A review by benjaminj1996
The Rest Is Noise: Listening To The Twentieth Century by Alex Ross

challenging informative inspiring reflective slow-paced

4.0

 

Even just in terms of scale, this is a seriously impressive book. It covers musical development in the 20th century with examples and narratives from all sorts of places. Ross is at his best when describing pieces of music - his writing really brings the music to life, somehow. 

 

We get lots of profiles of different composers and key musicians which is great - yet I think even in just a decade this book may have become somewhat of a product of its time in that it hardly ever affords women the time of day in this regard. You could argue that women weren't really allowed any influence by society and therefore there is less to say - but I think if the research can be done about a large group of men, often finding lots of new details, the same could have been done for women. There are also one or two turns of phrase that I don't think would/should be used today here and there. 

 

That said, what we *do* have in this book is really interesting and well done. Some composers/areas are bound to feel relatively glossed over just because of the sheer scope of the book and sheer detail of other sections - but this book really is a pervasive account of music in an entire century, which is no mean feat. Also, as a composer I've found the equal weight given to varied approaches to music quite inspiring, and has set some thoughts in motion in a number of different directions. It's also exposed me to composers and pieces I'd either not listened to before or hadn't really given enough time to, so it's been really helpful in my own musical development!