The Wannabe Classical Music Aficionado

This 254-page book, published by Soncata Press, is a well-organized guide to classical music aimed at enticing the novice listener to abandon their preconceptions and fears, and give concert-going a try. It is divided into forty-six well-organized "insights" that help the reader learn the vocabulary used to discuss classical music, understand the roles of instruments found in orchestras, chamber music groups, and choirs, and learn a little about some of the best-known composers that a concert-going novice might encounter.

There are insights (chapters) that discuss the concert experience: what to wear, where to sit, when to clap, etc., and insights that explore ways of deepening the concert experience. I particularly like the insight about going to concerts alone, and how rewarding it can be.

The book includes a hefty section about chamber music, and suggests ways of paying attention to how people in a chamber ensemble communicate. In addition to a section that discusses how musicians live and work (i.e. practice, rehearse, and perform), there is a section about the economics of musical organizations. We also get a glossary of terms as well as an index.

The ideas in the book come from Allan Schiller, who played in the violin section of the New York Philharmonic from 1964 (he got his position when Leonard Bernstein was the music director) until 1999, but the writing and the organization is by Ann Marie Sabath, a person who has a great deal of experience writing books that introduce people to matters of investing, managing money, business etiquette, and even writing books.

I think that this pairing of a seasoned professional musician with a professional writer (who is not a musician) is very successful. The book is very well written, extremely easy to read, and the pages are beautifully designed. Each chapter (insight) begins with an excellent and appropriate quotation, and ends with a meaningful statement of "wannabe wisdom" that is applicable to the experience of a person new to classical music as well as to a person who has been listening to classical music for decades.

You can find out more here.