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| Cue the music to listen to as you read this post: Gregorio Allegri -Miserere |
Title: Year of Wonder: Classical Music for Every Day by Clemency Burton-Hall
Book Beginnings / First Line Friday quote from introduction:
Friday56 quote (56% of sample):
Summary:
Year of Wonder is a unique celebration of classical music by an author who wants to share its diverse wonders with others and to encourage a love for this genre in all readers, whether complete novices or lifetime enthusiasts.
Clemency chooses one piece of music for each day of the year, with a short explanation about the composer to put it into context, and brings the music alive in a modern and playful way, while also extolling the positive mindfulness element of giving yourself some time every day to listen to something uplifting or beautiful. Thoughtfully curated and expertly researched, this is a book of classical music to keep you company: whoever you are, wherever you're from. (Publisher)
Review: This past week I spent at a family reunion with 20 others. At one point I asked each person to tell me what they were currently reading, their favorite book of the year, and how they would describe themselves as a reader/ what they prefer reading. Among the 20 of us several people, including myself, described themselves as reading omnivores -- as long as a book is interesting, we will read it. I think the fact that I read this book (and loved it) is proof of my status as an omnivoric-reader (I think I just made up a word.) Not only did I read it, but nerded out on it.
As you see from the Friday56 sample, each day highlights one specific classical piece. It didn't take me long to figure out to enjoy the book, I'd have to listen to each piece in addition to reading the information about the piece and the composer. Luckily for me someone else took the time to place all 365 pieces on a Spotify playlist and all I had to do was push play to hear and enjoy them. Here it is: Year of Wonder on Spotify. Now here is where the real nerdiness came into play -- I had the audiobook for Year of Wonder, so I would listen to Clemency Burton-Hall read her own text on my phone while I listened to the Spotify playlist on my computer. It absolutely drove my husband crazy when he walked into the room while I was juggling the two. I couldn't listen to the book with my headphones or I couldn't hear the music or vise versa. So he just had to put up with it or leave the room himself.
Since the book is designed to be a daily activity for a whole year and I only had the book for the three-week checkout time from the library I really had to listen to at least 18 entries a day to stay on a completion schedule. In doing this I never, or rarely, was able to listen to all the pieces in their entirety. I would listen to the song until the narration of the text was complete and I'd skip on to the next piece. Since I sped through all 365 days in 21 days, I have vowed I will go back and relisten to the whole playlist at a more leisurely pace since I can access it any time. For example as I am writing this I am listening to the "Oboe Concerto in D Minor, Op. 9, No 2: II Adagio" by Tomaso Albinoni, (January 17th) which is a personal favorite, one I've heard before.
When I think of classical music I tend to think Bach, Mozart, or Beethoven, and these three are certainly represented on the list, but my definition was expanded well beyond these popular three. Classical music is a broad tradition in Western music from the 11th century to the present which uses formal compositions, standard notations and traditional instruments. This collection had examples of music from all the musical eras: Medieval/Renaissance; Baroque; Classical; Romantic; and Modern (20th Century to today.) Burton-Hall also highlighted music from all over the world and explained how the folk traditions of those regions factored into the pieces. I really enjoyed my musical education while I listened to each piece.
At one point while I was listening to the book in the presence of my husband, he wondered if he had heard a piece before. I thought I had to and we asked our daughter, who has a lovely soprano voice and has sang in several choirs over the years, if she was familiar with a piece or composer. This simple question opened up a whole new dialogue with her. She talked about the composers whose choir pieces she has sung and her favorites. It was like a whole new aspect of her emerged before our eyes. One of those modern composers, Morten Lauridsen, she lovingly referred to as "Morty" and knew he was born in our state, Washington. I love it when when reading projects lead to get-to-know-you better moments among family and friends. (If you want to listen to a Morten Lauridsen piece try "Les Chanson des Roses" from the January 18th offering.)
I didn't love every piece, some of that modern atonality is pretty weird to me, but most of the pieces were the perfect accompaniment to my days and I never would have found them without this project. Clemency Burton-Hall did a great job including female composers in this list, which I really appreciated. (An example you might like to try: Paradis: Sicilienne by Maria Theresia von Paradis / or Trio for Piano, Violin, and Cello in D Minor by Ethyl Smyth.) Smyth and Paradis are two female composers I've never heard of before. Women's contributions have been so downgraded over the years it was good to see them elevated to the places they deserve in musical history.
My rating: 5 stars.
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| At 416 pages this book is my first Big Book of Summer 2026. |
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