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Classical MusicExpect the Unexpected |
eBook Available
A passionate appeal from an acclaimed artist for the relevance of classical music in today's torn world.
How relevant is classical music today? The genre seems in danger of becoming nothing more than a hobby for the social elite. Yet Kent Nagano has another world in mind - one where everyone has access to classical music.
In Classical Music: Expect the Unexpected the world-famous classical conductor tells the deeply personal story of his own engagement with the masterpieces and great composers of classical music, his work with the world's major orchestras, and his tireless commitment to bringing his music to everybody. Narrating his first childhood encounters with music's power to overcome social and ethnic boundaries, he celebrates an art form that has always taken part in debates about human values and societal developments. The constantly declining relevance of classical music in these disrupted times, he argues, not only impoverishes society from a cultural perspective but robs it of inspiration, wit, emotional depth, and a sense of community. Getting to grips with classical music's existential crisis, Nagano contends that it is too crucial to humanity's survival to be allowed to silently disappear from our everyday reality.
In this moving autobiography, Kent Nagano makes a compelling plea for classical music that is as exhilarating as it is thought-provoking.
In Classical Music: Expect the Unexpected the world-famous classical conductor tells the deeply personal story of his own engagement with the masterpieces and great composers of classical music, his work with the world's major orchestras, and his tireless commitment to bringing his music to everybody. Narrating his first childhood encounters with music's power to overcome social and ethnic boundaries, he celebrates an art form that has always taken part in debates about human values and societal developments. The constantly declining relevance of classical music in these disrupted times, he argues, not only impoverishes society from a cultural perspective but robs it of inspiration, wit, emotional depth, and a sense of community. Getting to grips with classical music's existential crisis, Nagano contends that it is too crucial to humanity's survival to be allowed to silently disappear from our everyday reality.
In this moving autobiography, Kent Nagano makes a compelling plea for classical music that is as exhilarating as it is thought-provoking.
Details
248 Pages, 6 x 9
ISBN 9780773556348
February 2019
Formats: Cloth, eBook
“Kent Nagano’s book is a poignant and passionate plea for classical music: personal, profound, and critical.” Klassik Radio
“One of the most exceptional and multifaceted books of the year. A world-class conductor reveals almost everything about himself, and you can’t put the book down.” Handelsblatt
“Nagano’s plea is urgent and heartfelt. He writes personally but also has chapters about some of the important classical music icons of the ages, past and contemporary. This is a fascinating exploration that gives an inside perspective of this traditional endeavor, bringing the form, its practitioners, and its achievements to light.” Seattle Book Review
“[Classical Music: Expect the Unexpected] is really about the decline of Classical Music. Along the way Nagano reflects on various composers and describes his ingenuous strategies - which deserve attention - for integrating his orchestra into the Montreal community.” BBC Music Magazine
“Above all [Nagano’s book] is passionate in its advocacy of classical music as an eternal pathway to individual spiritual awareness and a tonic for what ails the modern age.” Montreal Gazette
"Nagano drives home the power of listening to and understanding serious music." CAML Review / Revue de l'ACBM
“One of the most exceptional and multifaceted books of the year. A world-class conductor reveals almost everything about himself, and you can’t put the book down.” Handelsblatt
“Nagano’s plea is urgent and heartfelt. He writes personally but also has chapters about some of the important classical music icons of the ages, past and contemporary. This is a fascinating exploration that gives an inside perspective of this traditional endeavor, bringing the form, its practitioners, and its achievements to light.” Seattle Book Review
“[Classical Music: Expect the Unexpected] is really about the decline of Classical Music. Along the way Nagano reflects on various composers and describes his ingenuous strategies - which deserve attention - for integrating his orchestra into the Montreal community.” BBC Music Magazine
“Above all [Nagano’s book] is passionate in its advocacy of classical music as an eternal pathway to individual spiritual awareness and a tonic for what ails the modern age.” Montreal Gazette
"Nagano drives home the power of listening to and understanding serious music." CAML Review / Revue de l'ACBM
Kent Nagano is a renowned conductor working all over the globe. Born in the United States, he grew up in Morro Bay, a fishing village on the west coast of California. After gaining success as a conductor in the US, he was appointed music director at the Opéra National de Lyon in 1988, where he served until 1998. From 1991 to 2000, he stood at the helm of the Hallé Orchestra in Manchester, and in 2003 he was appointed first music director of the Los Angeles Opera. From 2000 to 2006 he was chief conductor and artistic director of the Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin before becoming general music director at the Bavarian State Opera in Munich (until July 2013) and music director of the Orchestre symphonique de Montréal. In 2015, he began his tenure as general music director and chief conductor of the Hamburg State Opera.
Inge Kloepfer, born in Munich, is a prize-winning and bestselling author and journalist writing for Germany’s leading papers. She lives in Berlin.
Inge Kloepfer, born in Munich, is a prize-winning and bestselling author and journalist writing for Germany’s leading papers. She lives in Berlin.
Prologue ix
CHAPTER ONE
ON CATTLE BREEDERS AND TRUMPETS / 3
A Fishing Village Filled with Sound 3 / Mother’s Determination 6 / The Miracle of Morro Bay 9 / Music - School - Music 13 / On Teachers and Structure 17 / The Golden Age of Classical Music 20 / My Dream 24 / Bach - Through the Heart to the Head / 27
CHAPTER TWO
DECLARATION OF BANKRUPTCY IN PHILADELPHIA / 41
Concert in a Ghost Town 41 / Death in Installments 43 / Greetings from Lehman Brothers 47 / A Wasting Disease in Wonderland 49 / Gray, and Even Grayer 52 / Changing Values, Changing World 56 / Narrow Education 57 / Wishful Thinking, Wished-for People 59 / Schoenberg - Collapse and New Beginning 63
CHAPTER THREE
CLASSICAL MUSIC FOR A TIME OF CRISIS? / 77
Outrage Is the Beginning of All Things 77 / Imminent Disappearance 78 / Not Just for Elites 80 / The Search for Meaning 83 / Man’s Foe 87 / On the Power of Aesthetic Experiences 88 / A Matter of Social Survival 92 / What’s Your Mind Made Of? 94 / The Promises of Music 97 / Beethoven - Superstar 100
CHAPTER FOUR
HEROES ON ICE - AND NO COMPROMISES / 113
Strange Sounds for Young Folk 113 / An Orchestra without a Conductor 116 / Anything for the Turnaround 119 / Strauss, or The Path to a Program Idea 121 / Outside the Door 125 / Nothing Lasts Forever 127 / Frank Zappa, or The Serious Side of the Artist 129 / Messiaen - A Glimpse into the Beyond 135
CHAPTER FIVE
NOTHING BUT MUSIC IN ONE’S HEAD / 149
Diabolus in Musica 149 / Music Can Engender More than Words 152 / Have a Good Cry! 156 / Sweet Expectations 160 / Heard a Thousand Times 162 / Nothing Comes for Free 166 / Classical Music or Pop? 169 / A Matter of Perspective 170 / Bruckner - Dissolution of Boundaries 174
CHAPTER SIX
THE UNANSWERED QUESTION / 189
Helmut Schmidt: In No Humor for Pessimism 190 / William Friedkin: A Trip with Beethoven 198 / Julie Payette: Good Morning, Houston 203 / Dirk Nowitzki: Basketball Is Jazz 208 / Yann Martel: Perfect Silence 213 / Bernstein and Ives - Whither America? 217
Acknowledgments / 233
Literature / 235
CHAPTER ONE
ON CATTLE BREEDERS AND TRUMPETS / 3
A Fishing Village Filled with Sound 3 / Mother’s Determination 6 / The Miracle of Morro Bay 9 / Music - School - Music 13 / On Teachers and Structure 17 / The Golden Age of Classical Music 20 / My Dream 24 / Bach - Through the Heart to the Head / 27
CHAPTER TWO
DECLARATION OF BANKRUPTCY IN PHILADELPHIA / 41
Concert in a Ghost Town 41 / Death in Installments 43 / Greetings from Lehman Brothers 47 / A Wasting Disease in Wonderland 49 / Gray, and Even Grayer 52 / Changing Values, Changing World 56 / Narrow Education 57 / Wishful Thinking, Wished-for People 59 / Schoenberg - Collapse and New Beginning 63
CHAPTER THREE
CLASSICAL MUSIC FOR A TIME OF CRISIS? / 77
Outrage Is the Beginning of All Things 77 / Imminent Disappearance 78 / Not Just for Elites 80 / The Search for Meaning 83 / Man’s Foe 87 / On the Power of Aesthetic Experiences 88 / A Matter of Social Survival 92 / What’s Your Mind Made Of? 94 / The Promises of Music 97 / Beethoven - Superstar 100
CHAPTER FOUR
HEROES ON ICE - AND NO COMPROMISES / 113
Strange Sounds for Young Folk 113 / An Orchestra without a Conductor 116 / Anything for the Turnaround 119 / Strauss, or The Path to a Program Idea 121 / Outside the Door 125 / Nothing Lasts Forever 127 / Frank Zappa, or The Serious Side of the Artist 129 / Messiaen - A Glimpse into the Beyond 135
CHAPTER FIVE
NOTHING BUT MUSIC IN ONE’S HEAD / 149
Diabolus in Musica 149 / Music Can Engender More than Words 152 / Have a Good Cry! 156 / Sweet Expectations 160 / Heard a Thousand Times 162 / Nothing Comes for Free 166 / Classical Music or Pop? 169 / A Matter of Perspective 170 / Bruckner - Dissolution of Boundaries 174
CHAPTER SIX
THE UNANSWERED QUESTION / 189
Helmut Schmidt: In No Humor for Pessimism 190 / William Friedkin: A Trip with Beethoven 198 / Julie Payette: Good Morning, Houston 203 / Dirk Nowitzki: Basketball Is Jazz 208 / Yann Martel: Perfect Silence 213 / Bernstein and Ives - Whither America? 217
Acknowledgments / 233
Literature / 235
