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A review by jasonfurman
Year of Wonder: Classical Music for Every Day by Clemency Burton-Hill
5.0
I started this on January 1st and just finished it today. It is a separate movement from a classical piece for each day of the year, generally ranging from 2 to 20 minutes. In some cases motivated by the feeling of the day (like the champagne popping in the Johann Strauss waltz for today’s piece), in some cases the birthday, death day of the composer or the date of the composition, and in some cases even more arbitrary.
Clemency Burton-Hill is ecumenical in her tastes, incredibly enthusiastic, not remotely snobby—talks about pieces she listens to in the Tube, while doing housework, or reverentially in a concert hall. All of the major composers are here but with 366 days (yes, it has the leap day—so perfect for 2020), there are lots of women, non-European/Americans, and composers who are still alive and working—many of them under 50.
A book like this would have been impossible prior to streaming but with streaming I was able to listen to all 366 pieces (mostly on the designated day, but sometimes I did in groups because I got behind or felt like getting ahead). This introduced me to so many new pieces/composers that I downloaded and will help add to my listening next year and beyond.
If you like classical music and want to expand your horizons this is a great way to do it.
Clemency Burton-Hill is ecumenical in her tastes, incredibly enthusiastic, not remotely snobby—talks about pieces she listens to in the Tube, while doing housework, or reverentially in a concert hall. All of the major composers are here but with 366 days (yes, it has the leap day—so perfect for 2020), there are lots of women, non-European/Americans, and composers who are still alive and working—many of them under 50.
A book like this would have been impossible prior to streaming but with streaming I was able to listen to all 366 pieces (mostly on the designated day, but sometimes I did in groups because I got behind or felt like getting ahead). This introduced me to so many new pieces/composers that I downloaded and will help add to my listening next year and beyond.
If you like classical music and want to expand your horizons this is a great way to do it.