The Classic FM Friendly Guide to Mozart

by Darren Henley, Tim Lihoreau

An introduction to Mozart and his music, including a CD with excerpts from his top 20 hits, to celebrate his anniversary in 2006.

208 pages, Paperback

Published January 1, 2006

About the author

Darren Henley OBE is chief executive of Arts Council England. His two independent government reviews into music and cultural education resulted in England's first National Plan for Music Education, new networks of Music Education Hubs, Cultural Education Partnerships and Heritage Schools, the Museums and Schools programme, the BFI Film Academy and the National Youth Dance Company. Before joining the Arts Council, he led Classic FM for fifteen years. He holds degrees in politics from the University of Hull, in management from the University of South Wales and in history of art from the University of Buckingham. A recipient of the British Academy President's Medal for his contributions to music education, music research and the arts, his books include The Virtuous Circle: Why Creativity and Cultural Education Count and The Arts Dividend: Why Investment in Culture Pays.

Reviews

[Mani Dawattgaran · Rating 3 out of 5]

اگر به دنبال خواندن بیوگرافی خلاصه‌ای از نابغه‌ی‌ تاریخ موسیقی هستید، این کتاب انتخابی مناسب می‌باشد؛ اما اگر، چنانچه در توضیحات کتاب آمده، به دنبال کسب ذره‌ای سواد درباره‌ی موسیقی کلاسیک هستید، کاملا دچار اشتباه شده‌اید. سی‌دی همراه کتاب حاوی گزیده‌ی‌کوتاهی از بهترینهای موتسارت است که به آشنایی بیشتر با این اعجوبه کمک می‌کند.

[Alex Boon · Rating 3 out of 5]

A nice swift tour through the life of Mozart. Drawbacks are the highly superficial nature of the discussions and the fact that there is very little focus on the actual music. The section describing the plots of Mozart's operas seemed superfluous to me (perhaps because I hate operas though so I may be biased). I would like to have read much more about how Mozart's music developed and how it fit with his contemporaries. I'll be reading much more, but this was a nice enough start.