The Indispensable Composers

"A spirited musical compendium to the best of the best...[Tommasini's] goal is to keep his assessments simple, insightful, and jargon-free, and he succeeds...Entertaining, highly enthusiastic, and very knowledgeable, he's the perfect guide [to the great composers]...all exuberantly presented for your edification and enjoyment." --Kirkus

"Insightful...Tommasini twines engaging biographical sketches of the maestros and their tragic ailments, love affairs, and endless scrambles for money with appreciations of masterpieces, the latter enriched by his memories of hearing and performing them...he excels at the difficult task of capturing music in words...The result is an engrossing study that will appeal to both classical music aficionados and novice listeners who want a road map."--Publishers Weekly

"A treasure trove of biographical information and a primer on the language and notation of music itself...Tommasini makes a potentially dry and academic subject accessible."--Library Journal