Search results for ""author john mauceri""

A fascinating journey into global politics that made classical music a proxy for power, inadvertently creating the “sound of Hollywood,” and excluding hundreds of composers“[Mauceri’s] writing is more exhilarating than any helicopter ride we have been on.”—Air Mail“Fluently written and often cogent.”—Barton Swaim, Wall Street Journal John Mauceri offers a lively and passionate reassessment of classical music in the twentieth century, in which he argues that the history of music during the last century was shaped by its three major conflicts: World War I, World War II, and the Cold War.The War on Music unlocks the mystery of why classical music seemingly produced so few eternal works after 1950, whereas other arts—popular music, Broadway, literature, painting, architecture, theater, cinema—have given the world myriad beloved and highly regarded masterpieces; why the composers considered the future of classical music in the 1920s disappeared from being performed after World War II; why the most heard symphonic scores of the century—music for Hollywood films—became the subject of brutal denigration and dismissal; why the avant-garde of the pre-World War I became the new lingua franca of the Cold War period in the West, and any music that veered from its requirements removed from being performed. Mauceri follows the data to demonstrate how the politics of global wars used an artform that many might consider unimportant—classical music—as a potent and effective symbol, target, and weapon. Based on more than a half-century of music making and discovery, The War on Music is a plea to return the suppressed repertory—beautiful and unique expressions of humanity—to our concert halls and opera houses, much as the artwork stolen by the Nazis continues to be returned to its rightful owners.

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Why do so many of us listen to classical music, and how can you get the most from listening to it?In this unpretentious and instructive book, internationally celebrated conductor and teacher John Mauceri brings to bear his lifetime of experience and profound knowledge. A protégé of Leonard Bernstein and an artist who has performed and recorded all over the world, Mauceri is the guide par excellence to the joys of classical music. Mauceri illuminates our understanding of what it is we hear when we listen; how each piece bears the traces of its history; and how the concert experience allows us constantly to discover music anew.'Wonderful' Marilyn Horne'This delightful book is not so much the opening of a door as an affectionate hand on the arm, guiding the reader with enthusiasm and intelligence into a world of beauty' Stephen Hough

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