Why do so many of us listen to classical music, and how can you get the most from listening to it? In this unpretentious and instructive book, internationally celebrated conductor and teacher John Mauceri brings to bear his lifetime of experience and profound knowledge. A protege of Leonard Bernstein and an artist who has performed and recorded all over the world, Mauceri is the guide par excellence to the joys of classical music. Mauceri illuminates our understanding of what it is we hear when we listen; how each piece bears the traces of its history; and how the concert experience allows us constantly to discover music anew. 'Wonderful' Marilyn Horne 'This delightful book is not so much the opening of a door as an affectionate hand on the arm, guiding the reader with enthusiasm and intelligence into a world of beauty' Stephen Hough

A prominent conductor explores how aesthetic criteria masked the political goals of countries during the three great wars of the past century "[Mauceri's] writing is more exhilarating than any helicopter ride we have been on."-Air Mail "Fluently written and often cogent."-Barton Swaim, Wall Street Journal This book offers a major reassessment of classical music in the twentieth century. John Mauceri argues that the history of music during this span was shaped by three major wars of that century: World War I, World War II, and the Cold War. Probing why so few works have been added to the canon since 1930, Mauceri examines the trajectories of great composers who, following World War I, created voices that were unique and versatile, but superficially simpler. He contends that the fate of composers during World War II is inextricably linked to the political goals of their respective governments, resulting in the silencing of experimental music in Germany, Italy, and Russia; the exodus of composers to America; and the sudden return of experimental music-what he calls "the institutional avant-garde"-as the lingua franca of classical music in the West during the Cold War.