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The Story of Music

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The Story of Music

By: Howard Goodall
Narrated by: Howard Goodall
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About this listen

Accompanies BBC2's major new TV series and The Story of Music in 50 Pieces on Radio 3

Music is an intrinsic part of everyday life, and yet the history of its development from single notes to multi-layered orchestration can seem bewilderingly specialised and complex.

In his dynamic tour through 40,000 years of music, from prehistoric instruments to modern-day pop, Howard Goodall does away with stuffy biographies, unhelpful labels and tired terminology. Instead he leads us through the story of music as it happened, idea by idea, so that each musical innovation – harmony, notation, sung theatre, the orchestra, dance music, recording, broadcasting – strikes us with its original force.

He focuses on what changed when and why, picking out the discoveries that revolutionised man-made sound and bringing to life musical visionaries from the little-known Pérotin to the colossus of Wagner. Along the way, he also gives refreshingly clear descriptions of what music is and how it works: what scales are all about, why some chords sound discordant and what all post-war pop songs have in common.

The story of music is the story of our urge to invent, connect, rebel – and entertain. Howard Goodall’s beautifully clear and compelling account is both a hymn to human endeavour and a groundbreaking map of our musical journey.

©2013 Howard Goodall (P)2013 Random House AudioGo History & Criticism Music Social Sciences Thought-Provoking

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All stars
Most relevant
A great detailed insight of how music has evolved over the centuries
since time began.

great insight

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Fantastic and insightful view of music development throughout the ages. At times controversial, always compelling.

outstanding and original

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The task of telling the full “story of music” is an unenviable one - such is its length, complexity and depth that it could easily fill several volumes the size of this one. But Howard Goodall embraces the challenge with poise and capability, convincingly guiding the listener through the maze of composers, genres and musical cultures which have gone into creating the vast and layered tapestry that makes up music today.

The result is as interesting as it is informative, and as well as providing a comprehensive timeline of the development of western music (and the ways in which it has evolved both separately and alongside ‘world’ music) it also touches on music’s symbiotic relationships with religion, race, morality, nationalism, technology and much else besides.

As well as all of this, it’s hard to imagine a better narrator - Goodall’s knowledge and enthusiasm for the subject matter is obvious, and only adds to the overall enjoyment of what was already a wonderful text.

I have seen at least one other review mention that musical examples would have enriched the experience, and while this is true it is a fault more of the medium than of the author or publisher - I can’t imagine the copyright headaches which would ensue trying to incorporate such a feature into an audiobook. With that said, the same technology which allows us to listen to this audiobook also provides the potential to listen to almost any piece of recorded music ever released - I found that taking regular intervals to pause and visit Spotify to look up the specific pieces and composers mentioned enhanced my understanding for the subject matter immeasurably, and I’d recommend the same to any listener. Obviously not always practical (if you listen whilst driving, for example), but definitely a worthwhile effort to get as much as possible out of the book.

A captivating, fascinating listen

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Great audiobook, the only thing missing is having clips of the pieces referenced. Otherwise it was informative and pleasantly witty.

Great but missing music

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Fascinating history even for those who don't play an instrument or read music. Perfectly explained.

Fascinating even for the non-musical

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