With Understanding Music and The Aesthetics of Music (1997) Roger Scruton set a new standard of
rigour and seriousness in the philosophy of music. This collection of wide-ranging essays
covers all aspects of the theory and practice of music showing the significance of music as an
expression of the moral life. The book is split into two parts the first is devoted to the
aesthetics and theory of music and the second consists of critical studies of individual
composers thinkers and works including essays on Mozart Wagner Beethoven's Ninth Janácek &
Schoenberg Szymanowski and Adorno. Understanding Music will appeal to specialists in
philosophy and musicology and also to music lovers who wish to find deeper meaning in this
mysterious art. The Bloomsbury Revelations editions includes a new preface from author.
