This has a particular interest since Shostakovich has been the subject of controversy. Ross takes Shostakovich as the typical musician in Stalin’s Russia. Composers of note and promise died in the camps or at the hands of the NKVD. The development of music suffered badly in the bloody repressions of Hitler and Stalin. In the years between wars many styles flourished.

The exuberance of nationalist ill feeling Ross describes in these words: “Music became war carried on by other means.” Music at the beginning of the century and in some respects throughout the century was divided between the German and the French schools. It provided at least one possibility of creative activity, one never adopted by everyone although for a long time after World War II, it became almost mandatory. Schoenberg brought these into focus by the adoption, possibly not necessary, of twelve-tone music. Composers of the time, like him, had uncertain commitments to tonality. It begins with the glories of Mahler, a composer who languished outside the musical consciousness of the listening public for decades after his death. The fate of music in the twentieth century is difficult and vexed. It is a long book that demands the readers close attention, but I finished it with regret and wished that it had been longer. The jacket is stark, the spine under it is clumsily designed with the author’s name not entirely visible, and the mixture of type styles within the book has nothing to gladden the heart.īut the book itself, to give away what I can’t keep to myself, is magnificent. He tells great stories about musicians' lives and illuminates their work with the light of his own experiences.' – Kevin Berger, 'The best book on what music is about– really about–that you or I will ever own.The Rest Is Noise: Listening to the Twentieth Centuryįirst the bad news: this is physically a very ugly book. writes about music in vivid language humming with intelligence. He has an almost uncanny gift for putting music into words.' – The Economist ' The Rest Is Noise is a long and thrilling ride. Ross, who worked on this book for a decade. Ross enables us to listen more hearingly.' – Geoff Dyer, The New York Times Book Review ' Brilliant, hugely enjoyable cultural history.' – The Christian Science Monitor 'Ross is a surpremely gifted writer who brings together the political and technological richness of the world inside the magic circle of the concert hall, so that each illuminates the other.' – Lev Grossman, Time 'It would be hard to imagine a better guide to the maelstrom of recent music than Mr. Rilke once wrote of how he learned to stand 'more seeingly' in front of certain paintings. ' The Rest Is Noise is a great achievement.

Alex ross the rest is noise review