Musical Prodigies: Perilous Journeys, Remarkable Lives

by Claude Kenneson

(Amadeus). What must it be like to start composing music at age two and create an opera at age ten as Samuel Barber did? Or to go deaf at age eight and yet become a world-renowned percussionist as Evelyn Glennie has? This book is a celebration of the remarkable lives of 44 musical prodigies from the 18th century to the present, including the amazing stories of Mozart and Paganini, Andres Segovia and Samuel Barber, Van Cliburn and Ruggiero Ricci and Jacqueline du Pre and Yo-Yo Ma, to name only a few. The author explores early family life, first teachers, the importance of peers and the inevitable struggles for independence and acceptance as an adult musician.

386 pages, Hardcover

First published March 1, 2003