive + i hate carrying it around . i am way too lazy.

yeah the only thing stopping me going and buying it today is I'm still plodding through Musicophilia and about 3 other books. I'm unemployed and without a commute I just do dumb shit all day instead of reading.

http://www.kingsplace.co.uk/music/this-is-tuesday/fracture/fissure-elision-ensemble

Alex Ross is, shall we say, less than enthusiastic about this kind of thing.

To me its totally worthwhile and so I'll see no one there, I guess...

i want to buy a birthday present for someone who is reading this: either a nice classical box set or a selection of cds. any recommendations?

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Messiaen-Transfiguration-Visions-Canyons-Etoiles/dp/B0014GIZCY/ref=sr_1_28?ie=UTF8&s=music&qid=1246100771&sr=8-28

Ross has done a few suggested listening lists: there's one in the back of the book, and a different one - a pdf that seems to come and go from the book's Amazon page (it's on the hardback page at the moment - think Frankiemachine's suggestion is in there).

I've listened to a few things from it after reading the book - I like the Ligeti project box set. This Stravinsky box set is almost too big, but there's a lot to dig around in.

Thanks frankiemachine/woofwoofwoof.

anyone have this? (or any sibelius box sets?)
http://www.amazon.com/Sibelius-Symphonies-Finlandia-Kullervo-etc/dp/B00011KOF4/ref=wl_it_dp?ie=UTF8&coliid=I34BA9W2L1TVWN&colid=3P66S2R223R0I

if so - any thoughts?

loved this book, btw.

Unfortunately, Ross' blog is on hiatus for the summer, I think.

Kyle Gann's isn't though, if you need a good classical blogging fix: http://www.artsjournal.com/postclassic/

I've only read the first chapter of this book, but I liked it a whole lot. Must read the whole thing soon! I really appreciate Ross' use of the web to enhance the book, since I'm usually rather poor at following up on interesting references.

It's £7.49 on Amazon UK right now

I kept a little list of stuff that sounded cool handy while reading. One day I'll dig into that, one day...

I liked the sound of Thaddeus Cahill's Telharmonium

Alan you can't go wrong with the Colin Davis, although I notice it's substantially cheaper on Amazon UK so it might be worth digging around. OTOH, many people, myself (and Ross I think) included, prefer the superb Karajan readings of the later symphonies (4 through 7). With the Davis set you get a lot more music (with Karajan you just get the symphonies) and his versions of 1-3 are better, but for most Sibelius fans it's symphonies 4-7 that are the core of his greatness and while Davis's interpretations are very fine indeed, they don't match Karajan's. You pays your money..........

If you end up loving the music as much as I do eventually you'll want both.

thanks! that's exactly what I was looking for. I think I may start w/the karajan recordings.

http://www.musicwedliketohear.com/

^Londoners should try and catch this, btw. This is the bread and butter, music played in old churches surrounding banks at the heart of London, 25 people trying to find themselves, etc -- may go on the 8th, def going to the Tom Johnson portrait on the 15th (he was Gann's predecessor at the Voice, as good a writer and a far far better composer).

Also Saariaho's 'L'Amour de Loin' is being staged at the ENO. Afraid I'll not find the energy to go.

I'm reading this now (and presumably will be for some time). It's exactly the book I've been looking for.