In part 1 of recommended books for the composer, I outlined several textbooks that we at { WMM! } have used over the years. In part 2, I’d like to hit four more books that aren’t necessarily as “academic.”
The first is a textbook of sorts. Johann Joseph Fux’s Gradus Ad Parnassum first appeared in 1725 and has been widely recognized as one of the great theoretical work on counterpoint. It is said that Leopold Mozart taught his son Wolfgang from its pages, JS Bach and Beethoven both held it in great esteem, and Haydn meticulously worked out each of its exercises.
Next is Aaron Copland’s What to Listen for in Music, which is a text written by the composer to a lay audience. While it is an older book and does not cover music since the 1950s, it does allow the reader to see Copland’s compositional process, and is a great read for composers and non-composers alike.
John Adams’ Hallelujah Junction is an autobiography, and the only book which I purposely own two copies. It’s probably one of the few books that also has a soundtrack. It chronicles Adams’ life through his childhood in New England, college at Harvard, and his professional life in California. It is a great, modern-day look at the art of composing.
Our final recommendation is Alex Ross’s The Rest is Noise. While Part 1 of our recommendations mentioned Brian Simms’ Music of the Twentieth Century: Style and Structure, Ross’s book is less structured as a textbook and is instead built to provide social and historical context to the music of the twentieth century. Definitely one of the best books I’ve read on the subject.
With part 1, we introduced books that would explain the “how” of composing. With part 2, we’ve recommended books that explain the “why.” Get to reading!
