Music
Book description
The phrase "music history" likely summons up images of long-dead composers, smug men in wigs and waistcoats, and people dancing without touching. In Music: A Subversive History, Gioia responds to the false notions that undergird this tedium. Traditional histories of music, Gioia contents, downplay those elements of music that are…
Why read it?
1 author picked Music as one of their favorite books. Why do they recommend it?
A Subversive History of Music is not just fascinating, but scholarly, thought-provoking, and accessible.
I’ve always believed that music springs from the least expected sources, most of them “unofficial”, and Gioia seems to agree. The central idea is this: musical innovation never springs from society’s officially approved sources, but from its despised outsiders, those with little or no power in everyday life – women, black people, young people – who develop their ideas in isolation from the mainstream.
Very often they live in port cities like New Orleans or Liverpool, which are flooded with influences from elsewhere.
From Peter's list on musicians and music from all genres.
Want books like Music?
Our community of 10,000+ authors has personally recommended 100 books like Music.
5 book lists we think you will like!
Interested in music, New Orleans, and presidential biography?
10,000+ authors have recommended their favorite books and what they love about them. Browse their picks for the best books about music, New Orleans, and presidential biography.