Emotionally sincere but lacking insight into the music or its composer.
In his debut, a Canadian journalist traces the history of Johann Sebastian Bach’s six cello suites from their composition to their rediscovery almost 200 years later.
Siblin, the former pop-music critic at the Montreal Gazette, travels around the world following the suites through the lives of Bach and Spanish cellist Pablo Casals, whose performances of the suites launched them to their current fame. The author does a thorough job with the biography of Casals, whose life was nothing short of epic, and provides a capable travelogue of his journeys through Europe. However, when it comes to Bach and any sort of nuanced discussion of the suites themselves, Siblin falls short, failing to offer the slightest analysis or interpretation of the music. Even though the six chapters are entitled “Suite 1” through “Suite 6” and subdivided by movement (prelude, allemande, courante, etc.), these titles have little bearing on the actual text. This inability, or unwillingness, to address the music also affects the portion of the narrative devoted to Bach. While the facts about his personal life are quite intriguing and often very funny—he once got into a fist-fight for insulting a bassoonist—no true understanding of Bach’s life can be reached without an earnest engagement with his compositions, which Siblin mostly avoids, aside from a few mentions of polyphony and counterpoint. In later sections, the narrative turns to the author’s personal treasure hunt for manuscripts of the suites, which have yet to be found. It’s an interesting final twist on Siblin’s fixation, but readers may find it difficult to share his excitement, since the author neglects to examine what would be written on those sacred pages.
Emotionally sincere but lacking insight into the music or its composer.Pub Date: Jan. 1, 2010
ISBN: 978-0-8021-1929-2
Page Count: 320
Publisher: Atlantic Monthly
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 15, 2009
BOOK REVIEW
Stricter than, say, Bergen Evans or W3 ("disinterested" means impartial — period), Strunk is in the last analysis...
Privately published by Strunk of Cornell in 1918 and revised by his student E. B. White in 1959, that "little book" is back again with more White updatings.
Stricter than, say, Bergen Evans or W3 ("disinterested" means impartial — period), Strunk is in the last analysis (whoops — "A bankrupt expression") a unique guide (which means "without like or equal").Pub Date: May 15, 1972
ISBN: 0205632645
Page Count: 105
Publisher: Macmillan
Review Posted Online: Oct. 28, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 1972
This is not the Nutcracker sweet, as passed on by Tchaikovsky and Marius Petipa. No, this is the original Hoffmann tale of 1816, in which the froth of Christmas revelry occasionally parts to let the dark underside of childhood fantasies and fears peek through. The boundaries between dream and reality fade, just as Godfather Drosselmeier, the Nutcracker's creator, is seen as alternately sinister and jolly. And Italian artist Roberto Innocenti gives an errily realistic air to Marie's dreams, in richly detailed illustrations touched by a mysterious light. A beautiful version of this classic tale, which will captivate adults and children alike. (Nutcracker; $35.00; Oct. 28, 1996; 136 pp.; 0-15-100227-4)
Pub Date: Oct. 28, 1996
ISBN: 0-15-100227-4
Page Count: 136
Publisher: Harcourt
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 1996
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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