Understanding Music

Roger Scruton is one of the most notable British philosophers of the post-war years. Like many, Bernard Williams and Brian Magee among them, he is passionately interested in music. Indeed he has written two operas.

This new book applies the theory to the practice and examines a number of composers and musical forms – from Scruton’s fascination with Wagner to Boulez and Hoagy Carmichael. The consistent and passionate argument underlying the book is one for tonality and rhythm.

Table of Contents

Introduction
1. Musical Movement
2. Rhythm
3. Music and Emotion
4. Wittgenstein and Music
5. Sounds: Metaphysical Analysis
6. Mozart
7. Beethoven`s Ninth
8. Love and Justice in Wagner
9. Janaceck as Model
10. Szymanowski
11. The Music of America
12. The Disaster of Pop