Year of Wonder: Classical Music to Enjoy Day by Day Kindle Edition

The book may interest you, but unless you wish to pay $120 a year for Spotify, you cannot access the much-hyped playlist. Spotify will give you five seconds of music then stop. Useless. So you have to search out each piece she covers in the very brief descriptions and it becomes a Year of Wonder and Hours of Searching

Once upon a time there was a girl who thought classical music was completely boring and pompous. As she grew, she began discovering interests in things she never thought she'd be interested in. Things like art, philosophy, and music ("but never classical music" she scoffed)!One evening, a man invited her to the Utah symphony. While this sounded like the most monotonous new thing one could try, her date was super handsome and she agreed to attend. With whiskeys enjoyed and fancy date in arm, they listened as Beethoven's Fifth was played.What a first date! Her interest was piqued and so began the self-induction process via Google. As it goes, months passed, confusion and frustration grew and all attempts to understand this dense, pretentious music seemed futile.Enter Clemency Burton-Hill.-------------------------------------------I've been reading this book for a few weeks and ADORE it!!! Clemency pulled me from the brink of bitter despair and makes listening, reading and learning about classical music FUN.Not only did she save my personal musical journey, but that hunky symphony date is now my boyfriend and she has given us a way to SHARE this musical journey together, every day.This book holds a very special place in my heart and Clemency for writing it.

I like the brief interesting one page commentary. I find the daily songs on YouTube.

I am someone who never really got into the wide world of classical music, and when I stumbled across this book, I was instantly intrigued. I am so in love with this! I did start on January 1, but the book can be started at any point during the year. Each page is one day, one song, with a brief background, context, or story around its success. As of now, there is a free Spotify playlist with all of the songs, in order, so you can just follow along and hear the music there. I highly recommend this to anyone who wants an excuse to taste some classical music throughout the year.

A wide variety of music is presented in a short, "daily devotional" style. To get the most out of it, join Spotify for free and search for Year of Wonders Playlist. Listening to each day's short selection is a great way to start or end the day. I like to listen to the day's musical choice, then do the day's reading, first forming my own opinion of the music then reading the interpretation and composer's bio.Almost all of the music is classical. There is a Frank Zappa selection, but he had dabbled in classical.I do wish it were published in hardback or at least a spiral notebook. I'm not sure the binding will hold up.Highly recommended.

Short stories of intrigue surrounding common and not-so-common composers and classical works. The audiobook narrator is amazing! (Note that audiobook doesn't have music clips with it, as I had hoped.) Hardcover book is top-quality--really a beautiful book with a page a day. I got both versions of the book toward the end of January but have enjoyed "catching up" to the current date. I look forward to using this resource (in both formats) the whole year, and starting it all over again next year!

Great book for those looking to discover more in classical music. This book I think has something for everyone who loves music.

As you read the book, you get a sense of wonder that Clemency Burton-Hill has for music. Great book for those new to classical music or for those who have enjoyed classical music for a lifetime. Enjoying reading this book a day at a time. The author has also posted playlists for each month on Spotify (through March so far) so you can listen to her selections.

Burton-Hill had this deceptively simple idea. A book listing a piece of classical music to listen to every day for a year. And for each piece a short summary of why she chose it. But this brief description cannot begin to sum up just what a wonderful book this is. Full of insights on the various pieces (and Composers) chosen. The story around why she chose the Verdi Requiem moved me to tears. I bought this as a Christmas present for a friend who is developing her knowledge of classical music and loved it so much I bought one for myself. The book itself is a thing of beauty with a dark blue cover with the silhouette of a violin and musical notes picked out in gold. If you know someone who wants to learn about classical music but does not know where to start, then this book is perfect. But it's not just for the novice. My husband, who has been listening to classical music for 50 years has made discoveries (eg Lotti's Crucifixus) and we are only half way through January! I recommend it if you know little or nothing about classical music and my husband recommends it if you have been listening to classical music for years. Either way you are likely to find something to enjoy here.

As classical music lovers we can sometimes be left out of the usual “new” music discovery. Classic fm is good but listen for a week and you’ve heard their repertoire.This book lifts the classical lover out of the discovery doldrums every single day. Combining useful and accessible text along with truly inspirational choices means I’m looking forward to a year of inspiration and delight!A week in and loving the choices.There are useful playlists on Spotify and Apple Music but Amazon Prime Music has been left out. As a PrimeSubscriber it would have been good to have this but it’s easy enough to search and listen.Lovely book, superb writing and a genuine inspiration.

I have learned much of the pieces she selects: the slightly gossipy tone is forgivable, concealing erudition aplenty. My only criticism is that many of the music is not available on CD. I don't do downloads, where, possibly, one can hear her selection.

My hubby is a big fan of Clemmy & her various roles. So when her book came out, I had to get it for him. This is an extraordinary book which can be used everyday for years to come. Every day Clemmy gives a brief overview of the composer & why she's chosen that piece for that day. The book is educating us about composers & music we'd never heard before & reminded us of some we'd forgotten about. Every morning we look at Clemmy's choice for that day, & now enjoy our breakfast to the sounds of lovely music. And next year we can start all over again. Brilliant.

Absolutely lovely book. I’m so thrilled. You do need access to a music playlist but armed with that it begins my day with real joy. I love classical music but don’t always branch out so this is fab way to listen to more and different with a story. The children are listening too