Music’s Odyssey

The delight sings loudly off the page … [Holloway] is fascinated by musical lineage and is a meticulous tracer and charter of influence , throwing cables across centuries and pulling seemingly disparate figures suddenly near. Irreverent , outspoken and unfailingly opinionated, with knowledge as broad as his vocabulary, [he[ offers an unofficial alternative account [of the history of Western music]; ‘an enthusiast’s record of delighted discoveries’; and a playful compendium … alongside close listening and biographical fragments. Saying the unsayable is a repeated theme …. he wrestles with the toughest of repertoire and wins – Alexandra Coghlan * Spectator *
Enthusiasts picking up this book will straightaway recognise a companion for life. They will be inexhaustibly educated, provoked and amused by the absoluteness of its commitment and the sharpness of its judgement … the book’s endearing loquacity, humour and energy bring to mind the literary fecundity of a Burgess or a Joyce. It is hard to believe that one person possesses and has been able to put on paper such an accumulation of knowledge – Jonathan Gaisman * The Critic *
Music’s Odyssey is a summation of [Robin Holloway]’s work as a writer on music … an idiosyncratic and personal tour of the glories of classical music. Holloway loves to trace influence and lineage, but more delightful are the wormholes he finds between centuries … he toys with tailoring his writing, chamelon-like, to echo the musical style of his subjects … each word is worth savouring – Rebecca Franks * The Times *
Music’s Odyssey is a generous compendium of ekphrases, shaped by unfearing judgement and threaded with autobiography. There is nothing like it – Paul Griffitths * Times Literary Supplement *
Holloway’s new book has seemingly felicitous combinations of … an ear for influence and sometimes unlikely connections found in Ross; an authority and forthrightness bestowed by erudition as with Taruskin; and an attractive concision similar to Scholes. Holloway’s new book has seemingly felicitous combinations of all the above: an ear for influence and sometimes unlikely connections found in Ross; an authority and forthrightness bestowed by erudition as with Taruskin; and an attractive concision similar to Scholes. [It also benefits from] the invaluable dual standpoint of a highly distinguished composer and academic … a monumental, profoundly valuable book – Dominic Hartley * Music Web International *
Holloway’s writing has a distinctive and individual voice – most enjoyable when he is either rhapsodising or excoriating … like sitting in a university tutorial with the most inspiring teacher – Bernard Hughes * ArtsDesk *
[Robin Holloway is] a critical writer of singular acumen and eloquence … whose brain and heart work together and as a multifaceted historian. … I have been returning to this book, and shall continue to do so – Norman Lebrecht * Slipped Disc *
A brave [and] very timely book [that] allows the reader plenty of freedom to think laterally about broader cultural issues while stick[ing] to a very clear purpose: to invite listeners to follow the development of music on a journey through the many centuries of its evolution, until we reach our own period. – Geraint Lewis * Gramophone Magazine *

Robin Holloway is a composer, teacher, writer and Emeritus Professor of Music at the University of Cambridge.

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