‘An essential companion.’ Jeremy Denk, New York Times

‘Illuminating, accessible and detailed.’ Observer

Bach’s six cello suites for solo cello are among the most cherished works in musical literature. Little-known for some two hundred years after their composition, they have acquired an aura that enthrals audiences worldwide.

Internationally renowned cellist Steven Isserlis goes deep into the history and the emotional journey of the suites, bringing to bear all his experience of performance to offer a rewarding companion for everyone, from the casual listener to the performing musician.

For centuries, being a ballerina has been synonymous with being beautiful, thin, obedient and feminine. It is the crucible of womanhood, together with the harassment, physical abuse and eating disorders endemic at top schools. Can we abide this in a post #MeToo world?

Weaving together her own time at America’s most elite ballet school with the lives of renowned ballerinas throughout history, Alice Robb interrogates what it means to perform ballet today. She confronts the all-consuming nature of the form: the obsessive and dangerous practices to perfect the body, the embrace of submission and the idealisation of suffering.

Yet ballet also gifts its dancers ‘brains in their toes’, a way to fully inhabit their bodies and a sanctuary of control away from the pressures of the outside world. Perhaps it is time to reimagine its liberating potential.

From his earliest years it was apparent that the singular imagination of Wolfgang Mozart was tirelessly at work. He hated to be bored and hated to be idle, and he responded to these threats with a repertoire of antidotes mental and physical, going at every part of his life with tremendous gusto. His circle of friends and patrons was wide, encompassing anyone who appealed to his boundless appetites for music and all things pleasurable and fun.

As a man, Mozart was an inexplicable force of nature who could rise from a luminous improvisation at the keyboard to meow like a cat and leap over the furniture. He was forever drumming on things, tapping his feet, seeming both present and apart. But he also might grasp your hand and gaze at you with a profound, searching and melancholy look in his blue eyes. It was as if Mozart lived onstage and off simultaneously, a character in life’s tragicomedy but also outside of it, watching, studying, gathering material for the fabric of his art.

Like Swafford’s biographies Beethoven, Johannes Brahms and Charles Ives, Mozart is both wide-ranging and intimate in its exploration of a genius in his life and his setting: a man who rose from a particular time and place, whose art would enrich the world for centuries to come, who would immeasurably shape the future of classical music, who from his age to ours has stood as the definition of a prodigy. As Swafford reveals, to understand the evolution of music it is vital to understand this singular genius as a man and an artist.

‘Isserlis is the master of the material, yet always able to make it accessible . . . It is an absolute treat to be led to this sublime music by such an ethusiastic expert.’
MICHAEL PALIN

‘The book I’ve always wanted: an accessible, eloquent guide to the world’s greatest – and maybe most elusive – pieces of music. And written by the man I’d want to tell me about it. This is such a delight.’
DERREN BROWN

‘Illuminating.’ OBSERVER
‘Striking.’ THE SPECTATOR

Bach’s six Cello Suites are among the most cherished of all the works in the classical music literature. Shrouded in mystery – they were largely unknown for some two hundred years after their composition – they have acquired a magical aura which continues to attract and fascinate audiences the world over. To cellists they represent a musical bible, to listeners, scarcely less. Through what are on the surface simple dance suites, Bach takes us on a spiritual journey like no other, leading us from joy to tragedy, concluding in jubilation, even triumph.

Award-winning international cellist Steven Isserlis, whose recent recording of the Suites met with the highest critical acclaim, goes deep into that emotional journey, bringing to bear all his many years’ experience of performing the Suites. His book is intended as a rewarding companion for all music lovers, ranging from the casual listener to the performing musician. By offering his own very personal observations of the music, Isserlis’s aim is to take the reader further into the world of the Suites in order to enhance the experience of hearing some of the greatest works ever composed.

Praise for Steven Isserlis’ BACH: THE CELLO SUITES

‘The most wonderful cello-playing, surely among the most consistently beautiful to have been heard in this demanding music.’
GRAMOPHONE

‘Isserlis has done the impossible. He has given the listener something new, and indeed something outstandingly good . . . This recording can sit proudly on the shelf alongside the great recordings of Casals and Rostropovich. In fact, I may find myself picking it up as the favourite.’
BBC RADIO 3

With pieces ranging from Vaughan Williams’s ‘The Lark Ascending’ and Beethoven’s ‘Pastoral’ Symphony to the scores for Avatar and Assassin’s Creed, every entry puts the piece of music into context, providing fascinating insights into the inspirations behind each work and enhancing your listening experience.

Organised into occasions and themes, the book features music to accompany you through your day, from getting up and getting dressed to running, reading, walking the dog, cooking, taking a bath, going to sleep and everything in between. You’ll also find expert curations of the world’s most romantic music and the greatest Christmas works as well as compositions that celebrate the natural world and mark births and marriages.

Perfect for classical music enthusiasts as well as anyone looking for an enjoyable introduction to this genre, this is the definitive modern guide to classical music.

‘We are doubly blessed that Beethoven should have led such an extraordinary life. Laura has combined the two – the genius of his music and the richness of his experiences – to shine a revealing light on our greatest composer’ John Humphrys
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Ludwig van Beethoven: to some, simply the greatest ever composer of Western classical music. Yet his life remains shrouded in myths.

In Beethoven, Oxford professor Laura Tunbridge cuts through the noise. With each chapter focusing on a period of his life, piece of music and revealing theme – from family to friends, from heroism to liberty – she provides a rich insight into the man and the music.

Revealing a wealth of never-before-seen material, this tour de force is a compelling, accessible portrayal of one of the world’s most creative minds and it will transform how you listen for ever.
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‘Tunbridge has come up with the seemingly impossible: a new way of approaching Beethoven’s life and music . . . profoundly original and hugely readable’ John Suchet, author Beethoven: The Man Revealed

‘This well researched and accessible book is a must read for all who seek to know more about the flesh and blood tangible Beethoven.’ John Clubbe, author of Beethoven: The Relentless Revolutionary

‘This book is really wonderful! … However many books on Beethoven you own, find the space for one more. This one’ Stephen Hough, pianist, composer, writer

‘In a year when everyone’s looking for a new take on Beethoven, Laura Tunbridge has found nine. Fresh and engaging’ Norman Lebrecht, author of Genius and Anxiety

‘Remarkable . . . she captures the essence of his genius and character. I’ll always want to keep it in easy reach’ Julia Boyd, author of Travellers in the third Reich