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Rating:  -
Simply put this may be the best survey of 20th Century music I have read. It is lucid, colorful and certainly entertaining. I read Ross in the New Yorker so I was all the more surprised and delighted to find him more expansive and colorful than that which appears in his column. Here he takes time (and space) to introduce and transit one from one section to another, as does Sibelius in my opinion.
Ross disclosed no composer whose name was unfamiliar to me until he got into Ligeti et al. My mind is open but alas my ears are not.
I am not a musician so I cannot comment on his detailed musical analysis of the various pieces in which he explored technical matters; I simply skipped those. I read all else to my great pleasure. He never fails to add to my knowledge and therefor enjoyment of music I listen to.
Highly recommended with one caveat: He gives to short shrift to most 20th century British composers of the pre and immediate post WWII era. Britten may be all fine and good for some, I am not one of those. Ross' virtually passing over RVW is shocking and more than annoying to me.
Still, it is his book. I feel I can comment on what he offers us. I don't feel I can criticize that which he doesn't offer.
My nose grows longer: He passed Elgar as though he never lived. I am not fond of him but he is not to be ignored.
Rating:  -
Wonderful, deep and not to difficult to read. You will not be able to put it down. Some musical knowledge a plus but it will be interesting for anybody who loves music and history.
Rating:  -
The author's method can be summed up in his discussion of the Finnish composer Sibelius, where Ross says that at the beginning of Sibelius' Fifth symphony "the horns present a *** set of intervals: fourth, major second, fourth again. Fifty years later, John Coltrane used the same configuration in his jazz masterpiece A Love Supreme." (p. 181). If you know nothing about music you might think this is very profound and reveals the author's ability to make deep connections between disparate musical traditions. If you know something about music you will realize that (1) the description of what's happening at the beginning of the Sibelius symphony is, to say the least, overly simplistic, (2) the Coltrane piece sounds nothing like the Sibelius, is in a different key, different tempo, etc. etc., (3) the 4th-2nd-4th set of intervals is used all over the place in all sorts of music and (4) there is no reason to think that Coltrane ever listened to Sibelius. So, what is the point of this comparison other than to make musical know-nothings think the author is a genius? So much of this book is Ross imposing his own conception of the composer's personal history or the surrounding culture of his or her time on the music, essentially turning every composition into a tone poem with a story. What's the evidence that this was ever anyone's intent? We have nothing other than Ross' say-so. I enjoyed the cultural history in this book, but if you want to appreciate the music he's talking about, listen to it. You'll be infinitely more enlightened by doing that than by reading Ross.
Rating: -
I read this book last year, before I was in the habit of writing regular reviews. But I'm reviewing it now because (1) it deserves all the stars I can give it, and (2) it enabled me to access a delightful composition by some local North Carolina composers ("I Heart Rosa Luxemburg..." by Pulsoptional) that would have completely sailed over my head without its thorough grounding in history, culture, and music.
The Rest Is Noise does for 20th century classical music what Michael Pollan's The Omnivore's Dilemma did for 20th century food and agriculture: it illuminates the topic so comprehensively and so thoroughly that one is encouraged to actually become engaged in the topic.
I found the stories absolutely compelling, and found myself overwhelmed by emotion as I learned the almost mythical origins, challenges, and triumphs of the last century's greatest achievers. It also inspired me to buy more than $1000 worth of CDs so that I could better experience what the book enabled me to finally understand. And it was worth it!
Now that I'm entering my "old dog" years, rarely have I encountered a book that teaches so much and makes so much so accessible that I feel compelled to try something completely new. This is that rare exception!
Rating: -
I was skeptical going in...not because I haven't enjoyed Alex Ross' writing in the New Yorker, but because good music criticism does not a music historian make. My doubts were unfounded. I took a risk and used this book as the text for my Music in the Twentieth Century course (for non-majors) and I'm never looking back.
Ross keeps a general chronological outline, but centers a century's worth of music around a political and artistic narrative. One of the more intriguing aspects is his use of Thomas Mann's Doctor Faustus : The Life of the German Composer Adrian Leverkuhn As Told by a Friend as a recurring presence, drawing an inextricable link between compositional history and Faustian endeavors. However, in most cases, we see composers who battle with the Mephistopheles of totalitarianism not as raving lunatics, but as artists torn between their commitment to art and general survival.
The author is unafraid to talk about the actual music, painting vivid descriptions, and unfettering important musical concepts for a general audience. His free online audio guide is a beautiful supplement to his discussions in the book (and serves to fill in some of the necessary "gaps" ). Ross makes intriguing choices that run counter to traditional histories of twentieth century music (entire chapters devoted to Sibelius and Britten, for example), but makes a strong case for a socio-political approach rather than a canonical, or "great master" approach. Composers like Richard Strauss and Arnold Schoenberg are not confined to time frames, but reappear out of the tapestry when their music echoes in the ears of compositional trends.The twentieth century appears as a pre-existent soundscape, whose tones, rhythms, and harmonies are manipulated by the various composers traversing the various hills and streams of modernity.
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