For virtually all of our lives, we are surrounded by music. From lullabies to radio to the praises sung in houses of worship, we encounter music at home and in the street, during work and in our leisure time, and not infrequently at birth and death. But what is music, and what does it mean to humans? How do we process it, and how do we create it? Musician Leo Samama discusses these and many other questions while shaping a vibrant picture of music's importance in human lives both past and present. What is remarkable is that music is recognised almost universally as a type of language that we can use to wordlessly communicate. We can hardly shut ourselves off from music, and considering its primal role in our lives, it comes as no surprise that few would ever want to. Able to transverse borders and appeal to the most disparate of individuals, music is both a tool and a gift, and as Samama shows, a unifying thread running throughout the cultural history of mankind.
More Information
Author Biography
Leo Samama studied music in Utrecht and composition with Rudolf Escher. He taught at the Utrecht Conservatory and Utrecht University. He worked as a programmer at the Dutch National Broadcasting Company, Residential Orchestra, Dutch Music Days, and many other projects. His book Seventy Years of Dutch Music (title transl.) is a well-known reference title on the subject. He is also editor of Entartete Musik: Forbidden Music under the Nazi Rule (title transl.).
