Author:Howard Goodall
The dramatic story of five key turning points in a thousand years of Western music - discoveries that changed the course of history.
Who first invented 'Doh Re Mi...'?
What do we mean by "in tune"?
Looking back down the corridor of a thousand years, Howard Goodall guides us through the stories of five seismic developments in the history of Western music. His "big bangs" may not be the ones we expect - some are surprising and some are so obvious we overlook them - but all have had an extraordinary impact.
Goodall starts with the invention of notation by an 11th-century Italian monk, which removed the creation of music from the hands of the players to the pens of the composers; moves on to the first opera; then to the invention of the piano, and ends with the story of the first recording made in history.
Howard Goodall has the gift of making these complicated musical advances both clear and utterly fascinating. Racy and vivid in a narrative full of colourful characters and graphic illustrations of technical processes, he also gives a wonderful sense of the culture of trial and error and competition, be it in 11th-century Italy or 19th-century America, in which all progress takes place.
Big Bangs opens a window on the crucial moments in our musical culture - discoveries that made possible everything from Bach to the Beatles - and tells us a riveting story of a millennium of endeavour.
Goodall has a prodigious gift for gathering information. People who know nothing about music will learn a lot here
—— Sunday TribuneIntelligent, infectious
—— ObserverWriting a breezy history of music is a tough nut to crack, but Goodall manages it
—— Independenta highly compelling and involving tale of an actor at work.
—— Film ReviewWhether taken on its own or with the first volume, this is a magnificent work of biography... A stunning achievement
—— Simon Heffer , Literary ReviewWalsh's scrupulousness (also evident in this volume's predecessor) in contextualising and considering quotes, hearsays and other evidence reveals a more complete, complex picture... But what emerges most powerfully is a penetrating vision of a creative mind, of how it made its decisions and adopted its stances, of how, often, it didn't quite understand itself
—— Stephen Pettitt , Sunday TimesWalsh's eloquence, clarity and grasp of the composer's cultural milieu mean that this book is always gripping
—— Telegraph"Must never end up like Bobby Gillespie" It's not a bad strategy for life, and happily one the ferociously talented Luke Haines continues to adhere to in his follow-up to Bad Vibes. Resuming from where that excoriatingly brilliant book left off...Grimly amusing.
—— WordThe angrier Mark Kermode gets, the funnier he is; good news then that this book is FURIOUS
—— Empire[A] laugh-out-loud account that will tickle the funny bone of any film fanatic
—— StarWitty and incisive
—— ChoiceCutting and witty
—— Loaded[Kermode] clearly has a profound love of film and the depth of knowledge to go with it
—— Jeff Dawson , Sunday TimesAn angry blast about the state of cinema-going
—— Christopher Fowler, Books of the Year: Cinema , IndependentKermode sits in the stalls peeking through his fingers at what we’re served up on the silver screen and motormouthing about bad cinema in a frank and funny counterblast to all the Hollywood hype
—— SagaThe Good, the Bad and the Multiplex is the film critic’s anguished cri de coeur against overpriced 3D film tickets and soulless cinemas ... often very funny and enlivened with wonderful digressions borne out of a lifetime’s movie-going
—— Books of the Year , MetroDifficult to ignore
—— Good Book Guidea spritely, spirited tome ... with welcome doses of spicy self-deprecation and fascinating cultural history.
—— The Big Issue in the North
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