Jan Swafford

This large (600+ pages as well as appendices, footnotes) is a comprehensive and scholarly biography; the reader needs to be prepared to put in the work to appreciate it fully. I was unable to understand the sections of musical analysis, even though they look to be at fairly basic level. That still left a large but well focussed text which takes one through every year of Brahm's life and his sprawling relationships with other composers, singers, critics, etc. It's an interesting search through a complicated personality who had many friends but whose behaviour towards them was often appalling. Swafford is American, and the non-American reader must be prepared for a somewhat cosy and American way of writing. He is plainly on Brahms' side (not always the case with biographers) and the book is written with affection but not sycophancy. If you have the time and interest, read it.… (more)

There is a lot here to like, so why am I only giving this ... large ... book 3.5 stars? Well, shoot, who knows about stars anyway -- it's all subjective, right? Anyhoo, I came away from Swafford's bio feeling like I had read a big lumpy book about a big lumpy man. With someone as ... crusty as JB was, it would have been nice to have had a biography that skipped about -- not lightweight, mind, but light-handed. That's not Swafford.

Apparently this book caused some controversy in musical circles because of Swafford's embracing stories of JB as a young'n playing piano in tough Hamburg bars and whorehouses ... and running with this as a thing that underlay a good hunk of his otherwise difficult-to-fathom personality. Charles Rosen, who is cited several times in this text, took Swafford to task for this in no uncertain terms, and Swafford stuck to his guns. Was he right to do so? Hell, I don't know -- it does feel, superficially, to make a kind of intuitive sense.

I will be grateful to this book for steering me in the direction of specific pieces of Brahms' music. But I confess it was a chore to get through all 600+ pages.… (more)

This is another book that caught my eye in the new books area of our city's main library. One of those books that you take off the shelf and immediately know you have to read. It isn't like I am unfamiliar with classical music or composers but when I read the cover blurbs and a little bit of the introduction I knew I would find a lot to learn in this book.

In the introduction, Swafford suggests listening to the pieces he recommends as he talks about the individual composers and their pieces in his essays. I did just that but realized about halfway through the book that there would be no way to finish it without returning it to the library if I listened to every classical music piece on Spotify or Youtube. Nonetheless, I still ended up putting a bunch of music CDs on hold just because I want to listen to some of his suggestions more and I also spent whole evenings just watching classical music performances on Youtube....oh, and by the way, watch this one....I can't get enough of it....https://youtu.be/9rAd0-pTuU8. It is Dvorak's Violin Concerto in A Minor...the finale at the 23:20 mark just makes me smile.

One of the best parts of Language of the Spirit for me was learning about the history of classical music from medieval times to modern and the explanation of some of the jargon/terminology used. An essay introduces each historical musical period...baroque, classical, modern, etc...I was reminded of the World History class I had in high school which covered some of the same ground but via famous pieces of art rather than music.

I really wish I owned a copy of this book as it would be something I would return to in order to explore the works of a different composer each time...especially from the Classical period. I tend to really like the modernists like Bartok and Shostakovich but I also realized I like a lot of shorter pieces like Bach's sonatas and partitas, and as usual I have a strong affinity for string instruments, especially played solo or as part of a small ensemble.

Finally, Swafford is an engaging writer and you can tell he is passionate about many of the composers and their music. I was never bored and found myself deeply interested in all the essays and especially when I came to the individual essays on composers whose music I listen to frequently.

So, I highly recommended Language of the Spirit to anybody who loves classical music like I do and do exactly as the author recommends and listen as well as read.… (more)