For the Love of Music

A Conductor's Guide to the Art of Listening

By: John Mauceri

Narrated by: John Mauceri

Length: 6 hrs and 8 mins

Publisher's summary

With a lifetime of experience, profound knowledge and understanding, and heartwarming appreciation, an internationally celebrated conductor and teacher answers the questions: Why should I listen to classical music? How can I get the most from the listening experience? 

A protégé of Leonard Bernstein - his colleague for 18 years - and an eminent conductor who has toured and recorded all over the world, John Mauceri helps us to reap the joys and pleasures classical music has to offer. Briefly, we learn the way a musical tradition born in ancient Greece, embraced by the Roman Empire, and subsequently nurtured by influences from across the globe, gave shape to the classical music that came to be embraced by cultures from Japan to Bolivia. Then Mauceri examines the music itself, helping us understand what it is we hear when we listen to classical music: how, by a kind of sonic metaphor, it expresses the deepest recesses of human feeling and emotion; how each piece bears the traces of its history; how the concert experience - a unique one each and every time - allows us to discover music anew. Unpretentious, graceful, instructive, this is a book for the aficionado, the novice, and anyone looking to have the love of music fired within them.

©2019 John Mauceri (P)2019 Random House Audio

Critic reviews

"Mauceri’s love letter will provoke newbies to give classical a whirl and inspire fans to listen with fresh ears.” (Publishers Weekly)

“Classical-music aficionados will enjoy Mauceri’s discussions of composers and their works. Newbies will find them instructive, but the author would caution all readers to not just take his word for it, but to experience the music and hear for themselves.” (Joan Curbow, Booklist)

“The author’s joy for music is infectious.... Even those who know classical music well will learn something from this lively and enthusiastic primer.” (Kirkus Reviews)

Divine Time with a Maestro

This book was an astounding gift for me. Listening felt as if I was having a long conversation with a renown conductor who just happens to have time to answer my questions regarding classical music - over coffee, in my favorite coffee shop, Mauceri's narration is so pleasant (pitch perfect one might say) that the book is calming. The content is well organized so that one can listen to smaller or larger sections at a time and still find enjoyment. Content includes explanations of musical structures, biographical information about composers, historical background on compositions, even information about neuroscience and listening perception that adds to key concepts. Mauceri draws relationships between music from various cultures, time periods, and genres, e.g. even relating the music of Harry Potter. All is presented so expertly that listening to classical music will become a new adventure in each and every opportunity.

Again, all is presented as if in a pleasant leisurely afternoon conversation. Mauceri weaves the story of his journey into music among the chapters. To have such a vicarious experience was an aspect of the book that I found especially enthralling. If the passion and magic of music are a wonder to you, put yourself in a seat with Maestro Mauceri. This audiobook is a treasure.

Perfect!

I was looking for a primer on classical music to expand my knowledge on the subject but instead found myself enthralled in the myths and icons of the classical canon. Loved every second.

A great experience sullied only by how little I knew.

Mauceri does a magnificent job of immersing the Reader in his World of fifty years of conducting The Classical Canon all over the World. His book is not a dry analysis of the History and Components of the Music he loved so well, but rather a journey through all the elements that he feels gives it value.

I learned so much about the roots of its forms and their evolution over the Centuries, the characters and motivations of its Masters, and the Context and History of its iconic Works. I won’t say that I listen to Classical Music that often, but I feel that it has served as a Mile Marker for various events and times of my Life. Reading this book has filled in the colors of the pictures those moments have evoked.

If I had one reservation about For the Love of Music it would be that I would have loved to have been able to hear the Pieces he refers to immediately upon his mention. He addresses us as an audience with total familiarity with the whole range of Music that I’m sure most of us don’t possess. The Audiobook should be twice as long, accompanied by a Spotify Playlist. Then it would be perfect.
Four Stars. ****