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Book Review
Jun. 7th, 2015 09:09 pmHolst: The Planets
by Richard Greene
This is one of the Cambridge Music Handbooks series put out by Cambridge University Press (they do seem to be behind most of the music books series I really like), which are short books on a single piece from the standard western classical repertoire. Although brief, this book was packed with illuminating information. Greene covers the background on the piece - the circumstances under which it was written, Holst's inspiration, etc. - as well as the musical design and features of both the individual movements and the suite as a whole. Greene also hits the sweet spot in his harmonic and thematic analyses, neither too simplistic and vague nor too technical and granular.
by Richard Greene
This is one of the Cambridge Music Handbooks series put out by Cambridge University Press (they do seem to be behind most of the music books series I really like), which are short books on a single piece from the standard western classical repertoire. Although brief, this book was packed with illuminating information. Greene covers the background on the piece - the circumstances under which it was written, Holst's inspiration, etc. - as well as the musical design and features of both the individual movements and the suite as a whole. Greene also hits the sweet spot in his harmonic and thematic analyses, neither too simplistic and vague nor too technical and granular.
