This is not a book to be read from cover to cover. It’s a long-time companion, to be dipped into, studied and savoured. With nearly 3,000 entries, 560 pictures and a chronological sweep of 600 years, The Pursuit of Musick offers a breath-taking journey through music history, from medieval troubadours to the invention of the piano. For Judith Weir, Master of the King’s Music, ‘It’s a version of musical history which we always needed but could never have imagined.’
Andrew Parrott, director of the Taverner Choir and well known for his pioneering recordings of music from Machaut to Bach, has come up with a unique design. Part anthology, part encyclopaedia, it’s a rich mixture of music, art and social history. Divided into three parts – Society, Ideas and Performance – he’s assembled a lifetime’s collection of what he calls the ‘nuggets of music