The Rest Is Noise
Listening to the 20th Century
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The Rest Is Noise
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Narrated by:
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Grover Gardner
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By:
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Alex Ross
About this listen
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Editor reviews
Like the origins of a musical idea waiting to be developed through the course of symphony, Adrian Leverkühn, the titular musical genius of Thomas Mann's Doktor Faustus, foreshadows The Rest Is Noise. Mann has Leverkühn attend a performance of Richard Strauss' Salome in 1906, the same event that opens The Rest Is Noise. Alex Ross lists Leverkühn's fictional attendance along with that of the historically correct presence of Mahler, Puccini, Schoenberg, the cream of doomed European society - and the 17-year-old Adolf Hitler. In Mann's book, Leverkühn contracts syphilis around the same time from a prostitute who goes on to haunt his work; the implied germination of something dark and destructive - musically and historically - sets the tone for Ross' hugely ambitious book.
If writing about music is like dancing about architecture, Alex Ross, the classical music critic of the New Yorker, is Nureyev with a notebook. Critics may quibble with the lack of academic theory in his descriptions of music (in this regard, it's constructive to compare his book with Charles Rosen's The Classical Style), but he has an undeniable gift for enabling the reader to 'hear' the outline of the music he describes (or at least make them believe that is what they're hearing): "Strings whip up dust clouds around manic dancing feet. Brass play secular chorales, as if seated on the dented steps of a tilting little church...Drums bang the drunken lust of young men at the center of the crowd." Consequently, there are countless moments in this book where the temptation to download the music is overwhelming - clearly, copyright issues and running time barred inclusion of musical segments in this recording, and it's a tribute to Ross' style that this omission isn't a critical blow.
The author's forte - obsession, even - is to conjure up sweeping historical vistas and then focus in on the tiny details that bring biographies to life: Charles Ives' stint as an insurance salesman, the discovery by Alban Berg's brother of the teddy bear as a marketable toy. Ross also likes to draw historical parallels between the careers of very different composers. However, comparisons with works outside the genre don't always convince of their relevance, for example Sibelius' 5th with John Coltrane's A Love Supreme. Everyone from Britten to Björk, Ellington to Einsturzende Neubauten is invoked, which is fun but can feel arbitrary. At these points, the listener is reminded of the author's other career as a prolific blogger - blog writing seems to invite a certain loftiness of authorial position from which vantage point sweeping generalisations are made; The Rest Is Noise can occasionally fall into this trap. But with such a huge amount to cram in, this is easily forgiven.
Grover Gardner narrates this sprawling epic, leading the listener through the maze of allusions, dates, and the constant switching from the macro to the micro. He also deserves a medal for his navigation of the minutiae of musical theory, not to mention an international cast of unpronounceable names. -Dafydd Phillips
Critic reviews
- National Book Critics Circle Award, Criticism, 2007
What listeners say about The Rest Is Noise
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Amazon Customer
- 30-11-22
Very Good
very very very very very very very very very very very very very good.
Thoroughly enjoyed the book.
Recommended.
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Overall3 out of 5 stars
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Performance3 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Marie L
- 03-11-24
Great book but audiobook missed its opportunity
Great book but as an audiobook, it's a shame that no snippets of songs were included when discussing specific chapters. It would have made the experience much more insightful. The author has a companion site where such snippets are available, so it would have been great to merge it with the audiobook
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
- Mrs A J
- 11-06-21
Highly Recommended
Good book and well narrated. It provides a comprehensive view of 20th Century music.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story4 out of 5 stars
- Paul S.
- 20-11-22
Fascinating
A tremendous survey af the past century’s music- only hampered by my needing to stop every few minutes to add pieces to a Spotify soundtrack, which i’d listen to before the next chapter.
I hope 21st-century music education finds room for some of its discussion, and popular screen culture celebrates some of its sounds.
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Overall4 out of 5 stars
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Performance4 out of 5 stars
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Story4 out of 5 stars
- Tom O'Donnell
- 01-12-16
Excellent but classically focused book
This book is extremely well researched and delivered.
However, those looking for a broad study on 20th century music should note that this book focuses on classical music. Other forms are touched on (particularly jazz) but the vast majority is a study of classical music. I didn't get that from the reviews I read and was expecting more on blues, soul, reggae and hip-hop.
That's not to fault the book. It broadened by horizons and was a fascinating read but if you are looking for a wider study you may have to look elsewhere.
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1 person found this helpful
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Overall4 out of 5 stars
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Performance4 out of 5 stars
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Story4 out of 5 stars
- Fatmusketeer
- 02-05-13
Modern classical music made more accessable
The greatest complement I can pay to this title is it made me want to go and listen to the classical music of the twentieth century. The story is clearly told and well structured, taking the listener from R Strauss' Salome to modern minialism and beyond. It certainly helped my appreciation of some very difficult pieces as well as helping to point out the seminal works. I could quibble that some composers such as Elgar and Rachmaninov bearly get a look in because, although they are popular, they don't fit the mainstream of modernism. Also if every there was an audiobook that cried out for musical samples, this was it. But I would recommend it to anyone wanting to gain an understanding of what has happen to composition in the last 100 years.
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Overall4 out of 5 stars
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Performance3 out of 5 stars
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Story4 out of 5 stars
- Sara
- 01-07-14
Adding colour and context to 20thC Compositions
What made the experience of listening to The Rest Is Noise the most enjoyable?
As a musician who has mostly performed 20th Century music - Contemporary Classical, for my career, this book gave some interesting insight, really rounding out the history that I had learned while studying back at school/uni, and while performing.
What did you like best about this story?
I really loved hearing the context of where composers were in their life, geographically, politically, philosophically, psychologically, when they wrote particular pieces. Especially the effect that Hitler and other Political leaders had on these artists trying to live their lives.
What about Grover Gardner’s performance did you like?
The narration was ok, not one I would have written home about. Engaging enough.
Did you have an emotional reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?
Not really an emotional story! Though actually, knowing the context of Benjamin Britten's writing, and the challenges composers faced in trying to balance authorities opinions with their own artistic integrity, was really interesting. Also amusing to hear composers funny little opinions of each other.
Any additional comments?
Such a pity that they couldn't have spent some time/money getting the rights to some musical excerpts. I knew what the author was talking about a lot of the time, but only because I've performed and listened to a lot of classical music. Excerpts giving examples of what he was talking about would make this book much more accessible to music lovers who don't necessarily study or perform. And would have refreshed my memory a little. In this format, it seems crazy that they didn't consider these audio illustrations.
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4 people found this helpful
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Overall4 out of 5 stars
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Performance1 out of 5 stars
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Story4 out of 5 stars
- C N
- 18-12-21
Great content. Poor narration
Great content! Inspiring story.Poor narrator ruin the joy of the book. I hope they will have a new audible version to do the book justice.
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