Book Review: The Classical Music Book

The Classical Music Book

Authors: Steve Collisson was the consultant, Katie Derham wrote the Foreword, and many other musicians, composers, professors of music, and writers contributed to this volume.

Publisher: Penguin Random House, hardcover, 352 pages, including: 8 chapters, Foreword, Introduction, Directory, Glossary, Index, Quote Attributions, and Acknowledgments

The authors/contributors are primarily from Britain and America, coming from a variety of musical backgrounds, skills and academic and experiential qualifications. 

Contents

In addition to the Foreword, Introduction, etc., the main body of this volume consists of 8 chapters, which focus on specific periods of musical history, they are: Early Music 1000-1400, Renaissance 1400-1600, Baroque 1600-1750, Classical 1750-1820, Romantic 1810-1920, Nationalism 1830-1920, Modern 1900-1950, Contemporary post-1950. In each of these chapters the writers highlight several composers, sometimes providing brief biographical sketches, and they analyze their compositions.

Significant Quotations mostly by Composers

“Music is the social act of communication among people, a gesture of friendship, the strongest there is” -Malcolm Arnold (p. 14). 

“We should sing Psalms on a ten-string psaltery” Ordo Virtutum (c. 1151), Hildegard of Bingen (p. 26).

“That is the nature of hymns—they make us want to repeat them” -Great Service (c. 1580/1590), William Byrd (p. 52).

“The end of all good music is to affect the soul” -Claudio Monteverdi (p. 67). 

“What the English like is something they can beat time to” Water Music, HWV 348-350 (1717), George Frideric Handel (p. 84).

“Handel is the greatest composer that ever lived...I would uncover my head and kneel down on his tomb” -Ludwig van Beethoven (p. 86). 

“Handel understands effect better than any of us—when he chooses, he strikes like a thunderbolt” -Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (p. 88). 

“The end and final aim of all music should be none other than the glory of God” St. Matthew Passion(1727), -Johann Sebastian Bach (p. 98). 

“Not “brook” [in German: Bach], but “sea” should he be called because of his infinite, inexhaustible richness in tone combinations and harmonies” -Ludwig van Beethoven (p. 101).

“One who has completely forgotten Christianity truly hears it here as Gospel” -Friedrich Nietzsche, commenting on J.S. Bach’s St. Matthew Passion (p. 103). 

“Ceaseless work, analysis, reflection, writing much, endless self-correction, that is my secret” -Johann Sebastian Bach (p. 110). 

“We must play from the soul, not like trained birds” Flute concerto in A major, WQ 168 (1753), Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach (p. 120).

“A musician...must feel all the emotions that (s)he hopes to arouse in his (or her) audience” -C.P.E. Bach (p. 121). 

“Mozart’s music is so pure and beautiful that I see it as a reflection of the inner workings of the universe” -Albert Einstein (p. 131).

“We walk, by the power of music, in joy through death’s dark night” The Magic Flute (1791), Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (p. 134). 

“I live only in my notes” Symphony No. 3 in E-Flat Major, “Eroica,” OP 55 (1804), Ludwig van Beethoven (p. 138). 

“Music is truly love itself” Der Freischütz (1821), Carl Maria von Weber (p. 149). 

“My compositions spring from my sorrows. Those that give the world the greatest delight were born of my deepest griefs” -Franz Schubert (p. 153).

“To play a wrong note is insignificant. To play without passion is inexcusable” -Ludwig van Beethoven (p. 161). 

“To send light into the darkness of (wo)men’s hearts—such is the duty of the artist” -Robert Schumann (p. 168).

“I live in music like a fish in water” Piano Concerto No. 2 in G Minor (1868), Camille Saint-Saens (p. 179). 

“A symphony must be like the world, it must contain everything” Also Sprach Zarathustra (1896), Richard Strauss (p. 192). 

“If a composer could say what (s)he had to say in words, (s)he would not bother saying it in music”Das Lied Von Der Erde (1908-1909), Gustav Mahler (p. 198). 

“I am sure my music has a taste of cod fish in it” Peer Gynt (1875), Edvard Grieg (p. 208). 

“The more he saturated his mind with [Peer Gynt], the more clearly he saw that he was the right man for a work...so permeated with the Norwegian spirit” -Nina Hagerup, Grieg’s wife (p. 209). 

“The music of the people is like a rare and lovely flower” Symphony No. 9, “From The New World”(1893), Antonin Dvoṝák (p. 212).

“The art of music above all the other arts is expression of the soul” The Dream of Gerontius (1900), Edward Elgar (p. 218). 

“I want women to turn their minds to big and difficult jobs” The Wreckers (1904), Ethel Smyth (p. 231). 

“The whole English attitude toward women in fields of art is ludicrous....There is no sex in art. How you play the violin, paint, or compose is what matters” -Ethel Smyth (p. 237). 

“The expression “atonal music” is most unfortunate—it is on par with calling swimming “the art of not drowning” -Arnold Schoenberg (p. 243). 

“I haven’t understood a bar of music in my life, but I have felt it” Le Sacre Du Printemps (1913), Igor Stravinsky (p. 246).

“There is no difference in kind, but only in degree, between Beethoven and the humblest singer of a folk song” -Ralph Vaughan Williams (p. 253). 

“I have never written a note I didn’t mean” Parade (1917), Erik Satie (p. 256). 

“Life is a lot like Jazz...it’s better when you improvise” Rhapsody in Blue (1924), George Gershwin (p. 258). 

“Great music must come from the heart. Any music created by technique and brains alone is not worth the paper it is written on” -Maurice Ravel (p. 266). 

“If they cut off both hands, I will compose music anyway holding the pen in my teeth” -Dmitri Shostakovich (p. 277). 

“My faith is the grand drama of my life. I’m a believer, so I sing words of God...I give bird songs to those who dwell in cities...and paint colours for those who see none” -Olivier Messiaen (p. 282).

“So long as the human spirit thrives on this planet, music in some living form will accompany and sustain it and give it expressive meaning” -Aaron Copland (p. 286). 

“Composing is like driving down a foggy road” Peter Grimes (1945), Benjamin Britten (p. 288).

“I can’t understand why people are frightened of new ideas; I’m frightened of the old ones” 4’33”(1952), John Cage (p. 302).

“Repetition is based on body rhythms, so we identify with the heartbeat, or with walking, or with breathing” -Karlheinz Stockhausen (p. 306). 

“The role of the musician...is perpetual exploration” Pithoprakta (1955-1956), Iannis Xenakis (p. 308).

“Once you become an ism, what you’re doing is dead” In C (1964), Terry Riley (p. 312).

“A Western tone walks horizontally but a tone of the shakuhachi rises vertically like a tree” -Toru Takemitsu (p. 315). 

“I was in that generation of people who could look beyond the borders of Europe and North...and South America” -Philip Glass (p. 321). 

“This must be the first purpose of art...to change us” Apocalypsis (1977), R. Murray Schafer (p. 322). 

“My music is written for ears” L’Amour De Loin (2000), Kaija Saariaho (p. 325). 

“I don’t think you should have to know anything about my music, or anything about music in general, to enjoy it...I look at music as a mirror” – Jennifer Higdon (p. 326).

The only critique I have of this volume is that it should have included more female composers, and composers from other nations and continents of the world! 

The Weekend in Black & White - June 12, 2026

 

                                                                            Pelicans on Mirror Lake

                                                        For Weekend in Black & White

The Weekend in Black & White - May 16, 2026

 

 

                                    Harpist playing requests for restaurant customers.

                      For the weekend in black and white

Brief Book Review: Daily Readings with a Modern Mystic

Brief Book Review: Daily Readings with a Modern Mystic: Selections from the Writings of Evelyn Underhill

Author: Delroy Oberg, editor

Publisher: Darton Longman & Todd, and Twenty-Third Publications, softcover, 179 pages, including: Acknowledgments, Dedication, Chronology, Introduction, 13 chapters, an Epilogue, Notes, and Sources

Reviewed by Rev. Garth Wehrfritz-Hanson

The Authors 

Evelyn Underhill (1875-1941), an Anglican by faith, was a British, 20^th century pioneer author, scholar, lecturer, retreat leader, and spiritual director. A prolific author, she was one of the first women in the 20^th century to study and publish works on mysticism and spirituality. She studied at King’s College, the University of London, and later lectured there, as well as at Oxford University, and the University of St. Andrews. The Roman Catholic lay theologian, Baron Friedrich von Hügel was her spiritual director.

The editor of this volume, Delroy Oberg, has written numerous articles about Evelyn Underhill’s life and work. She is a teacher and tutor. She has a BA, BEd and an MLittStud, with her thesis titled ‘The Spirituality of Evelyn Underhill.’ Oberg lives in Queensland, Australia. 

Contents

Each of the chapters focus on a theme or themes in the spiritual and mystical life, and Delroy Oberg provides introductions to the chapters. The chapters consist of citations from Evelyn Underhill’s works. The chapter themes and titles are as follows: 1 Saints And Mystics, 2 The Spiritual Life And Mysticism, 3 The Church, 4 Homeliness, 5 Time Given To God: Retreats, 6 The Eucharist, 7 Prayer, 8 The Stages Of Prayer, 9 Prayer And Belief, 10 Intercession, 11 War And Peace, 12 Letters Of Direction, 13 The Cross, 14 Epilogue is Oberg’s very brief summary sketch of Underhill’s spiritual and mystical life, and those that were “pleased” with Underhill’s life and works. 

Three Quotations

To stimulate the curiosity of readers of this short review, as an encouragement to read this volume, here are three quotations from Underhill’s works. 

The first one is from chapter 2, and comes from Underhill’s The Spiritual Life, pp. 30-32: “Indeed, if God is All and His Word to us is All, that must mean that He is the reality and controlling factor of every situation, religious or secular; and that it is only for His glory and creative purpose that it exists. Therefore our favorite distinction between the spiritual life and the practical life is false” (p. 28). 

The second quotation is from chapter 7, and comes from Underhill’s The House of the Soul, pp. 110-11: “For real prayer is simply the expression and the experience of Faith, Hope, and Charity, each penetrating and enhancing the other, and merging to form in us that state of energetic and loving surrender, in which our spirits have according to their measure communion with the Spirit of God” (p. 97). 

The third quotation is from chapter 13, and comes from Underhill’s The School of Charity, pp. 59-60: “Every Christian is required to be an instrument of God’s rescuing action; and His power will not be exerted through us except at considerable cost to ourselves. Muzzy, safety-first Christianity is useless here. We must accept the world’s worst if we are to give it of our best” (p. 171). Given “the world’s worst” today, there are infinite opportunities for every Christian “to be an instrument of God’s rescuing action”! 

Book Review: Time’s Echo: Music, Memory, and the Second World War

 

Time’s Echo: Music, Memory, and the Second World War 

Author: Jeremy Eichler

Publisher: Vintage Books A Division of Penguin Random House LLC, softcover, 386 pages, including: Prelude, Part I, Part II, Coda, Acknowledgements, Notes, and Index

Reviewed by Rev. Garth Wehrfritz-Hanson

Contents 

Part I contains Chapter One: Emancipating Music; Chapter Two: Dancing in the Thorns; Chapter Three: Torn Halves; Chapter Four: Beneath the Waves; Chapter Five: The Emancipation of Memory; Chapter Six: Moses in Albuquerque; Part II contains Chapter Seven: From the Other Shore; Chapter Eight: Angels of History; Chapter Nine: The Light of Final Moments; Chapter Ten: Monuments; Coda: Listening to Lost Time.

The Author 

Jeremy Eichler is a writer, scholar, critic, and educator, and served as chief classical music critic for The Boston Globe. He teaches music history and public humanities at Tuft University. He earned his PhD in modern European history at Columbia University.

Brief Observations 

In his Prelude: In the Shade of the Oak, Eichler contrasts the tragic irony of Germany’s great poet, Goethe enjoying a banquet-like breakfast in the shade of an oak tree, where the Nazis built the Buchenwald concentration camp.

Eichler also states in the Prelude: “The role of music in particular as an “unconscious chronicle”--as a witness to history and as a carrier of memory for a post-Holocaust world—is the subject of this book” (p. 7). 

The author focusses, in particular, on these four composers: Arnold Schoenberg and his A Survivor from Warsaw, Richard Strauss and his Metamorphosen, Benjamin Britten and his War Requiem, and Dmitri Shostakovich and his Babi Yar. Eichler provides some of the social, political and musical contexts that influenced these four composers and their works. He also goes into detail explaining and analyzing the four compositions, and cites other art, music, and cultural pundits, politicians, and others who commented on the four works—indeed, there are some fairly extensive citations in this volume. Eichler also personally interviewed people such as Shostakovich’s third wife. Thus a substantial amount of research went into Time’s Echo.

One of the haunting ironies Eichler underscores is that even though these four composers and their four compositions were accepted by many as part of the status quo, they were perhaps more implicitly than explicitly critiques of the status quo. 

Eichler suggests possibilities will open: “...when we attempt to hear music as culture’s memory” (p. 15). He also states: “...this book is also implicitly an argument for what I call deep listening—that is, listening with an understanding of music as time’s echo” (p. 15).

The author underscores the irony of the Jewish composer, Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy popularizing German music by first conducting J.S. Bach’s Saint Matthew Passion in 1829, and later as the conductor of the Gewandhaus Orchestra in Leipzig—a post he held for the rest of his life.

Another irony, according to Eichler, was that Arnold Schoenberg, a Jew, was influenced by Richard Wagner, an anti-Semite.

Both Arnold Schoenberg and Arnold Rosé converted to Protestantism in the evangelical church on the Dorotheegasse in Vienna. In the case of Schoenberg, it was one year after a pogrom in Vienna.

During World War I, Schoenberg composed an oratorio Die Jakob sleiter (Jacob’s Ladder), which he didn’t finish. His spiritual distress during World War II led him back to this work.

In 1919, British composer John Foulds composed World Requiem for all who mourned those who died in World War I. 

In World War I, German Jews fought along with the Germans, hoping the latter would accept them as equals. Instead, the German Jews were blamed for losing the war—they were scapegoated, claiming that they undermined and sabotaged the German forces.

In 1921, Schoenberg discovered the twelve-tone method of composition. He employed dissonance, contributing to the atonal nature in his works. During the 1920s, he was widely acclaimed and became quite popular as a musician across Europe and internationally. 

Schoenberg’s opera Moses und Aron is described by Eichler and he speculates about why Schoenberg did not finish composing the music for the final act. With the growing anti-Semitism under Hitler and the Nazis in the early 1930s, Schoenberg left Germany never to return. 

According to Eichler: “Strauss composed Metamorphosen, regarded today as an iconic masterwork of twentieth-century music, between August 1944 and March 1945 for the conductor Paul Sacher’s Collegium Musicum Zürich” (p. 105). Eichler also describes the work, suggesting there are elements of mourning and: “...a direct quotation from the sublimely tragic funeral march of Beethoven’sEroica Symphony” (p. 105). 

Arnold Schoenberg had converted to Lutheranism to be accepted by Germans. However, in 1933, with the growing anti-Semitism of the Nazis, he took refuge in France, and converted to Judaism, and supported Jewish nationalism. Also in 1933, he decided to move to the U.S.A. He had, before many others, prophetically foresaw the mass destruction of the European Jews, urging them to take refuge in safe nations.

Eichler points out that some countries tried to forget the Shoah. “In the United States, Elie Wiesel’s now iconic testimony [Night] was rejected by more than fifteen publishers” (p. 159). 

The author describes the world premiere of Schoenberg’s A Survivor from Warsaw by the amateur Albuquerque Civic Orchestra, conducted by Kurt Frederick as a success, and it was actually performed twice in that concert. Eichler also discusses how Schoenberg’s score was performed, accepted and critiqued in other places.

In Eichler’s discussion of the Holocaust memorialization, he states: “Art remembers what society would like to forget. It does so uniquely in ways that link mind, heart, and spirit” (p. 174). 

The author provides some biographical information on Benjamin Britten and analyzes some of his music. Britten’s War Requiem includes World War I poetry by Wilfred Owen, and was influenced by Verdi’s Requiem. It was commissioned for the opening of the new Coventry Cathedral. Ironically, Britten was a pacifist, yet in War Requiem, he memorialized the war dead. 

When Leningrad was under siege by the Germans on the day that the Germans thought they would end the siege and occupy Leningrad, the city’s musicians played Dmitri Shostakovich’s Seventh Symphony, and directed the loudspeakers toward the German troops as an act “...of both cultural pride and sonic-psychological warfare” (p. 248). 

Even though Shostakovich was an atheist and not a Jew, he included Jewish musical themes in some of his compositions.

Yevgeny Yevtushenko wrote the poem “Babi Yar,” and Shostakovich placed “Babi Yar” as his first movement of his Thirteenth Symphony. He also included other Yevtushenko poems in the score’s other movements. 

Eichler, like other compositions, describes “Babi Yar,” and how it was viewed by pundits and the Soviet government. 

Babyn Yar is the place where some 60,000 Jews and around 40,000 others were murdered by the Nazis. It has changed a few times since World War II, depending on the political ideology, as have the monuments at the site. 

Shostakovich eventually became a member of the Communist Party, yet, ironically, some viewed him as a secret dissident because of his Thirteenth Symphony.

Both Britten’s War Requiem and Shostakovich’s Babi Yar premiered in 1962, and the composers realized that they were quite similar. Both admired each other’s compositions, visited and corresponded with each other. According to Eichler: “...Britten and Shostakovich also shared a conception of a larger social mission for their art in society” (p. 271).

Perhaps it was providential that as Britten was dying in Aldeburgh, England, Leonard Bernstein was conducting the New York Philharmonic’s performance of Shostakovich’s Fourteenth Symphony,which incorporated death themes. 

In this volume, Eichler also discusses the, at times, complex and even controversial connections involving memory and monuments. 

Musicians, composers, and historians will most likely benefit the most from this volume. 

The Weekend in Black & White - February 7, 2026

 

                

                                                                          Canmore

                                 For the Weekend in black & White

Wordless Wednesday - January 7, 2026

 

                                                       For Wordless Wednesday