Can you tell your Wagner from your Wallen? Or your Schubert from your Seeger?
Test your classical music general knowledge and your powers of puzzle-solving alongside fascinating insights into the lives and works of the great composers, living and dead, in this delightful new book from renowned BBC broadcaster Petroc Trelawny, whose voice will be familiar to those who have tuned in to the Radio 3 Breakfast show, In Tune, the BBC Proms coverage and royal events.
Petroc Trelawny
As Trelawny explains in the introduction to the book, his love of classical music was inherited from his mother, who took the young Petroc to concerts and exposed him to a range of music through radio broadcasts and her collection of LPs. (Such a home-schooling in classical music will be familiar to those of us of a certain age who grew up with the hushed tones of Radio 3 presenters and the ritual of cleaning and placing an LP on the turntable to listen to a Mozart symphony or Bach Cantata.)
The book takes a thematic approach with chapters on Vocal, Stage, Orchestral, Concertos and Instrumental music, beginning with Hildegard of Bingen and closing with Steve Reich. All the “big names” are here, plus lesser-known composers, in particular women, whose lives and works have only recently come to the fore. Each composer entry offers interesting facts and anecdotes, their stories and music brought to life with Trelawny’s characteristic warmth and knowledge, while the accompanying puzzles, devised by puzzle authors Dr Gareth Moore and Laura Jayne Ayres, are carefully designed so that the reader may work out the answers from clues within the text. No prior knowledge of classical music is required – just an inquisitive mind and a liking for puzzles. It’s packed with detail, charm and challenges!
Hildegard of Bingen: Lectio II (Scivias, III, 8) (La Reverdie, Ensemble)
Aside from this, this beautifully produced book is a wonderful advert for classical music, for both the newbie and the seasoned concert-goer, and would make an ideal gift for the music lover in your life.
As Petroc Trelawny says in the introduction, ‘I hope this book will encourage you to book tickets at your local concert venue, or tune in to your classical radio station and support the generations of brilliantly talented artists and composers who have dedicated their lives to the pleasure of making music.’
Dun Tan: Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (Yo-Yo Ma, cello; David Cossin, percussion; Shanghai Symphony Orchestra; Shanghai National Orchestra; Dun Tan, cond.; Xie-yang Chen, cond.)
Petroc Trelawny’s Classical Music Puzzle book is published by Ivy Press
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