# Book of Great Composers



## goldenlight (Mar 31, 2011)

The Colour Library Book of Great Composers...

Marshall Cavandish pub 1989

a wonderful book.... full of colour pics of the great composers Beethoven, Bach , Mozart etc
lots of historical prints and paintings in full colour ..... 450 plus pages 

Having read and enjoyed it , suddenly realised theres no mention of Wagner in the book
.... everyone else is there... except Wagner ! who , in terms of his works, must surely be up there with Mozart and Beethoven !


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## Nereffid (Feb 6, 2013)

I still have that book, having got it as a present - well, probably not long after it was published.

You're right, no Wagner.

No Josquin either!


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## Mandryka (Feb 22, 2013)

goldenlight said:


> The Colour Library Book of Great Composers...
> 
> Marshall Cavandish pub 1989
> 
> ...


Maybe it was an attempt to write him out of history because he didn't like Jewish people.


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## Steatopygous (Jul 5, 2015)

Mandryka said:


> Maybe it was an attempt to write him out of history because he didn't like Jewish people.


I think they'd have to work a touch harder to write Wagner out of history.


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## SimonNZ (Jul 12, 2012)

goldenlight said:


> The Colour Library Book of Great Composers...
> 
> Marshall Cavandish *pub 1989*


Who is the most recent "great" from the book published in 1989?


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## Weston (Jul 11, 2008)

goldenlight said:


> ... except Wagner ! who , in terms of his works, must surely be up there with Mozart and Beethoven !


An unfair question perhaps, but how many great symphonies and piano sonatas did Wagner write?

How are other almost strictly opera composers, Verdi, Puccini, etc., represented in the book?


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## Guest (Oct 22, 2015)

goldenlight said:


> The Colour Library Book of Great Composers...
> 
> Marshall Cavandish pub 1989
> 
> ...


450 plus pages...how many composers? If it's a top 100, you might struggle to find all your favourites (I wouldn't put Wagner in my tops list).:devil:


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## Nereffid (Feb 6, 2013)

The composers are: Bach, Handel, Mozart, Haydn, Beethoven, Schubert, Mendelssohn, Chopin, Schumann, Liszt, Offenbach, Johann Strauss II, Brahms, Tchaikovsky, Dvorak, Grieg, Elgar, Debussy, Sibelius, Mahler, Rachmaninov, Holst, Ravel, Bartók, Stravinsky, and Gershwin.

Each composer gets 6-10 pages on their life, with lots of illustrations. Between the biographies are sections on historical context; for example the Beethoven entry is followed by one titled "German Romantic Art" and another on "The Napoleonic Age"; Elgar is followed by "Life in the Raj" and Debussy by "Impressionism and Symbolism".

There's little discussion of music itself, but it's actually a pretty good book for the beginner who wants background knowledge.


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## GioCar (Oct 30, 2013)

Nereffid said:


> The composers are: Bach, Handel, Mozart, Haydn, Beethoven, Schubert, Mendelssohn, Chopin, Schumann, Liszt, Offenbach, Johann Strauss II, Brahms, Tchaikovsky, Dvorak, Grieg, Elgar, Debussy, Sibelius, Mahler, Rachmaninov, Holst, Ravel, Bartók, Stravinsky, and Gershwin.
> ...


Well, this could explain why Wagner is not there... all opera composers have been ignored...just curious if the Mozart chapter mentions his operas or not.


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## Nereffid (Feb 6, 2013)

It mentions the operas, but it doesn't go into much detail on any composer's music, it's more about their lives.

Thinking about this more, I suspect the book is a version of the 1980s magazine-plus-CD series of the same name, which I believe tended to focus on orchestral music, with a bit of chamber and very little vocal music.


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## violadude (May 2, 2011)

That was a fun misunderstanding to witness


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## Mandryka (Feb 22, 2013)

GioCar said:


> Well, this could explain why Wagner is not there... all opera composers have been ignored...just curious if the Mozart chapter mentions his operas or not.


But Offenbach's in there. He was Jewish I think.


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## Woodduck (Mar 17, 2014)

Offenbach but not Wagner? Hardly any of the post-Wagner composers mentioned can even be understood without reference to Wagner.

The editors are idiots. Just enjoy the pretty pictures.


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