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The Rest Is Noise

Listening to the 20th Century

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The Rest Is Noise

By: Alex Ross
Narrated by: Grover Gardner
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The Rest Is Noise takes the listener inside the labyrinth of modern music, from turn-of-the-century Vienna to downtown New York in the '60s and '70s. We meet the maverick personalities and follow the rise of mass culture on this sweeping tour of 20th-century history through its music.

Ross, music critic for The New Yorker, is the recipient of numerous awards for his work, including two ASCAP Deems Taylor Awards for music criticism. In addition, he was named a 2008 recipient of a MacArthur Foundation fellowship, given for achievements in creativity and potential for making important future cultural contributions.

©2007 Alex Ross (P)2007 Blackstone Audio, Inc. Art Music World Entertainment New York Imperialism Middle Ages Soviet Union Socialism Opera
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Critic Reviews

  • National Book Critics Circle Award, Criticism, 2007
All stars
Most relevant
Extremely long book for such a small concept. No need of so many pages of uninteresting and irrelevant history. What is the key message or point of this book? Who knows…

It could be 1/4 of its size to tell the same story

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I come from no knowledge of music history. My reason for choosing this book was to seek a link between my interest in the music of Greenwich village of the 1950-60's and what came before. I thought a writer for the New Yorker would be entertaining and informative and Mr Ross did not let me down. I also chose the audiobook form because I knew I would struggle with the book. Well, it had me captivated for a month in my daily commute to work. It has outlined a far more rich and diverse origin of music than I had imagined. It gave me knowledge of key composers to the present day and it was a good read, albeit sometimes a tough slog. The author's command of language added to the listening experience but I'll need to get the hard copy now because it's impossible to bookmark when driving! I was particularly interested in his documentation of composers "plundering the past" which seems to be a common criticism of more recent songwriters but confirms what people like Pete Seeger have said - that it was the history of music - ideas passed on from one to another. But as well there were new ideas like the atonal, the 12 note music etc of which I knew nothing and now will explore. Well written, well read and well done - thank you

Captivating- first class audiobook

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