Book cover of Philosophy of New Music

Book description

An indispensable key to Adorno's influential oeuvre-now in paperback

In 1949, Theodor W. Adorno's Philosophy of New Music was published, coinciding with the prominent philosopher's return to a devastated Europe after his exile in the United States. Intensely polemical from its first publication, every aspect of this work was met…

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Why read it?

1 author picked Philosophy of New Music as one of their favorite books. Why do they recommend it?

Whilst not strictly a book about popular music, but rather two separate but related essays on the modern composers Igor Stravinsky and Arnold Schoenberg, Adorno’s study has been utterly formative for how I understand music and its relationship to its social conditions.

I can’t even fathom how I could think about music without Adorno, and this book is by far his most concerted and concise statement on the subject.

From Paul's list on popular music and capitalism.

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