Review of Alex Ross' New Book
The Rest Is Noise: Listening to the 20th Century, by NY Times Critic
Alex Ross sweeps through 100 years of music, history and culture, offering a solid foundation in music of the last millennium, but failing to support his theories.
Alex Ross' new book The Rest Is Noise: Listening to the 20th Century embarks on a daunting task: to cover 100 years of modern music in a way that both the seasoned veterans and the curious novices can appreciate.
Does the music critic for the New York Times succeed in this project? It depends on what one is looking for. Ross' book offers a cursory survey of the 20th century that is a mashed-up blending of critical analysis and Music Appreciation that unfortunately fails to support his arguments.
Modern Music: The Last Accepted Art?
Public acceptance of modern music has lagged behind that of the rest of the arts, Ross claims. While paintings by 20th-century artist Jackson Pollack might sell for millions of dollars, people still squirm when listening to anything composed post-Stravinsky. To the world, avant-garde music is just a bunch of noise.
Yet there is irony in this reaction, Ross points out. While audiences find 20th-century composers strange or incomprehensible, that same music has permeated the rest of our society, from avant-garde film scores to pop musicians like the The Velvet Underground. The divide that existed between classical music and pop music is yesterday's story, and to paraphrase composer Alan Berg, music these days is just simply music.
Classical and Popular Music: A Contest of Genres
Ross's book then goes on to trace the controversy and critique that faced several modern composers, from Richard Strauss' risqué opera Salomé to John Adams' political Nixon in China. Yet despite his claims that the boundary line between classical and pop music is eroding, he still chooses to concentrate on the standard figures of the classical repertory.
The furthest a-field he ventures is a discussion of the hard-to-categorize musicians. Yet composers such as George Gershwin or producer Brian Eno self-consciously straddled several spheres, and inclusion in Ross' book is no ground-breaking concession. More "pop" musicians such as Duke Ellington or Lou Reed from the The Velvet Underground merit only cameo appearances.
But What About the Classical Superstars?
Ross also seems to skip over the fact that while some modern composers may have met with resistance with their first works, there are others that have become virtual superstars. A Steve Reich concert can pack out an auditorium of young and hip music-lovers. And reviews of Ross' book on Amazon (typically penned by the "uneducated masses") are by and large gushing with enthusiasm over the music he covered. Somewhere in that great "unease" about "noise," we have learned to love electronic beeps and recorded loops of sound.
However, while one is left wondering what Ross was really trying to say after all, his book does offer a broad introduction to the sounds of the 20th century. Readers should take this work as a starting point to a trip through the last millennium. Especially helpful is Ross' list of suggested recordings at the back of the book. Check them out.
Sources
Ross, Alex. The Rest Is Noise New York, NY: Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2007.
