Perfect Pitch: 100 pieces of classical music to bring joy, tears, solace, empathy, inspiration (& everything in between)

by Tim Bouverie

Overview

100 pieces of classical music to bring joy, tears, solace, laughter, inspiration, empathy & everything else in between

"Thank you to Tim Bouverie for this book which can be enjoyed as much by the hard-nosed professional as the beginner, anxious to learn something of this great music." – Jools Holland

"A treat from the very first page... the perfect introduction to classical music for a beginner, a companion for the music lover, and sheer entertainment for both." – Joanna Lumley
 
A book for anyone who wants to bring more classical music into their life and doesn't know where to start.
 
Nearly all of us have the capacity to enjoy classical music but too often we are put off by not knowing where to look, or what we are actually looking for. We feel the need of a guide to help navigate such vast and varied artistic terrain.

With this delightful book, historian Tim Bouverie provides just this. Drawing on his lifelong passion for music, he has created a compilation of 100 classical masterpieces sure to move and be enjoyed by almost anyone. Some are well-known, some more idiosyncratic, others hidden gems waiting to be brought into the light. All are intended to comfort and inspire. He provides a short introduction to each piece – variously anecdotal, personal, historical and quirky – and a recommended recording to try.

Highly accessible and entertaining, Perfect Pitch is filled with engrossing stories and insights that bring to life 300 years of the world's greatest music.
 
An accompanying playlist is available on Spotify.
 
"The most beautifully written explanation of classical music I have come across...Brilliant." – Victoria Hislop

"Generous and passionate… astutely blends context and anecdote, always delivered with smiling and enthusiastic authority." – Dame Jane Glover, conductor and author of Mozart's Women

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781780725796
Publisher:	Octopus Books
Publication date:	10/03/2023
Pages:	256
Sales rank:	513,944
Product dimensions:	5.00(w) x 7.70(h) x 0.90(d)

About the Author

Tim Bouverie has nurtured a passion for classical music since he was five years old. Having studied history at Christ Church, Oxford, he worked as a political journalist before becoming a full-time historian and writer. His first book, Appeasing Hitler: Chamberlain, Churchill and the Road to War was a Sunday Times Bestseller and was shortlisted for the Orwell Prize. While working on a sequel on Allied diplomacy during the Second World War, he has been the Alistair Horne Fellow of St Antony’s College, Oxford.

Table of Contents

1 Dido and Aeneas Henry Purcell

2 Concerto Grosso in G Minor, 'Christmas Concerto' Arcangelo Corelli

3 'Gloria in D Major' Antonio Vivaldi

4 'Salve Regina' George Frederick Handel

5 Brandenburg Concerto No. 4 in G Major Johann Sebastian Bach

6 Concerto in D Minor for Oboe and Orchestra Tomaso Albinoni

7 Giulio Cesare in Egitto George Frederick Handel

8 Keyboard Partita No. 1 in B-flat Major Johann Sebastian Bach

9 Prelude and Fugue in E-flat Major, 'St Anne' Johann Sebastian Bach

10 Messiah George Frederick Handel

11 Mass in B Minor Johann Sebastian Bach

12 Music for the Royal Fireworks George Frederick Handel

13 Magnificat Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach

14 Cello Concerto No. 1 in C Major Joseph Haydn

15 Orphée et Eurydice Christoph Willibald Gluck

16 Symphony No. 48 in C Major, 'Maria Theresa' Joseph Haydn

17 Piano Sonata No. 8 in A Minor Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

18 Symphony No. 36 in C Major, 'Linz' Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

19 Piano Concerto No. 20 in D Minor Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

20 Don Giovanni Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

21 Clarinet Quintet Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

22 The Magic Flute Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

23 The Creation Joseph Haydn

24 Missa in Angustiis, 'Nelson Mass' Joseph Haydn

25 Violin Sonata No. 9 in A Major, 'Kreutzer' Ludwig Van Beethoven

26 Piano Concerto No. 5 in E-flat, 'Emperor' Ludwig Van Beethoven

27 Symphony No. 7 in A Major Ludwig Van Beethoven

28 The Barber of Seville Gioachino Rossini

29 Piano Sonata No. 32 in C Minor Ludwig Van Beethoven

30 'Nacht und Träume' Franz Schubert

31 Fantasy in C Major, 'Wanderer Fantasy' Franz Schubert

32 Symphony No. 9 in D Minor Ludwig Van Beethoven

33 String Quartet No. 13 in A Minor, 'Rosamunde' Franz Schubert

34 String Quartet No. 15 in A Minor Ludwig Van Beethoven

35 Overture to A Midsummer Night's Dream Felix Mendelssohn

36 Fantasy in F Minor Franz Schubert

37 Symphonic fantastique Hector Berlioz

38 Norma Vincenzo Bellini

39 L'Elisir d'Amore Gaetano Donizetti

40 Fantasy in C Major Robert Schumann

41 Scherzo No. 2 in B-flat Minor Fréd&eacue;ric Chopin

42 Piano Trio No. 1 in D Minor Felix Mendelssohn

43 Piano Quintet No. 1 in A Minor Louise Farsenc

44 Nocturne No. 13 in C Minor Frédéric Chopin

45 Polonaise in A-flat Major, 'Heroic' Frédéric Chopin

46 Piano Concerto in A Minor Robert Schumann

47 Tannhäuser Richard Wagner

48 Rigoletto Giuseppe Verdi

49 Cello Concerto in A Minor Robert Schumann

50 Piano Sonata in B Minor Franz Liszt

51 Der Ring des Nibelungen Richard Wagner

52 A Faust Symphony Franz Liszt

53 Tristan und Isolde Richard Wagner

54 'Introduction et Rondo Capriccioso' Camille Saint-Säens

55 Petite Messe Solenelle Gioachino Rossini

56 Roméo et Juliette Charles Gounod

57 Don Carlos Giuseppe Verdi

58 'Tales from the Vienna Woods' Johann Strauss II

59 'Siegfried Idyll' Richard Wagner

60 Pictures at an Exhibition Modest Mussorgsky

61 Messa da Requiem Giuseppe Verdi

62 Carmen Georges Bizet

63 Slavonic Dances Antonín Dvorák

64 Violin Concerto in D Major Johannes Brahms

65 Eugene Onegin Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky

66 Cello Sonata in A Minor Edvard Grieg

67 Symphony No. 4 in E Minor Johannes Brahms

68 Otello Giuseppe Verdi

69 Symphony No. 7 in D Minor Antonin Dvorák

70 Symphony No. 7 in E Major Anton Bruckner

71 Cello Sonata No. 2 in F Major Johannes Brahms

72 Symphony No. 3 in C Minor Camille Saint-Saëns

73 The Sleeping Beauty Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky

74 Symphony No. 8 in C Minor Anton Bruckner

75 Souvenir de Florence Pytor Ilyich Tchiakovsky

76 Cavalleria Rusticana Pietro Mascagni

77 Symphony No. 6 in B Minor, 'Pathétique' Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky

78 La Bohème Giacomo Puccini

79 Symphony No. 2 in C Minor Gustav Mahler

80 Symphony No. 3 in D Minor Gustav Mahler

81 Enigma Variations Edward Elgar

82 L'histoire de Manon Jules Massenet, Arranged and Orchestrated Leighton Lucas Hilda Gaunt

83 Tosca Giacomo Puccini

84 Piano Concerto No. 2 in C Minor Sergei Rachmaninov

85 Symphony No. 2 in D Major Jean Sibelius

86 In the South Edward Elgar

87 The Merry Widow Franz Lehár

88 Symphony No. 2 in E Minor Sergei Rachmaninov

89 Symphony No. 9 in D Major Gustav Mahler

90 Violin Concerto in B Minor Edward Elgar

91 The Firebird Igor Stravinsky

92 Der Rosenkavalier Richard Strauss

93 An Alpine Symphony Richard Strauss

94 Symphony No. 7 in C Major Jean Sibelius

95 Concerto in F George Gershwin

96 Viola Concerto in D Minor William Walton

97 Symphony No. 5 in D Minor Dmitri Shostakovich

98 The Adventures of Robin Hood Erich Wolfgang Korngold

99 Romeo and Juliet Sergei Prokofiev

100 Four Last Songs Richard Strauss

Editorial Reviews

08/01/2022

British World War II historian—and non-musicologist—Bouverie (Appeasing Hitler: Chamberlain, Churchill and the Road to War) offers prospective music mavens a product from his pandemic lockdown—a personally selected, contextualized list of classical compositions from the last three centuries (from Henry Purcell to Richard Strauss). Chronologically arranged, the essays recommend one favorite recording of each work. Bouverie has made these recordings accessible through Spotify by including a web address and QR code. Included are concertos, preludes, sonatas, ballets, operas, overtures, and symphonies that are almost exclusively the output of European men (with the exception of Louise Farrenc and George Gershwin.) Bouverie notes that many composers started out as prodigies, which fortunately allowed them to leave a solid cultural legacy before their often-untimely deaths from disease. VERDICT Self-described by the author as a non-definitive work, this book fulfills its stated mission of being a portable collection of reflections on Western classical music, although the entries might be too teasingly brief for some readers. Compare with the 366 entries in Year of Wonder: Classical Music To Enjoy Day by Day, by violinist and former BBC arts presenter Clemency Burton-Hill.—Frederick J. Augustyn Jr.

Library Journal