You can't be arrested for assaulting your own symphony ~ Christopher Lawrence.Some of the best books to come my way have come via my friend, Siano: The Waterlily; The Handmaid's Tale; & now Swooning. With a title like that how could I resist?
Siano knows me well. I could be quoting from this little gem forever. This is the history that makes history interesting & why I am such a big fan.
Swooning was originally the title of Lawrence's morning breakfast show on ABC radio which caused quite a kerfuffle. There were letters to the paper protesting the off~colour jokes on air. No, Lawrence wasn't being indecent; he was quoting Mozart! Mozart was notorious for being obsessed with his nether regions; a trait that endeared him to Ditz when she was younger. While Ditz was giggling madly I was the one rolling my eyes.
What is so charming about this little book is the strange stuff Lawrence comes up with. What on earth would possess grown men, psychologists & PhDs in their field, to speculate about dead artist's IQs? That is just bizarre but speculate they apparently did postulating that Goethe & Michelangelo were in the rarefied echelons of 200 or so but for Mozart they wouldn't even hazard a punt because Mozart is seriously a one~off. He wrote his first symphony at just 8, which is rather impressive but what is majorly impressive is he could talk backwards ~ fluently! He could notate a complicated piece of music while composing another piece in his head & he could pun. Punning is hard to do well!
If you want to make your music history a little more exciting I would strongly recommend you get your hands on a copy of this book. Yes, you will probably want to pre~read & edit as necessary but it is so worth it. Lawrence's style is very easy to read & highly amusing. In this fashion he really brings all those long dead composers to life & shakes the dust from their frock coats.
8 comments:
If I ever have the time to read just for me again, I will.
I will put in on my list. Now I just need to make a list!
Well, I have to say I love the cover illustration, if nothing else☺
Seeking: You & the Princess would get so much from this book!
Sandra: lol And for you, my dear, Lawrence provides sarcasm & a healthy dose of cynicism. I hope you do find a copy & read. It is full of quotable quotes.
Persuaded: Me too ~ but this is a man who loves his subject & is able to convey great wads of information in an interesting, fun & informative way.
I would have to put a cover on it. Although she has seen some nudes in art, the Princess is naturally a modest child. At her last recital, one teen was wearing a halter dress and she leaned other to me to say: "You can see that girl's back...that must be embarrassing!" She was truly blushing, too.
Hm, yes, Ditz isn't happy about the cover either but it's not my book. The art history we haven't covered because any nude gets the, "ew, that's gross," treatment. Have never satisfactorily resolved this one & have never quite decided where I draw the line. I do know I can't go round putting fig leaves on the Davids of this world. So long as Ditz isn't falling out of her clothes...
Oop, sorry; I ought to have removed the cover before I gave it to you - didn't consider Ditz's sensibilities enough.
For anyone else who wants to get a copy but is put off by the cover - get the hard copy version if you can; then you can remove the dust jacket :-)
So pleased you like the book, Ganeida -- I spent weeks howling with laughter on the train while I was reading it: it was such fun and such a good pick-me-up that I reserved it for the 2-hour commute to work in the mornings. I loved Lawrence's rather offbeat but gently sarcastic sense of humour on his radio shows and was so pleased to find that it had translated to his writing.
I originally picked this book up off a remainder pile and was going to give it as a Christmas gift to someone else. The time passed, the book stayed, I picked it up one day to have a browse as I'd run out of reading matter - and the rest is history.
Enjoy!
Mozart. Did he have Tourette's syndrome?
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