Understanding Music

Sir Roger Scruton (1944-2020) is widely seen as one of the greatest conservative thinkers of the twentieth and twenty-first centuries and a polymath who wrote a wide array of fiction, non-fiction and reviews. He was the author of over fifty books, and visiting Professor of Philosophy at the University of Oxford and Senior Fellow at the Ethics and Public Policy Center, Washington DC, USA.

• PrefacePart I1 Introduction2 Sounds3 Wittgenstein on music4 Movement5 Expression 6 RhythmPart II7 My Mozart8 Beethoven's Ninth Symphony9 The trial of Richard Wagner10 A first shot at The Ring11 True Authority: Janacek, Schoenberg and us12 Thoughts on Szymanowski 13 Why read Adorno?Bibliography

The prolific philosopher turns his attention back to music, exploring the fundamental elements that make a great piece. Ranging from Wagner to Hoagy Carmichael and even a final chapter on 'the disaster of pop', this is trademark, provocotive Scruton.