Howard Goodall's Story of Music

http://ichef.bbci.co.uk/corporate/images/width/live/p0/13/l5/p013l5md.jpg/608

I love this guy. But I missed his new show because I didn't know it had started. This is about the development of music from ye olde tymes to the present day, as I suppose all his stuff is, but it doesn't matter because I could watch him all day.

It's on BBC Two on Saturdays at 9pm. Two episodes out of six are down already, but both are still up on iPlayer for the next four weeks:

1: the Age of Discovery
2: the Age of Invention

guess if we're going to have middlebrow purveyors of hegemonic western culture then he's better than stephen fry. seems absolutely clueless when it comes to pop music, non-european musics, and esp. 20th-Century modernism.

I don't really know much about classical music but I can almost hear an alternate-universe me who is engaged with classical shouting 'NO! NO! NO! NO!' at the telly when he is on, as the this-universe me does while watching Sebastian Faulks talk about literature or w/e.

my dominant memory of howard goodall is eyes closed, nodding along to wyclef jean. he'll have to do a lot to win me over.

also: he wrote the theme tune to Red fucking Dwarf

I'm on my own here, eh? I've learned lots from previous shows, and think they're great watching. As for pop/modern music, he did a 20th Century Greats series a few years back. I only saw the Cole Porter and Beatles episodes, but they were very good. I can't quite remember who the other episodes were to have been about, or how many there were - Bernard Herrmann was definitely one, maybe Bernstein or Gershwin another?

I hate this guy. Thread needs Julio.

According to the radio 3 forum, an amusing incident happened with Goodall on radio 4 recently. He was on with John Adams, and acclaiming him as the greatest living composer, partly because he was both serious and accessible, unlike some others. The presenter asked Goodall about the slant of his series, and Goodall gave his opinion that Schoenberg essentially ruined music. At which point Adams turned round and said "I love Schoenberg!" which somewhat destroyed Goodall's narrative.

I know how he feels

is this a new series? didn't he do one of these before? he's incredibly annoying, but the programs i saw before are a great introduction to western music. have you got this book ismael?

http://www.amazon.co.uk/History-Western-Music-Donald-Grout/dp/0393927490

I haven't - the only music history I have is The Rest Is Noise, but I've not got round to it yet. You'd recommend the Grout one? I'm most interested in simple music theory, but all entertaining knowledge is good knowledge imo.

yeah totally. it's a mix of theory and history. it's very good, most universities use it to bring their 1st year students up to the same level before moving on to the stuff alex ross writes about in TRIN

Have ordered, thanks!