Bach, Beethoven and the Boys

[marycatelli]

Bach, Beethoven and the Boys: Music History as It Ought to Be Taught by David W. Barber

A short, light-hearted, but accurate history of Western music

Starting with Gregorian chant because that's the first time anyone wrote down the music (having invented a way to do so) and go onward, through the composer named Palestrina -- actually that's his home town, not his last name -- through the greats.  Purcell writing an ode to St. Cecelia every year; he died the day before her feast.  .  Haydn's staid, settled life -- his love life was a little lacking, though -- and the time he wrote a symphony to let his employer know that the orchestra really wanted to go home.  Handel's prolonged trip to England.  Mozart's precocity.   Wagner's temperment and demands; he liked pink. And quite a bit more.

Comments

[persephone-kore.livejournal.com]

the time he wrote a symphony to let his employer know that the orchestra really wanted to go home.

That part sounds entertaining. :)

[marycatelli]

There are a lot of fun little bits like that. (It's known, oddly enough, as the "Farewell" Symphony.