Surprised by Beauty: A Listener's Guide to the Recovery of Modern Music
- ISBN-10
- 1681497042
- ISBN-13
- 9781681497044
- Category
- Music
- Pages
- 510
- Language
- English
- Published
- 2016-04-21
- Publisher
- Ignatius Press
- Author
- Robert Reilly
Description
The best music of the 20th century "developed our capacity for feeling, deepened our compassion, and furthered our quest for and understanding of what Aristotle called 'the perfect end of life' ". — from the Foreword by NPR music critic Ted Libbey The single greatest crisis of the 20th century was the loss of faith. Noise—and its acceptance as music—was the product of the resulting spiritual confusion and, in its turn, became the further cause of its spread. Likewise, the recovery of modern music, the theme to which this book is dedicated, stems from a spiritual recovery. This is made explicitly clear by the composers whose interviews with the author are collected in this book. Robert Reilly spells out the nature of the crisis and its solution in sections that serve as bookends to the chapters on individual composers. He does not contend that all of these composers underwent and recovered from the central crisis he describes, but they all lived and worked within its broader context, and soldiered on, writing beautiful music. For this, they suffered ridicule and neglect, and he believes their rehabilitation will change the reputation of modern music. It is the spirit of music that this book is most about, and in his efforts to discern it, Reilly has discovered many treasures. The purpose of this book is to share them, to entice you to listen—because beauty is contagious. English conductor John Eliot Gardiner writes that experiencing Bach's masterpieces "is a way of fully realizing the scale and scope of what it is to be human". The reader may be surprised by how many works of the 20th and 21st centuries of which this is also true. The book includes 100s of CD recommendations, which will be regularly updated on the website for the book: www.SurprisedByBeauty.org.
Get the book
Similar books
-
Surprised by Beauty: A Listener's Guide to the Recovery of Modern Music
By Robert R. Reilly, Jens F. LaursonLikewise, the recovery of modern music, the theme to which this book is dedicated, stems from a spiritual recovery. This is made explicitly clear by the composers whose interviews with the author are collected in this book.
-
Surprised by Beauty
A photographic memoir of the life and times of photographer and author Carol Dugan.
-
Surprised by Motherhood: Everything I Never Expected about Being a Mom
By Lisa-Jo BakerSurprised by Motherhood is Lisa-Jos story of becoming and being a mom, and in the process, discovering that all the what to expect and how to books in the world can never truly prepare you for the sheer exhilaration, joy, and terrifying ...
-
Surprised by Oxford: A Memoir
By Carolyn WeberThis year, however, Kelly and I decided to outsmart the smallstocking limitation by not technically breaking the rule. Anticipating seeing Mom so happy, in spite of her scolding, was motivation enough. I had to agree with Kelly, ...
-
Surprised by Hope: Rethinking Heaven, the Resurrection, and the Mission of the Church
By N. T. WrightLively and accessible, this book will surprise and excite all who are interested in the meaning of life, not only after death but before it.
-
Surprised by Laughter: The Comic World of C.S. Lewis
By Terry LindvallSurprised by Laughter looks at the career and writings of C. S. Lewis and discovers a man whose life and beliefs were sustained by joy and humor.
-
Surprised by God: Praise Responses in the Narrative of Luke-Acts
By Kindalee Pfremmer De Long... beauty, she “re‐joices with great joy” (ἐχάρη χαρὰν μεγάλην) (18:10). This response is ech‐oed communally by her family who, amazed at Aseneth's beauty, joyously praise the change in her: καὶ ἐχάρησαν καὶ ἔδωκαν δόξαν τῷ θεῷ ζωοποιοῦντι ...
-
Surprised by Meaning: Science, Faith, and How We Make Sense of Things
By Alister E. McGrathIn thirteen short, accessible chapters McGrath, author of the bestselling The Dawkins Delusion, leads the reader through a nontechnical discussion of science and faith. How do we make sense of the world around us?
-
The Gift of Beauty and the Passion of Being: On the Threshold between the Aesthetic and the Religious
By William DesmondWorth recalling is how one of the central themes of Art, Origins, Otherness was the displacement of a sense of transcendence, traditionally understood in the space of religion, in the direction of art. At the same time, notice was taken ...
-
Lottie and the Land of Dofstram: The Return
By M A Haggerty... surprised at hearing the sombre voice coming from Beauty, they didn't hesitate to give her their full attention. Settled on the table, Beauty immediately asked, 'Allsorts, Scruffy, can you sense anything unusual?' Not sure what Beauty ...