Sound Bites: The bendy path of classical music from Ancient Greece to today from your favourite ABC Classic presenter of Weekend Breakfast and bestselling author of Whole Notes & Cadence

(Paperback)

Available Formats

Publishing Details

Classifications

Physical Properties

Description

Ed Le Brocq invites you to come on a journey with him through a living tradition that spans a millennium - the tradition of Western classical music.

Have you ever wondered where our music comes from How did we arrive here, a place where we can have a hundred musicians on stage playing the wildest rhythms, a singer performing the most heart-breaking of melodies, or a solitary pianist playing an instrument that weights half a tonne How did the melodies and harmonies we listen to today, right now, come about

This glorious pocket guide will take you roaming along the magnificently bendy path of Western classical music, from the Ancient Greeks of two and a half thousand years ago all the way to music composed just last week by some of Australia's most brilliant creative minds. Discover how scales developed by Pythagoras and his mates in Ancient Greece found their way, through the Romans, into the Church music of the Middle Ages to be sung by monks with surprising haircuts. You'll find out why a tiny pianist kept a frog in his pocket, and who was afraid of the number 13 (and why we should be a little afraid of his music), and which composer had two skulls in their grave and why. Hint - they were a viola player ...

This canter through the development of one of humankind's greatest achievements will leave you delighted, exhilarated and wanting more.

Author Bio

Ed Le Brocq is a writer, musician and broadcaster. He was born on the White Cliffs of Dover and began playing music when he was six years old. He studied music in Manchester, Berlin and London, played professionally in the UK and Hong Kong, and moved to Australia in 2003. Ed is the presenter of ABC Classic's Weekend Breakfast. Ed is also the author (under the name Emma Ayres) of Cadence, about his journey by bicycle from England to Hong Kong with only a violin for company, and Danger Music, describing his year teaching music in Afghanistan, as well as the children's book Sonam and the Silence; and (under the name Ed Ayres) of Whole Notes: Life Lesson through Music. His books have been shortlisted for several prestigious awards, including the Prime Minister's Literary Awards. Ed, who lives in Brisbane, was born Emma and transitioned just before his fiftieth birthday. Better late than never.