Summary

With its Combination of book and compact disc, A Young Person's Guide To Music provides the ultimate interactive guide to the instruments of the orchestra. The CD features a work, Concerto in Pieces, by the Danish composer Poul Ruders. Recorded specially for the book, the music is performed by the internationally acclaimed BBC Symphony Orchestra. Following in the footsteps of Benjamin Britten's Young Person's Guide to the Orchestra, the work takes its theme from Purcell's Dido and Aeneas, developing variations that provide a showcase for instruments from each section of the orchestra. Special CD symbols in the book show the reader when to turn on the CD and hear the instruments featured on that page. The reader can also listen to the conductor, Andrew Davis, explaining diffeent parts of the music. Through Photographs of the BBC Symphony Orchestra in rehearsal and of Poul Ruders at work on Concerto in Pieces, A Young Person's Guide To Music illustrates the progress of a work from composition to performance. A History Section Charts the lives and works of musicians and composers, from Egyptian pipers to medieval monks chanting plainsong to electronic music. A reference section includes an index of composers, a list of musical forms with listening suggestions, and a glossary of musical terms. Book jacket.