The Spiritual Lives of the Great Composers
Enjoy a rare glimpse into the spiritual side of the world’s gifted musicians. I use this excellent book in our music appreciation program because it is so inspiring! Each composer is pictured in a full-page photograph (or painting for earlier musicians), and a quote reflects his religious convictions. A chapter is devoted to each composer’s driving force—spirituality. “I make no claim that these men were ‘saints,’” the author writes. Yet his evidence insists that each was motivated by profound faith. The author uses new research drawn from the composer’s journals and letters to dispel some of the current popular ideas about the composers. It is inspiring to realize that many of these humble composers give full credit to God for their music. Each chapter ends with a list of suggested listening from that composer’s works. Composers include: Handel, Bach, Haydn, Mozart, Mendelssohn, Schubert, Liszt, Beethoven, Wagner, Dvorak, Ives, Stravinsky, and others. Paperback book, 192 pages. |
