A History of the World in 50 Pieces: The Classical Music That Shapes Us
by Tom Service
Genres: History, Non-fictionPages: 310
Rating:
Synopsis:Explore how music has changed our world through 50 pieces across classical, folk and world traditions with BBC presenter Tom Service, in this official Radio 3 compendium.
Music transports us and defines us. As a form of expression, it has been passed down through oral tradition, musical notation and recordings in a chain of connection that spans the globe, across the millennia. A History of the World in 50 Pieces follows that chain, collating 50 pieces of classical music that reflect our changing politics, social structures and technological development, and how composers, musicians and listeners have shaped those currents of history.
From Bach to Beethoven, Songlines to Saariaho, Hildegard of Bingen to the Happy Birthday song, Tom Service offers a fresh take on pieces that many of us think we know, and many more we might not. With each short, sharp analysis, he expands the typical canon and tests the boundaries of what we understand to be ‘classical music’ – or even music at all, such as the sounds of the earth’s rotation, and the songs of humpback whales.
Tom Service’s A History of the World in 50 Pieces is not as focused on the history part as I’d like: we do glimpse bits and pieces of history (predominantly but not always music history), but there are no references at all other than a list of sources for direct quotations, so a lot of it runs on “trust me, bro”.
There were definitely snippets of history discussed and revealed (I need to read more about Shostakovich now!) but… each section is really short, some barely four pages, so it doesn’t lend itself to much depth and detail.
What it did do was make me curious about each piece and really want to listen to them. Service’s enthusiasm for the songs is lovely, and his educated understanding of them really helps. I wish there was a playlist or something to easily listen to recommended versions, but so far I didn’t find one.
Overall, a fun read and one which gave me food for thought, but not ideal as a history per se.
Rating: 3/5 (“liked it”)
