Howard Goodall: Big Bangs

Vintage

$27.95

Goodall's television series of the same name is one of those rare instances when television reaches its full potential in a marvellous fusion of sound and image, information and entertainment.

Obviously, the book can't match the box in all respects, but, then, it can outdo it in others.

Goodall proves himself a wonderful writer, an irresistibly charming host around these musical moments: the invention of musical notation, of opera, of equal temperament, of the loud and soft machine (the piano), and of recorded sound.

Where the book outstrips the TV series is in its depth, and in the lovely little extras: Goodall has time to muse on his own creative process as a composer (of choral music, but also of music for the theatre and TV programmes such as Blackadder and Mr Bean), and on the meaning of music to the human race.

A sparkling book.