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The Story of Music
- Narrated by: Howard Goodall
- Length: 12 hrs and 36 mins
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The Story of Music
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Summary
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.
What listeners say about The Story of Music
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- IT Guru UK
- 06-08-23
Fascinating even for the non-musical
Fascinating history even for those who don't play an instrument or read music. Perfectly explained.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance4 out of 5 stars
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- Amazon Customer
- 14-11-21
Great but missing music
Great audiobook, the only thing missing is having clips of the pieces referenced. Otherwise it was informative and pleasantly witty.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Sharma
- 09-06-15
outstanding and original
Fantastic and insightful view of music development throughout the ages. At times controversial, always compelling.
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1 person found this helpful
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
- Amazon Customer
- 30-03-17
Excellent
A very interesting and surprisingly witty and entertaining audio book, easily as good as the television version.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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- Anonymous User
- 03-04-19
Very good
Narrator voice could of been slightly more interesting, but, as an academic study its interesting.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Mr. Richard D. Weeks
- 19-10-22
Startlingly informative!
I have listened to three such 'histories of classical music.' This is easily the best of the three. Highly recommended!
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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- Janette Gaggini
- 15-06-21
great insight
A great detailed insight of how music has evolved over the centuries
since time began.
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- Mr A D Brady
- 27-08-22
Great listen
Loved it, very interesting book. Surprised that Tchaikovsky barely gets mentioned but I'm sure the author had his reasons. This does not detract from a thoroughly enjoyable listen.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
- glen southern
- 07-04-13
Exactly the book I wanted to hear
I'm musical challenged in so many ways having just start to learn my first musical instrument in my 45th year. I decided I would like to catch up on why music is so embedded in our lives and I searched for 'the history of music' and got 'the story of music'. I found the book interesting from start to finish and I've made multiple notes of other books and biographies I will follow it up with. I listened to it with spotify open and as I needed to reference a piece of music I just added it to a playlist. Well written and at a decent pace throughout.
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6 people found this helpful
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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- Adisha
- 17-04-16
Brilliant, thoroughly researched & well-presented!
This is a truly outstanding audiobook eloquently read by the author himself. Mr. Goodall's passion and expertise in the subject matter shines through.
It is packed full of fascinating anecdotes, gem facts and details that reveal themselves on each listen. The content is diverse, broad in scope and many controversial subjects (such as sinister and political backstories) are boldly tackled head-on.
Check out Spotify for helpful playlists [filed as HGSOM] of key music and songs mentioned in the text. If you are like me, you'll probably want to research topics covered in more detail; in which case I highly recommend purchasing the superbly written book of the same title, which contains key illustrations, available also digitally for Kindle.
I would wholeheartedly recommended this audiobook for anyone with a keen interest in music history and development and consider this a 'must read' for composers, musicians and anyone who appreciates music, irrespective of knowledge and experience.
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2 people found this helpful