I have a review up on Shiny New Books today I want to share with you, and it’s of a real chunkster – as you can see from the image below….!
The book is called “A Sound Mind” and it’s by a favourite author of mind, Paul Morley. I’ve read every book he’s published, and a good number of his other uncollected writings, as I started reading his work back in the heyday of the NME in the 1970s. Ever since he’s been an author I love to spend time with – his books are always stimulating, original and very wordy (which I like!) And “A Sound Mind” was particularly intriguing, at it follows Morley’s exploration of classical music in all its forms, from Bach to Birtwistle. As you might guess from the sheaf of post-its peeking out of my copy, I absolutely adored spending a half-term week reading this book – and you can read my full review here!
Kaggsy's Bookish Ramblings 
Nov 19, 2020 @ 12:04:10
Sounds brilliant! Look at all those bookmarks!
Nov 19, 2020 @ 13:40:01
I know! I could have quoted half the book, but that would defeat the object of getting people to read it! 😀
Nov 19, 2020 @ 12:15:13
This sounds like a great guide for those of us are musically illiterate.
Nov 19, 2020 @ 13:39:35
It’s wonderful, and I find Morley’s way of writing about things is always illuminating – he has that knack of making you look at the world differently. I’m musically illiterate, but I love listening to all shapes and forms, so this was just brilliant!
Nov 19, 2020 @ 14:16:10
Lovely review, which I’ve commented on over on Shiny New Books.
Nov 19, 2020 @ 15:03:24
Ah, thanks! 😀
Nov 19, 2020 @ 16:42:08
Wow, look at all those sticky notes in that book. Clearly a book that gave you a lot to think about.
Nov 19, 2020 @ 17:38:46
It really did! And I could have stuck even more in! 😀
Nov 19, 2020 @ 18:50:41
Like Ali, I’m marvelling at all the sections you’ve flagged in this book It must have been very good! I shall head over to Shiny to take a closer look…
Nov 19, 2020 @ 19:00:34
LOL, I loved it – but it *was* a commitment and I’m glad I had the half term to read it! 😀
Nov 19, 2020 @ 21:28:57
Great review, it is clearly music week on SNB, my book was even longer 😉
https://shinynewbooks.co.uk/michael-tippett-the-biography-by-oliver-soden
Nov 20, 2020 @ 06:08:58
Thank you! I shall pop over and check yours out – I once worked for a bank where Tippett had his account…. 🤣
Nov 20, 2020 @ 10:45:48
I expect they were in constant correspondance with him about the balance then!
Nov 20, 2020 @ 11:05:39
;D
Nov 20, 2020 @ 08:28:52
Classical music never really appeals to me – like poetry, I like the idea of it, but it just doesn’t ‘click’. Just the other day I was wondering if there was a decent book on classical music for the novice. There are the books for ‘Dummies’ but this may well be a better option.
Nov 20, 2020 @ 09:51:41
It certainly is a book that I feel makes you look at classical music in a different way – and by taking away the gatekeeping and the pomp surrounding it, he signposts ways to approach it as just music. So it definitely might be the book for you!
Nov 20, 2020 @ 10:49:18
Let me recomment “The Making of Music”, James Naughtie, 2007, John Murray
Nov 20, 2020 @ 13:54:01
Thanks for the recommendation. I’ll check it out.
Nov 20, 2020 @ 18:32:15
I want to understand classical music better – this sounds a perfect help!
Nov 20, 2020 @ 20:39:06
It’s certainly good at getting round the boundaries around classical, and also for creating all manner of lists of things you want to explore!!
Nov 23, 2020 @ 05:22:17
I love Western Classical and this chunkster seems like a great read as work slows down for a while *******************hopefully********** Great review!
Nov 23, 2020 @ 12:32:47
Thanks! It really is a great read!
Nov 23, 2020 @ 20:24:48
This looks like a beautiful book, Kaggsy! Thanks so much for writing about this! Adding this to my reading list! I love reading books about classical music, though I haven’t read one in a while. So excited!
Nov 24, 2020 @ 11:36:19
It’s a fascinating work, and I love his quirky take on the whole subject! Classical music can be so intimidating, but he really takes a very individual approach to it!
Nov 28, 2020 @ 16:13:16
So nice! There was a time I read a little (or a lot 😁) about classical music. Time to get back to it, I think. Will start with this one.
Nov 28, 2020 @ 16:34:40
It’s certainly a very individual look at classical, which I loved! 😀
Dec 02, 2020 @ 21:33:27
And what a great time to consider new home-based projects and studies. When I was in high school, I studied music theory and history and we were warned early on that our final exam, at the end of the fifth year, would consist of ten excerpts played and our needing to identify them based on what we’d learned (which instruments were invented when, style, mood, etc.) and it was both terrifying and thrilling to gradually piece things together. Recently I’ve begun to wonder whether I’ve retained any of that and this book sounds like an excellent way to check-in!
Dec 03, 2020 @ 10:02:12
It’s marvellous – I’m totally unmusical when it comes to understanding notation, playing etc but I love to listen and so I really appreciate Morley’s way of approaching classical….
Dec 14, 2020 @ 07:01:22
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