Alex Ross's 'The Rest Is Noise' Examines 20th-Century Music

Alex Ross, musicologist and New Yorker journalist born in 1968, has written 'The Rest Is Noise,' a book that surveys 20th-century music from Strauss and Mahler to John Adams. The work critiques postwar avant-garde concepts that reject folklore, popular styles, and national particularities in the name of modernity. Ross argues that music cannot be reduced to a mathematical formula, citing Schoenberg's remark, 'I do not compose principles, but music,' against the 'clique of Schoenbergians' including Leibowitz and Adorno. The book highlights solitary, unclassifiable figures and the energy of be-bop and rock, articulating connections that express music's pluralism. Ross contends that at the turn of the 21st century, it is futile to perpetually oppose classical music to popular culture. The volume includes an audio and bibliographic listening guide, plus sound excerpts and reflections available at www.therestisnoise.com.