Customer Reviews

The Classical Music Experience: Discover the Music of the World's Greatest Composers

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

Julius H. Jacobson II, MD (as the front cover has it) is not a musician, he's a prominent vascular surgeon. And that may be this book's primary attraction. He writes as a fervent music-lover with no training in musicology and thus writes from the point of view of a lay person. Since his intended readers are those people who are completely uninitiated into the mysteries of classical music, but who want to learn more, this approach works well. In addition, and quite cleverly, his chatty, even gossipy, essays about 42 composers and their most popular works are accompanied by two CDs with illustrations of their music. These musical selections are drawn from the vast resources of the Naxos record label and each is introduced, gracefully and articulately, by actor Kevin Kline who, incidentally, is a graduate of Juilliard and a pretty good pianist (although he doesn't play here). There are also tips on what other similar pieces readers might want to track down on their own.

I think the main selling point of this book is the down-to-earth style of its author. He is often discursive, relating fascinating medical, romantic or gossipy facts, say, in the composer's lives. It's a little bit like having a favorite uncle who loves to teach and who knows how to keep one's interest.

I would heartily recommend this to anyone wanting to start learning about classical music.

Scott Morrison

Since we seem to be piling on this poor fellow, I thought this to be the most bizarre publication I have seen in years. I agree that the author is entirely too full of himself, even to the point that the purpose of the book seems to be to glorify himself, rather than to address the purported subject of the book.

Aside from that, the approach of the book seems so scatterbrained that a lot of what he says doesen't mean much unless you already know the subject matter pretty well. It's just too much of a fact here and a fact there thrown in among the author's obvious prejudices about who you will enjoy listening to and who you will not. I may not be as big a fan of the Goulding book as someone else here who has recommended it, but it is much better written, organised and filled with useful information. In fact, much of the content of the Jacobson book is so sketchy that it will make a lot more sense if you read something like Goulding first.

On the other hand, if you have already read Goulding or the like, you probably don't need this book anyway, unless you just like to hear authors talk of themselves.

If you want to buy one book that will introduce you to the wonders of classical music, including two CDs of clips from a few dozen of the best composers in history and plenty of quips about their lives and times, here's the one.

I hadn't heard many of the composers and learned plenty about them, and even a bunch of interesting stories from the medical field (the author is an acclaimed surgeon, "father of microsurgery"). So the author is very smart and doesn't have an axe to grind, and this is clearly his labor of love.

I would start here to get an idea of the historical development and the spectrum of composition and then move on to e.g. "Classical 101" and/or "NPR Curious Listener's Guide" and then maybe Copland's book or various CD guides depending on your interests.

Dr. Jacobson wrote this book with the premise that music is not his area of expertise; so perhaps readers can identify more with his feelings about the music. In this respect, I think he succeeded well. He presents the composers in the order of the era each composer lived in and then allows the reader to listen to selections from each composer (selections are from NAXOS' catalog, a budget classical CD publisher). This is a much better way to discuss music rather than write vague comments about how the music makes him feel.

The writer included lots of trivia tidbits when describing the composers' lives and their work.The presentation is polished as well, with pictures of each composer and a nice page layout. This combination makes the book such an interesting read that I can honestly say that this is one of the better readings I had in the past year. The writer does not fall into the trap of writing too much technical details (a common failing of other introductory books) about the music, which makes reading a smoother ride.

Note though that the writer does NOT give specific CD recommendations, only specific works. Nor does he mention any specific performers. This may necessitate obtaining CD recommendations from another source (such as the Penguin Guide) to make sure that the reader does not go out and buy a dud recording when there is a better interpretation available.

Overall, I think this is a great book to gently guide a classical neophyte into the world of classical music! This (and Michael Walsh' "Who's Afraid of Classical Music") is the most pleasant (and unboring) read for an intro to classical music.

I've worked in public radio long enough to have read a number of these types of books regarding which this author rather naively maintains his to be the first of it's kind. The only remarkable thing about this work is that the author has rendered such a poorly written attempt, yet managed to remain so full of himself. Read the Goulding book, instead.

I really haven't read anything quite
like it before. I think it is an advantage of sorts for you
not to be a university trained musician for the purposes of
this book. The book has a lot of interesting information
but it isn't overwhelming.

My problem has been that until now I've had a kind of
sketchy knowledge of classical. I have some favorite works,
was even able to play Clair De Lune in high school (as a
kind of a challenging one-off in classical), but I've been
at a loss to place Bach before Mozart, or what a concerto
is, and all such similar questions. The book does a fine
job for someone like me who needs a survey but is not
interested in the ghastly details (yet).

I think the book might benefit from a glossary of terms. But on the whole the book/CD is an interesting, enjoyable survey with critical works either sampled or referred to.

Like Jacobson, I am a long-time music lover with what I thought was a wide knowledge of most composers and their work. But Jacobson's "The Classical Music Experience" taught me how little I know -- and how I could deliciously learn so much more. The musical selections are glorious and the commentary both entertaining and enlightening. Whether just listening to the music, reading the text, or both, there are few more pleasurable ways to spend a postprandial hour or two.

Taking full advantage of the ability to bind a CD into a book, The Classical Music Experience offers and opportunity to read about classical composers and listen to appropriate example of their works. The book portion covers all the composers that you would expect in a work on classical music. These include Palestrina, Bach, Handel, Hayden, Mozart, Beethoven, Schubert, Berlioz, Mendelssohn-Bartholdy, Chopin, Schumann, Strauss, Liszt, Wagner, Smetana, Bruckner, Brahms, Bizet, Bruch, Musorgsky, Tchaikovsky, Dvorak, Grieg, Rimsky-Korsakov, Elgar, Mahler, Debussy, Strauss, Sibelius, Vaughan, Schoenberg, Ives, Ravel, Orff, Bartok, Stravinsky, Prokofiev, Gershwin, Poulenc, Copland, Shostakovich, and Bernstein.

For each composer the author gives information on their history, most important pieces, and an analysis of their work as well as several examples on the CD. Each time they are discussing a track on the CD it is clearly identified as such in the text and the specific CD and track listed so you can easily find it and listen while reading that section.

This is as fine of an introduction to the world as classical music as you are likely to find anywhere. A thoroughly enjoyable education in classical music,
The Classical Music Experience is highly recommended.

I have a friend who is determined to educate himself on the subject of classical music and wants "the best" book on the subject to serve as a guide -- the musical equivalent of Clifton Fadiman's _Lifetime Reading Plan_ -- and to that end I have been exploring the field and suggesting titles. This one was very well reviewed, but I don't know why. His list of the most important composers includes the names you would expect, for the most part, and their most important works likewise. In that regard, there's not much to separate this volume from its many competitors. However: The author is a vascular surgeon -- a musical civilian (not even an amateur performer) -- who had several noted musicologists as patients, and who apparently urged him to write it. And he may indeed be more knowledgeable than most of us, but he has a good deal of trouble communicating what he knows. He has a habit, for instance, of launching into explanations of key concepts (like the fugue) by using additional technical jargon -- which he then doesn't bother to explain, so the reader is none the wiser. He goes off on tangents (the causes of the Reformation), brings in his own experiences in medical administration ("I have attended many committee meetings that seemed interminable"), drops names ("the Julliard School of Music tells me"), attempts dry humor that isn't very successful (such as the "spatial relations" involved in Gesualdo's murder of his wife and her lover with a single sword thrust), and generally overwrites in continually wince-making fashion (critics needn't always be "pundits"). This sort of self-conscious pomposity wears quickly. Jacobson also tends to insist on his personal opinions being the only valid ones: Tchaikovsky is "the composer of the adolescent," whose work is a "sentient hot tub" (whatever that means), and whom any true music-lover will soon outgrow -- a position he restates throughout the book. Then there's the two audio CDs that accompany the text. The idea, while not original, is inoffensive in itself -- but they include only the briefest excerpts from the works under discussion, which reminds one of the "1,000 Greatest Classical Hits" collections advertised on TV. All in all, it's not that this is a fundamentally "bad" book, only that there are so many small but irritating things wrong with it, it's difficult for the reader to learn anything.

Love this book. Great for every age. Expose your children to classical music and read about the author as you listen.