The way of Music

The Way of Music by Robin Maconie (pictured), a New Zealand born composer and musicologist who studied with Olivier Messiaen and Karlheinz Stockhausen, is a listener’s guide to the hidden meanings of western classical music, language and drawing on universal listening experiences and skills. It is a study guide in hearing and communication processes (using the example of a barking dog eg “In a bark, a dog exists”), acoustics and  performance, a history of western music and culture through a survey of 100+ examples of recorded music, and class, gender, and cultural perspectives found in adult responses to the slow movement of Beethoven’s Piano Concerto No. 4. Published by Maryland’s Scarecrow Press, The Way of Music is another instalment in Robin Maconie’s programme to provide New Zealand with a core classic music textbook collection.