Rowman & Littlefield Publishers
Pages: 238
Trim: 6 x 9
978-1-4422-3299-0 • Hardback • February 2015 • $50.00 • (£38.00)
978-1-4422-3300-3 • eBook • February 2015 • $47.50 • (£37.00)
David Schroeder is professor emeritus at Dalhousie University in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada, and he holds a doctorate from Cambridge University. He is the author of major studies on Haydn, Mozart, Schubert, film music, and opera. His most recent work is Experiencing Mozart: A Listener's Companion (Scarecrow Press 2013).
While this book makes no claims to be a scholarly study or a biography, it strikes me that Schroeder has read widely in the essential biographical material and has thought hard about what to listen for in the pieces he has chosen to deal with in some depth. . . .His approach to doing this is that 'it’s more useful to look at a few works in detail than to consider a large number superficially.' I think this is a good strategy, especially as he tries to show certain essential characteristics of Tchaikovsky’s compositional approach, which can then be useful in considering his other music. . . .[T]his book is well written, even occasionally trendy (Star Wars makes an appearance).
— Fanfare Magazine