The Companion To 20th-century Music [Paperback]

Norman Lebrecht (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: August 22, 1996

Twentieth century music has been remarkable for its pluralism. The various styles—atonality, neo-classicism, nationalism, serialism, jazz, computer music, minimalism, electronics, folklorism, “happenings,” sheer chance—have been far from monolithic, and experimentation has been, perhaps, the century’s only defining feature. With over 2500 entries, The Companion to 20th-Century Music is the first book to comprehensively define and applaud this diversity. Norman Lebrecht celebrates variety and innovation, assessing composers and musicians according to artistic merit rather than ideological or institutional eminence. He states that his purpose is “to demythologize, to enlighten, and to entertain,” so he writes in a readable, narrative style, free of jargon and abbreviations. The end result is the perfect companion to the music of our time.

Editorial Reviews

From Library Journal

British music critic Lebrecht is well known to music lovers for his entertaining, gossipy book Discord ( LJ 5/1/83). The same droll, opinionated, and eminently quotable author makes a triumphant return with this encyclopedia on the personalities and ideas of this century's music. As with Nicolas Slonimsky's Baker's Biographical Dictionary of Musicians ( LJ 1/92. 8th ed.), the stamp of an idiosyncratic, unabashedly partial mind can be found in every entry. Lebrecht professes a pluralistic, nonideological approach: He holds no allegiances, save to his own instincts and good judgment. The results are mixed; for the most part, readers will be greatly impressed by the insightfulness of his comments and the sheer scope of the project. Certain entries, though, are irritatingly flippant and lacking in useful information. One can also criticize Lebrecht for ignoring current technological developments (there is no entry for "MIDI" and a woefully inadequate one for "computers") and for being slightly behind the curve in listing contemporary American composers. These caveats aside, the book is terrific reading and should be included in most music reference collections.
- Larry Lipkis, Moravian Coll., Bethlehem, Pa.
Copyright 1992 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

About the Author

Norman Lebrecht is the author of The Maestro Myth, The Book of Musical Anecdotes, and a number of other books on music, and is the editor of Mahler Remembered. He has made several documentaries and has covered the music world for London’s Sunday Times, the Los Angeles Times, and other publications. He lives in London.

Product Details

• Paperback: 440 pages
• Publisher: Da Capo Press (August 22, 1996)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0306807343
• ISBN-13: 978-0306807343
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 5.9 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,671,074 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars One of the better reference books on 20th century music, May 29, 2002

By 

Christo "montxsuz" (Vancouver, Canada) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Companion To 20th-century Music (Paperback)

Okay. I should qualify that. This book is not intended to cover popular music. Not even jazz. We are only talking about "art" or "serious" music here. And then only some of that. But since you are here, you probably know that already. ...

Mr. Lebrecht is a fairly opinionated Englishman. If you agree with him, fine. If you don't, tough. (Example, from the entry on Australasia: "A late developer in musical terms, the antipodes contributed sopranos - ... - and little else". Ouch! Mr. Lebrecht doesn't care much for electronic/computer music. Ouch again.)

I guess I am lucky in that I agree with many Mr. Lebrecht's opinions - most of the time. So I actually find the "Companion" a handy reference to some of my favourite music. I haven't found a similar book that covers as much as what this one does. And I often appreciate the critical viewpoints.

Negative points:
The "Companion" tries to cover a lot. This means that every heading provides only a limited amount of information. Yet most topics packs a punch. Other books cover fewer topics, but more information per topic.
At the same time the "Companion" does not cover everything. I found that many obscure artists (including composers) are missing from the book.
And there is little overall historical analysis of the entire period. The book is presented in the dictionary style - which is what I wanted. Yet it is still nice to browse through. Entries are cross-referenced, as one would expect.

After 429 pages, the appendix has a historical timeline covering world events, the arts, and music. I would have liked a visual diagram of how, say, American composers relate to each other. There are 13 photos, and a handful of line drawings.

For other periods of classical music, you'll need the Oxford Dictionary of Music edited by Michael Kennedy. If you are interested in jazz (as well), look elsewhere. I recommend The New Grove's Dictionary of Jazz edited by Barry Kernfeld. As for the "Companion", get the second edition. It covers the whole of the last century.

7 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Too much cheap, flip opinion, not much insight, February 21, 2006

By 

Wayne A. (Belfast, Northern Ireland) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: The Companion To 20th-century Music (Paperback)

The book is filled with facts culled, no doubt, from various existing musical dictionaries. Lebrecht's opinions give the volume its spice, but honestly, on every subject mentioned where I, at least, have done my own homework, these opinions strike me as being sophomoric and lacking in any real depth or understanding of his subject or the subject's music, even when I generally agree with his positive or negative drift. If you told me the author was an arrogant 23-year-old know-it-all in desperate need of comeuppance, I'd believe it from what I read here. The danger of a book like this is that without any other background, one runs the risk of filling ones head up with irrelevant and often skewed impressions that will add little to the enjoyment of the relevant music; glib opinions that may even damage ones potential appreciation.

It's not just here. Lebrecht's "Maestro Myth" skirts People Magazine gossip and expose quality and frequently sounds outright ignorant--an irritated farmhand with no grasp of democracy giving the annual Fourth of July speech. I'm sure there's a market for all this but he's not helping the general decline in the Classical Music world, in fact his writings seem to be symptomatic of it. Few places in any of his work do I get any impression that this sort of music really matters much to him; that he isn't merely a bully trying to lord over his mostly dead and unresponsive betters. The distance between this cranky ill-informed muck, and, say, Donald Francis Tovey, can be measured in light years.

Ah, Donald Francis Tovey. We really need someone these days to write up Classical who has his spirit. Here's my favorite Tovey quote, about the 19th century critic Hanslick, and I think it may easily be applied to the author-at-hand too.

"I have read Hanslick's collected works patiently and have not found either in his patronage of Brahms or his attacks on Wagner...any knowledge of anything whatsoever. Hanslick's writings represent one of the unlovelier forms of parasitism; that which having the wealth to collect objets d'art and the birth and education to talk amusingly does not itself attempt a stroke of artistic work, does not dream of revising a first impression, experiences the fine arts entirely as the pleasures of a gentleman, and then pronounces judgement as if the expression of its opinion were a benefit and duty to society"

In a way, I find the book perversely entertaining for its curmudgeonly ignorance, laughable at times, and I do discover the existence of new composers through it now and then, but this is overall a joyless book and that's unfortunate since that century's music--whose audience diminishes daily--really needs an advocate and an illuminator.

4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Classic Lebrecht, February 25, 2005

By 

Leopold Bloom (USA) - See all my reviews

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This review is from: Companion to Twentieth-Century Music (Hardcover)

If you are looking for a comprehensive and objective guide to this musical period, Grove would be a better choice. If you enjoy Lebrecht's columns on "La Scena Musicale," however, this book is highly entertaining. Lebrecht is opinionated, highly informed, and does not hesitate to criticize if he feels it is warranted. Those who are annoyed by his obvious bias would be advised to avoid this book. Although many obscure composers and movements are treated, there are a few significant omissions: Ezra Pound, despite authoring 3 operas as well as other works, is mentioned only in the entry for his orchestrator, George Antheil. Arvo Part's seminal work "Tabula Rasa" is barely mentioned in his entry; it probably merits an entry of its own. And how can any guide to 20th Century classical music include Frank Zappa, but omit Prof. Peter Schickele and P.D.Q. Bach? Entries referenced elsewhere in the text are marked with an asterisk, however, some may have been lost in editing. I searched in vain for the entry on "self-mutilation," referenced in the entry on "aesthetics."

This is basically an encyclopedia, and the highest praise for it may be that there are few books in that format on any subject that merit reading from cover to cover -- this is one of them.