Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Essential reading for mature musicians, May 16, 2007
Debussy is delightful. Writing as "Monsieur Croche" for various newspapers, he produced 25 articles of irreverent, sparkling wit. Busoni attempts to answer the question "What are the aims of music?" But the real gem is the "Essays before a Sonata" by Charles Ives which serves as a literary complement to the movements of his still difficult and esoteric Piano Sonata 'Concord, 1845". These essays are not for the casual reader or the young music student.
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5.0 out of 5 stars
Classical Essays, July 27, 2007
I think the thing I liked most about this book was the fact that these were composers writing. It felt like I was getting inside their head, perhaps understanding them a little better, and meanwhile understanding music as well.
For this reason, Debussy's essays were without a doubt my favorite. In fact, it is only thanks to his portion of this book that this receives a five-star rating and not a four (but mostly to raise the overall rating, because this is not a three-star book, but a FOUR). Debussy's writing is clear and interesting, providing the reader with so much information about the most random things and some things that are simply fascinating. The various essays on different composers were incredibly enjoyable as well as amusing. It made me smile to see one of my favorite composers writing about my other favorite composers, all in one book! Debussy wrote about things that were relevant at the time, and that in itself is interesting. A charming collection that I loved reading and rereading.
Busoni's "Sketch of a New Esthetic of Music", I'm afraid, is less enjoyable. A bit dryer and bit more complex, Busoni's essay seems more geared towards people who are already well-versed in music, composing, and the tricky little things that the casual listener doesn't really care about. The casual reader will find this to be dull, and even the hard-core reader who is also a music fan may find this to be just a tad bit slow and boring in comparison to Debussy's charming essay.
Ives' essay, meanwhile, is kind of... different. It feels a bit more all over the place, which while making it less boring, still doesn't make it quite as interesting as the first batch. It's interesting, but not incredible. I found that it's not exactly something you go back to reread very often.
Overall, if Debussy's "Monsieur Croche the Dilettante Hater" was offered as a single volume, I'd heartily recommend you buy that. However, as it is NOT offered anywhere as a new volume, cheap, or even anything remotely comfortable and appropriate, I'd say buy this. Classical music fans who can read long essays without nodding off should definitely read this interesting book, despite the occasional boring moments.
Recommended, if only for Debussy.
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0 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
1.0 out of 5 stars
confusedly yawning, November 14, 2005
I don't usually like to give bad reviews of anything, but this book leaves me no choice. I had to read it to write a paper on it and just getting through the first chapter alone is a chore in itself. Debussy is so repetetive, the writing has ABSOLUTELY no form and it just hammers a point to death. I couldn't concentrate on this for more than a few seconds at a time.
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