Incomplete and Utter History of Classical Music

Stephen Fry's book is a romp through thousands of years of human evolution till present day in his own style, tracing the evolution of western classical music.

Fry is incredibly insane while he describes his favourite composers Bach & Wagner, describing their compositions, lifestyles, successes & failures, condos and condoms, etc. (Ok Ok, everything except condos & condoms in the above list is there!) He uses different icons to describe downright absurd creations that he has embedded in and different font sizes & typefaces for impact. For ex, Wagner is in a larger font size right thru the book for his larger than life compositions. I can quite imagine the printer repeatedly cursing while typesetting for the book!

I am already in love with Bach since our man loved coffee so much that he composed The Coffee Cantata as an ode to the divine beverage. There is even a mock one line review at the back of the book on what each of the composers would have said had they seen this work. Fry's attempts at self deprecation is matched by the broad sweep of classical music that he covers and his work is brought to life by his rich language and unmatched sense of wicked humour. My favourite is his remark on collective noons. He says they are rather like polar regions & mountains! Whoever gets there first gets to name them!

This is my first Fry, although I have one other book of my own, The Liar, which I shall start right away. The experience has been rewarding to say the least. I now know what a semi breve is, among other things!