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A RADIO 4 BOOK OF THE WEEK
'Full of delightful nuggets' Guardian online
'Entertaining, informative and philosphical ... An essential read' All About History
'Extraordinary range ... All the world and more is here' Evening Standard
165 million years ago saw the birth of rhythm.
66 million years ago came the first melody.
40 thousand years ago Homo sapiens created the first musical instrument.
Today music fills our lives. How we have created, performed and listened to music throughout history has defined what our species is and how we understand who we are. Yet it is an overlooked part of our origin story.
The Musical Human takes us on an exhilarating journey across the ages - from Bach to BTS and back - to explore the vibrant relationship between music and the human species. With insights from a wealth of disciplines, world-leading musicologist Michael Spitzer renders a global history of music on the widest possible canvas, from global history to our everyday lives, from insects to apes, humans to artificial intelligence.
'Michael Spitzer has pulled off the impossible: a Guns, Germs and Steel for music' Daniel Levitin
'A thrilling exploration of what music has meant and means to humankind' Ian Bostridge
About the author
Michael Spitzer is Professor of Music at the University of Liverpool. Previously he taught for twenty years at Durham University. An accomplished pianist, Spitzer is a world-leading authority on Beethoven, but he also writes widely on the philosophy and psychology of music. He lives just off Penny Lane with his wife and two daughters.
Summary
A RADIO 4 BOOK OF THE WEEK
'Full of delightful nuggets' Guardian online
'Entertaining, informative and philosphical ... An essential read' All About History
'Extraordinary range ... All the world and more is here' Evening Standard
165 million years ago saw the birth of rhythm.
66 million years ago came the first melody.
40 thousand years ago Homo sapiens created the first musical instrument.
Today music fills our lives. How we have created, performed and listened to music throughout history has defined what our species is and how we understand who we are. Yet it is an overlooked part of our origin story.
The Musical Human takes us on an exhilarating journey across the ages - from Bach to BTS and back - to explore the vibrant relationship between music and the human species. With insights from a wealth of disciplines, world-leading musicologist Michael Spitzer renders a global history of music on the widest possible canvas, from global history to our everyday lives, from insects to apes, humans to artificial intelligence.
'Michael Spitzer has pulled off the impossible: a Guns, Germs and Steel for music' Daniel Levitin
'A thrilling exploration of what music has meant and means to humankind' Ian Bostridge
Foreword
A world-leading musicologist tells the extraordinary story of humankind's relationship with music across evolutionary time
Additional text
An amazing book, tying together research in archaeology, anthropology, music history, and human origins to form a compelling and exciting account of the many ways music has developed across the world and across time. Michael Spitzer has pulled off the impossible: a Guns, Germs and Steel for music
Report
Entertaining, informative and philosophical ... An essential read All About History Magazine
