Mon Ross En Rose

Music critic and former object of C.C.’s affection, Alex Ross, made an appearance on Charlie Rose Tuesday night, and C.C. was just sober enough to take in a little of the action.
Our suspicions were confirmed, however. It seems that A. Ro., as we affectionately refer to him around here, is kind of the enemy.
Why “the [...]

Da Noise: Chapter 2

The most provocative part of Alex Ross’ first book, The Rest Is Noise, a large tome about the classical music of the twentieth century that is part document, part muse, is the aim he takes at Arnold Schoenberg and the authority of the atonal school of writing. This book would not have been written fifty [...]

Da Noise: Introduction and Chapter 1

Book Review: Alex Ross’ “The Rest Is Noise”; Introduction and Chapter 1
The narrative of twentieth century classical music has long worked itself out. It begins with the collapse of the tonal system of writing (mythically credited to the opening to Wagner’s Tristan und Isolde, the unresolved cadence heard round the world) and the divergent, and [...]

Bring ON Da “Noise”

Guess who got his grubby little hands on a copy of A. Ro.’s The Rest is Noise? That’s right, kids. C.C. is gonna be bringing you a chapter-by-chapter, blow-by-blow (pardon the expression), semi-tone-by-semi-tone review of Alex Ross’ first book.
So far, the cover feels really nice.  And we’re totally into the Bjork blurb on [...]