Classical Music: Third Ear: The Essential Listening Companion [Paperback]

Alexander Morin (Author)

Book Description

Series: Third Ear | Publication Date: July 1, 2001

Ranging from Gregorian chant to Philip Glass, this well-balanced guide to historical and comtemporary classical music examines major works by 500 composers worldwide. It focuses on exemplary recordings of symphonies, operas, concertos, choral pieces, chamber music, piano pieces and other works performed by an internatinoal spectrum of premier conductors, musicians and vocalists. Incisive, often anecdotal critiques define the distinctive style and interpretation of thousands of selected works and recordings. Composers profiled and reviewed include: Bach, Beethoven, Bernstein, Brahms, Chopin, Copland, Czerny, Debussy, Gershwin, Gilbert & Sullivan, Handel, Haydn, Mozart, Prokofieff, Puccini, Reich, Schubert, Tchaikovsky, Varse, Wagner and hundreds of others.

Editorial Reviews

From Library Journal

This excellent guide to classical music discography ranges over the entire history of recorded sound, with 50-plus contributors covering some 500 composers. In contrast to most guides of its kind, headnote information (e.g., label, disc numbers, performers, and the like) is presented in the text in summary form only, with boldface alerting readers to particular performers and recommended recordings. Usually, a composer entry begins with a short assessment of the composer's work and historical significance, followed by a discussion of the recordings. Besides the main 1100-page composer section, editor Morin, a contributor to several prestigious musical publications, allotted sections to genres and instruments/artists. The main competition to this work is The Penguin Guide to Compact Discs, out in a new edition this year. Both are mammoth works, but some minor composers/works in one are not in the other (and vice versa). For certain major composers, Penguin is superior, but in general the nod goes to the newcomer, especially for its coverage of "genre" music not included in Penguin (the film music of Korngold, for example, is not mentioned in Penguin) and more complete entries on important minor composers (such as Viotti). Ideally, libraries should own both books to cover the classical scene fully. (The "About the Book" section of Classical Music states that, like Penguin, it will be updated periodically.) This fascinating and readable survey is recommended for all libraries.
Bruce R. Schueneman, Texas A&M Univ. Lib., Kingsville
Copyright 2002 Reed Business Information, Inc.

About the Author

Alexander Morin founded the Aldine Publishing Company. He lives in Washington, D.C.

Product Details

• Paperback: 1200 pages
• Publisher: Backbeat Books (July 1, 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0879306386
• ISBN-13: 978-0879306380
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 7.4 x 2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (33 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #175,305 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

65 of 68 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars What a great book!, February 18, 2003

By 

W. Hill (Newark, DE USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Classical Music: Third Ear: The Essential Listening Companion (Paperback)

This is a wonderful guide to the sometimes confusing world of classical CDs. It may not supplant the Penguin Guide as the gold-standard, but it is a very illuminating supplement to it, and may be a first choice if you live in the USA. Penguin tends to have a British bias in many of their reviews, while this book comes from a more American perspective -- if you have ever bought a CD because Penguin gave it three stars, and then listened to it and wondered what all the fuss was about, this book may be for you. The reviews are entertaining to read, brief yet informative and often witty, and clearly organized to help you find what you want. The book does not cover quite the range of recordings that Penguin does, but it comes close, and certainly covers far, far more than either the Grammophone Good CD or Rough Guide books do. This is definitely the book to get if you want a second opinion after the Penguin Guide, and would make a highly satisfactory guide on its own. Very highly recommended!!!!!

47 of 48 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A most interesting guide - but inconsistent, March 29, 2005

By 

Alan Lekan (Boulder, CO) - See all my reviews
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Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Classical Music: Third Ear: The Essential Listening Companion (Paperback)

This is a fascinating buying guide to classical music recordings with many positive attributes. It is full of interesting historical context of the composers and their works and fascinating performer trivia, making it quite entertaining and educational in addition to comparing the many recording choices. Compared to Penguin or Gramophone, it gives MUCH MORE in-depth backgroung on each work's history and significance. Also, there is a lack of any "British bias" (since published in USA) that some cite with Gramophone or Penguin (both UK published). Case in point: American pianist, Garrick Ohlsson's superb eight volumes of Chopin on the Arabesque label. Third Ear is the only guide to extensively review each of Ohlsson's Arabesque CD's while there is not one mention in the 2003 Penguin or Gramophone. Bias? Perhaps more likely the Brits are just not familiar with all the musicians "across the pond." Its really impossible for any one guide to be the "end-all" guide.

A notable and unique feature of The Third Ear Guide is the many pages of great biographies of the FAMOUS MUSICIANS by instrument in the back (pianists, violinists, violists, cellists, wind players, percussionists, vocalists etc). So, here you can find legends from Rubinstein, Horowitz, Pires, Perahia, Grumiaux, Oistrakh, Casels, Starker, Bain, Holliger, Graham, Pavoratti and many other admired musicians/vocalists thoughout the past century. In addition to some curious history and career milestones of these well-loved performers, The Third Ear Guide also cites some of their better recordings - a real valuable feature I found.

However, this guide waxes hot and cold depending on the composer/genre. For example, in the listings of available performances for a huge category like Beethoven's 32 piano sonatas, there are SEVERAL entire pages covering nearly two dozen musicians who have recorded those works with compelling insights into their styles, historic performances and careers. Really great stuff for the conoisseur! But, in other categories it is a different story. Most frustrating to some is that in many cases, obvious top recordings and major performers are not mentioned, leaving the reader with an incomplete information. But, the bottom line is that no one guide is the end-all resource, and serious collectors will have this guide along with the Gramophone and Penguin Guides as each really has something valuable and often unique to contribute to the study of the finest recordings.

On the style side, the commentary is not dry and academic but full of human interest and spicy opinions - revealing "nuggets" of fascinating information for the music you most love. Additionally, the editors are not always prim-and-proper, saying only positive things (like Penguin Guide) but actually give critical and insightful comments which truly helps one sort out the pack. In this respect, the Third Ear Guide is the probably the most interesting to read compared to the others. So, this guide is much more than just a guide to look up ratings - it is a fascinating journey into classical music, its vast repertoire and its performers. If you are a serious collector, multiple guides area always the best way to go to get a wide variety of opinion. If you really can only pick one guide, most people would go with legendary Penguin Guide. But, my second guide would definately be Third Ear (over Gramophone) as it often lists recordings suprisingly not listed in Penguin. Also, it is just plain fun and fascinating to read at random.

23 of 24 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The best comprehensive recording guide, September 8, 2005

By 

C. Zhang (Boston, MA USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Classical Music: Third Ear: The Essential Listening Companion (Paperback)

I am not a professional music critic or player, but just like and listen to classical music a lot. This book is to me the a better guide than Penguin or Grammophone.
One critical feature of the book is that it has many contributors, among them are professionals like Harold Schoenberg, and many semi-professional listeners. They do not have the bias commonly felt in the Penguin guide or grammophone, nor do they say good things to every recording (as Penguin). They offer somehow personal, but reasonable and enlightening opinions, often enriched by comparisons of different recordings. I get the feeling that they are just serious listeners and tell us their feelings about different recordings. In this sense it is truly a "listern's companion".
Another feature is that at the end of the third part of the book is devoted to instruments and artists, which surveys the greatest instrumentalists in the 20th century. Along with a short introduction to the artist's style are the representative recordings. This part is really helpful for beginners.
Finally, no recording guide can survey all recordings and this is no exception. A lot of recordings elsewhere claimed to be legendary could be missed here, most probably due to the personal taste of the reviewer. Also you may find the recommended recordings not to your taste and/or your favorite ones listed as not-so-good ones. But none of these is so important. Above all, no review can tell you more than listening to the recording yourself, this guide does tell you what recordings you may want to give a try. And to this point it does do a better job than Grammophone or Penguin.