Ten Masterpieces of Music

Name: Ten Masterpieces of Music
Brand: Dreamscape Media
Availability: InStock
Author: Harvey Sachs
ISBN: 9781666524284

Author: Harvey Sachs

Narrator: Paul Bellantoni

Unabridged: 11 hr 40 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Publisher: Dreamscape Media

Published: 11/02/2021

Categories: Nonfiction, Music, Classical Music, History & Criticism

Includes: Bonus Material Bonus Material Included

Synopsis

In this magisterial volume, Harvey Sachs, author of the highly acclaimed biography Toscanini, takes listeners into the heart of ten great works of classical music?works that have endured because they were created by composers who had a genius for drawing music out of their deepest wellsprings. These masters?Mozart and Beethoven; Schubert, Schumann, Berlioz, Verdi, and Brahms; Sibelius, Prokofiev, and Stravinsky?communicated their life experiences through music, and through music they universalized the intimate. By expanding our perceptions of these ten pieces?composed in the years between 1784 and 1966?Sachs, in lush, exquisite prose, invites us to consider why music stimulates, disturbs, exalts, and consoles us. He has lived with these masterpieces for a lifetime, and his descriptions of them and the dramatic lives of the composers who wrote them bring a heightened dimension to our musical perceptions—whether we’re casual listeners, students, professional musicians, or anyone in between.

About Harvey Sachs

Harvey Sachs is the author or coauthor of eleven books and has written for The New Yorker, The New York Times, and The Times Literary Supplement, among other publications. He lives in New York City and is on the faculty of the Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia.

About Paul Bellantoni

Paul Bellantoni is an experienced voiceover artist and audiobook narrator who has worked on a wide range of projects. Also an award-winning opera singer, he has performed in opera houses across the United States and Europe—including at Carnegie Hall, where he held a solo concert. He currently resides in Los Angeles.

Reviews

Goodreads review by Jay on April 23, 2022

39-2022. The author dives deep into the titular 10 Masterpieces, chosen by him, and ties them with each other as an arc of music over the ages. It is not intended to be the 10 Greatest Pieces ever written, but is instead his choices of pieces from important composers starting with Mozart and ending......more

Goodreads review by William on March 15, 2022

You know the drill. Music appreciation. Well, why not. Very nice, very insightful. I loved the biographies, and will listen to the pieces and return to Dr Sachs for his analysis. He really does a beautiful job and seems to care very much about the music. That’s something right there, isn’t it?......more

Goodreads review by petra on February 06, 2023

Solid read, if a bit repetitive at times. Catch me cheering in the background every time I saw Schubert mentioned.......more

Goodreads review by Ryan on January 01, 2025

I thoroughly enjoyed reading this, especially the biographical aspect, although I regret not being more well-versed in music theory to fully appreciate the compositional component which the author elucidates in quite some detail. That is the main issue with this book: most of the analysis demands of......more