What do you think?
Rate this book
Everything We Do is Music: How 20th-Century Classical Music Shaped Pop
A FINANCIAL TIMES AND IRISH TIMES BOOK OF THE YEAR
'Revelation after revelation . . . I love music more for reading it.' Guy Garvey
'Alker joins the dots by following myriad musical ley lines. A fascinating journey into sound.' Mark Radcliffe
'Reveals so much about the hidden connections between the sounds we love . . . A must read.' Sara Mohr-Pietsch
A panoramic exploration of the ways in which pop and rock were transformed by the pioneering visionaries of classical music.
The worlds of pop and rock owe a much greater debt to the classical canon than we realise. A direct and fascinating lineage draws from the experimentalism of Pierre Henry to The Beatles' 'Tomorrow Never Knows', from Stockhausen to Donna Summer's 'I Feel Love' and from Bruckner to Sonic Youth via Glenn Branca.
In Everything We Do is Music, Elizabeth Alker shines a light on the fertile ground that exists between the borders of classical music and pop. She showcases the innovators of the former and their fans and collaborators in the latter, and explores how together these artists challenged the notion that such musical worlds are mutually exclusive.
** Featuring interviews with Sir Paul McCartney, Steve Reich, Nils Frahm, Soweto Kinch, Jonny Greenwood, the Blessed Madonna and more. **
'Revelation after revelation . . . I love music more for reading it.' Guy Garvey
'Alker joins the dots by following myriad musical ley lines. A fascinating journey into sound.' Mark Radcliffe
'Reveals so much about the hidden connections between the sounds we love . . . A must read.' Sara Mohr-Pietsch
A panoramic exploration of the ways in which pop and rock were transformed by the pioneering visionaries of classical music.
The worlds of pop and rock owe a much greater debt to the classical canon than we realise. A direct and fascinating lineage draws from the experimentalism of Pierre Henry to The Beatles' 'Tomorrow Never Knows', from Stockhausen to Donna Summer's 'I Feel Love' and from Bruckner to Sonic Youth via Glenn Branca.
In Everything We Do is Music, Elizabeth Alker shines a light on the fertile ground that exists between the borders of classical music and pop. She showcases the innovators of the former and their fans and collaborators in the latter, and explores how together these artists challenged the notion that such musical worlds are mutually exclusive.
** Featuring interviews with Sir Paul McCartney, Steve Reich, Nils Frahm, Soweto Kinch, Jonny Greenwood, the Blessed Madonna and more. **
- GenresMusicNonfiction
417 pages, Kindle Edition
Published August 26, 2025
14 people are currently reading
219 people want to read
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
November 25, 2025
Some chapters are great (Beatles, Sonic Youth, Japanese ambient music) while others are Phillip Glass-level of sleep-inducing. Glad I read it, though!
October 13, 2025
I borrowed from the library then bought a copy! The best music book I've read since Charlie Gillet's Sound of the City which started by musical journey way back. This is as close as a chronology of my interests in the subsequent period. Elizabeth is one of those writers who goes beyond just a mere recitation of dates and titles but into the lives of the musicians. Poor old Theremins unrequited love will break hearts.
September 24, 2025
Fantastically well researched and intelligent book on electronic music and its influences. Covers all the bases from France to America to Tokyo from minimalism to Disco to trance.
Extremely impressive and very enjoyable analysis that finds the right level of detail and introduces you to a raft of new musical options. Great stuff.
Extremely impressive and very enjoyable analysis that finds the right level of detail and introduces you to a raft of new musical options. Great stuff.
November 13, 2025
4.67 - The author draws interesting strands of music together creating a musical map of the avant garde. Clearly explained and contextualised pioneers in classical and popular music, this is a great jumping off point for musical exploration
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews