Victor Hugo said: "Music is noise that thinks". I'm tempted to add that it is also "noise that makes us think" because of its ability to comfort, soothe, excite and regenerate. Through their music, composers convey their madness, desires and their conception of the world and, when they hold a coherent philosophy, they pass on their wisdom to us. If we listen to them, they can become our gurus.
My Life with Mozart is the first in a series of books about musicians as spiritual guides, the second of which is When I Think that Beethoven is Dead when so Many Morons are Alive. .
Bach and Schubert are to follow…