Discover Classical Music of the 20th Century is
part of the excellent Discover Series from Naxos Books.
Like all the other books in the collection, it is meant as a companion
to showcase and access the relevant music on the Naxos
website. However, it aims higher than that. It attempts to
make audiences lose any discomfort they may feel when confronted
with “modern” music by helping them understand its context and
origin.
The book follows
a similar layout to the previous ones in the Discover Series.
The first two pages inform you and show you (through screen
prints) how to access the website and listen to the music, which
itself is mentioned in the text. If one does not already have
an e-mail address and password registered, one needs to register
again; this can be a bit fiddly. Once registration is complete
you will be automatically taken back to the initial screen where
you will need to enter the address and password that you have
just registered. Then after clicking on the link entitled ‘music’,
one finally lands on the website. The webpage is built in the
same way as for the other Discover Series. There is a control
panel available at the bottom, for each track, once one clicks
on the “Listen” icon. This is clearly stated at the top. One
can also go straight to the detailed catalogue page after clicking
on the relevant CD icon or on the numbers in italics,
which will enable the user to purchase the work. The sound quality
is generally very good and one is given the choice of listening
to the extracts in two different modes: FM quality (20 kbps)
or near CD quality (64 kbps). The recordings chosen are all
by established, distinguished artists, delivering critically
acclaimed interpretations and giving excellent performances.
After the Index
of Contents and the website access instructions, the book again
follows the same layout as the others in the series. It starts
with an Introduction that briefly summarises the history of
the 20th Century setting out the historical and social
context in which the music originated. Writing a summary that
is not exhaustive but contains all the important facts of such
a convoluted century as the last one is a nearly impossible
task. For this reason I read the three and half pages of Introduction
with mixed feelings. On the one hand, the author succeeds in
giving the reader a brief summary listing all the main facts.
On the other if, like me, you think historical detail is necessary
fully to comprehend a particular tendency or a movement in art,
be it music or any other form, you will feel a little let down.
After the introductory pages, the book is well organised into
chapters, each dedicated to a specific aspect of the development
of music in the 20th Century, detailing the lives
and works of the composers that led the changes and had the
greatest impact. These chapters are then followed by the familiar
final sections in the books of the Discover Series, which
are very informative and user-friendly - easily accessible for
a quick consultation. These are: a table entitled “Timeline
of the Twentieth Century”, arguably one of the best features
in the book. This contains at a glance, important dates in music
associated with a composition or a composer, the relevant historical
facts and the important events in other art forms (art, architecture,
literature). There is a section with a useful list of composers,
organised by first and last name in alphabetical order, with
place and date of birth and death if appropriate, as well as
a map indicating where they were born. To finalise, there is
a glossary of terms, a brief note about the author, photography
acknowledgements and an alphabetical index.
David McCleery,
the author of Discover Classical Music of the 20th
Century, has made a name for himself through his career
in arts administration and by working with various distinguished
composers. He is now firmly established in the field of media
music. He writes in a factual, journalistic style, with objective
and informative descriptions of the works and their creators.
While his writing is fluid and focused, which is arguably the
proper way of writing such a book, I found it sometimes a little
dry and repetitive, which makes the reading experience slightly
too didactic. Having said that, this is not a creative
literary work but a guide to the classical music of the 20th
Century. Even so, a little emotional depth when describing some
of the pieces or the lives of the composers would have helped
people relate more closely to music that can sometimes still
sound strange and even annoying. There are some chapters that
I found excellent and that managed to grab me and others where
I struggled to get through. Amidst the best are undoubtedly
Chapter III, Post-Romanticism; Chapter VIII, Music
from Behind the Iron Curtain and Chapter IX, The American
Tradition. Very interesting as well, are the accounts written
by the composers’ contemporaries or articles detailing the reactions
when various pieces were premiered.
I must confess that
I was a little disappointed that McCleery did not write about
Erich Korngold, a composer who more or less created film music,
and that he mentioned the establishment of fascist dictatorships
in Spain, Germany and Italy in the years following WWI but neglected
to mention Portugal. Nevertheless, he managed to create a precious,
little book that will be very helpful for someone who is not
familiar with the classical music of the 20th Century
and wishes to be initiated. For scholars or musicians, the book
is too elementary but it can become a valuable tool when teaching
or giving a lecture on the period.
To summarise, Discover
Classical Music of the 20th Century is not exactly
entertaining reading but it is an informative and accomplished
book. Whether it achieves its aim of demystifying the subject
of “modern” music, as it ambitiously states on its back cover,
is arguable. I am not convinced that people will feel less apprehensive
about the music after having read the book and listened to the
pieces on the website. However, what it really achieves is to
provide the average person, who wishes to learn more about music
or extend their knowledge, with a book that is easy to consult.
This is an insightful simple guide to a period of great change
in music and a suitable, effective companion to the compositions
on the website.
Margarida
Mota-Bull
NAXOS BOOKS, an
imprint of Naxos Rights International Ltd
