Romanticism & Melody: Essays for Music Lovers

The 1830s to the 1950s was a superlative period of melody making. . . and in Romanticism And Melody author Geprge Colerick has written about music which he finds specially inspiring or entertaining. The topics range from the youthful Brahms of the Piano Quartets to farces in Leicester Square and at the Berlin Wall, including musical London in the time of Bernard Shaw, the Wagner controversy, music theatre in Paris, aspects of Transylvanian folk culture, and of Soviet music making. "Books on music specially for the enlightened lay music lover are not easy to find. Too often musical history books or books about music are aimed well above the heads of many students of the arts or the general public who attend concerts and opera performances and who listen avidly to serious music broadcasts on radio and television. This book by George Colerick seems to me to fill a much needed gap in the literature. It is well-written, knowledgeable without being dryly academic, and straightforward without being condescending or popular. I have read it, enjoyed it and learned a number of things for the first time. The book deserves success: it is extremely informative for the interested music lover, a plain man's guide to music. I can recommend it wholeheartedly." - Professor James Lockhart, Director of Opera, London Royal Schools' Vocal Faculty, Royal Academy of Music and Royal College of Music.