Author:Matt Thompson,David Hendy
This 30-part Radio 4 series explores how our interactions with sound have shaped us over 100,000 years. These specially extended episodes, recorded on location around the world and in collaboration with curators of the British Library Sound Archive, take us from prehistory to the present, encompassing the shamanistic music of our cave-dwelling ancestors, the massacre of noisy cats in pre-revolutionary Paris, the nerve-destroying din of trench warfare, right through to the cacophony of the modern metropolis. This is sound as life and death, pleasure and pain, power and revolution. Written and presented by Professor David Hendy from the University of Sussex. Produced by Matt Thompson for Rockethouse Productions. Theme tune composed by Joe Acheson from Hidden Orchestra. Readings Director Cherry Cookson. Assistant Producer - Cathy FitzGerald Includes a specially-composed 15-minute companion piece by electronic musician Matthew Herbert in which he retells the story of the whole series using only the sounds themselves.
A lively zip through some 45 milennia
—— Christopher Hart , Sunday TimesGoodall is an engaging and erudite guide and this work is both accessible and illuminating
—— Caroline Jowett , Daily ExpressGreat length but still leavened with lively wit
—— Sameer Rahim , Telegraph[Goodall] knows his stuff, and tells it well
—— Nicholas Lezard , GuardianHighly knowledgeable, and a brilliant communicator, Goodall has an infectious enthusiasm and is genuinely respectful of all forms of music
—— Good Book GuideNow comes Howard Goodall and all of everyone's prayers are answered ... He is sharply witty and entirely on the ball, but he never acts the smart ass and, most importantly, he obviously has deep knowledge of what he is talking about ... I prophesy that it will not only win prizes but change lives
—— Rupert Christiansen , Daily TelegraphAn accessible guide to roughly 42,000 years of music in just over 300 pages that manages neither to sacfrifice precise detail nor pugnacious opinion ... Goodall is unfailingly acute ... a clever, engaging read
—— Stuart Kelly , Scotland on SundayThere is a Jumpin’ Jack Flash liveliness in Goodall’s approach
—— Iain Finlayson , The TimesWho better to demystify the origins of music and trace the evolution of this most universal of artistic disciplines?
—— Neil Norman , ExpressThe Story of Music is a lively zip through some 45 millennia … jumping back and forth between classical, folk and pop
—— Christopher Hart , Sunday TimesHe starts right at the beginning, with 25,000-year-old bone flutes ... It's a huge brief, made huger by Goodall's alertness to new thinking in scholarly circles, and his fondness for interesting asides ... a racily written, learned and often shrewdly insightful book
—— Ivan Hewett , Daily Telegraph (Review)A roller-coaster ride, which Goodall tells with verve... a racily written, learned and often shrewdly insightful book
—— Ivan Hewett , Daily TelegraphAn accessible guide to roughly 42,000 years of music in just over 300 pages … The Story of Music is a clever, engaging read
—— Stuart Kelly , Scotland on SundayHoward Goodall’s beautifully clear and compelling account is both a hymn to human endeavour and a groundbreaking map of man’s musical journey
—— Wiltshire NewsGoodall's distinguisihing gift is his ability to explain the mechanics of music instead of gliding hastily over them. He is fearless in unknotting those medieval mysteries of oranum and isorhythms, as well as chords, triads, fugues, keys, equal temperament, atonality, dodecaphony and blues
—— Fiona Maddocks , SpectatorA clear and compelling account which is a hymn to human endeavor and a groundbreaking musical journey
—— Kirkham & FyldeFascinating – as well as illuminating on how music works
—— The LadyAt his best, Goodall has a facility for lively shorthand…
—— Adam Mars-Jones , GuardianThis ambitious and all embracing history of 40, 000 years of music will have you dancing in the aisles
—— Sally Morris , Daily Mail[Rod] has warm good humour and a nice line in self-deprecation...He wears it well—and tells it even better.
—— Daily MailBy some distance the most entertaining of last year’s...rock star memoirs.
—— Uncut OnlineThis book takes readers on an adventure, that is at times deeply moving, through the life of one of the UK's greatest singers.
—— Hello! onlineRuthlessly entertaining
—— telegraph.co.uk