What is one of the sure ways to lose what little reading audience I have? Talk about classical music and opera! For those of you who are still with me after that first sentence, I will assume you aren’t totally opposed to the idea of classical music or may even like it.

I did not grow up listening to classical music. In fact, I was well into my mid-20s before I had ever listened to a symphony all the way through. But when I got the bug, I got it bad. Unfortunately I had no training, but I knew what I liked even when I wasn’t sure why I liked it. So for those of you who are like me and love classical music, or for those who are looking for a gateway to find out what it is about, let me suggest three books.

The Indispensable Composers: A Personal Guide

By Anthony Tommasini
2018
496 pages / 20 hours and 24 minutes
Nonfiction

The Indispensable Composers by Anthony Tommasini is the best introduction to classical music that I know. The best thing about this book is that, as I was reading it, I couldn’t wait to get back to the music and listen with new ears to pieces I’d heard hundreds of times. At the very beginning of the book his discussion of Bach’s “Mass in B minor” almost had me in tears. Tommasini concentrates on those composers whom he believes have somehow transformed classical music, though I feel more than a little irritated that he leaves out my favorite composer, Gustav Mahler. Nonetheless, if you’re looking for a place to start there is no better book than this. Tommasini has a talent for explaining complex musical ideas in a relatively non-technical way.

A Mad Love: An Introduction to Opera

By Vivien Schweitzer
2018
288 pages / 6 hours and 56 minutes
Nonfiction

While I do not love opera as much as I like symphonic music, I have had the opportunity to attend a few in the last decade, so I can attest that it’s possible to acquire the taste. But opera is even more baffling to the beginner than a symphony. So let me suggest A Mad Love by Vivien Schweitzer. It is a wonderfully entertaining introduction to opera, beginning with the very earliest operas and coming right up to the present day. There is also corresponding music on Spotify so you can listen to what you’re reading about. Try it! You might like it.

Words Without Music: A Memoir

By Philip Glass
2016
432 pages / 15 hours and 6 minutes
Nonfiction

Finally, let me suggest Words Without Music by Philip Glass, a book that is part biography and part description of the creative process. The book’s cover describes it as a memoir. I suppose Glass would fit into some category like postmodern classical music or perhaps minimalist music, but what he does is actually quite hard to describe. One of the things about great composers is that they are almost always better with music than they are with words. But in this case, Glass turns out to be an incredibly articulate guide. His life is interesting in its own right, and if you read this book you will almost certainly go searching for the music. In my case, I did it the other way around and fell in love with the music first. It’s weird. But then you’re probably not surprised I like it.