Good Music: Letters on Art and Life
About this ebook
They exchange thoughts on Beethoven and Elgar, on J.S. Bach and Stravinsky, on Jacqueline du Pré, Bruce Springsteen and the future of jazz. Besides music, their letters range across art, film and literature, from Miguel Cervantes to Emily Kam Kngwarray. They discuss the persistence of childhood memories, the nature of beauty, how we form our cultural tastes, whether art is morally improving and what (if anything) ‘great music’ means today.
Whether they are sharing their early influences, confessing which composers they consider overrated or disagreeing about pop music, their conversation unfolds in delightful and illuminating ways.
‘If people of any age have wild or antisocial tendencies, I'd rather they worked them out on the dance floor.’ —Andrew Ford
‘Music is a blessedly welcome relief from the treadmill of one's own thoughts.’ —J.M. Coetzee
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About the author
J.M. Coetzee was the first author to win the Booker Prize twice and was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature in 2003. He lives in Adelaide.
Andrew Ford's music has been performed around the world, played by ensembles including the Australian Chamber Orchestra, the Brodsky Quartet and the New Juilliard Ensemble. He presents The Music Show on ABC Radio National and has written ten books, including The Shortest History of Music.
