Letters from the Ages: Great Musicians

The lives of a broad range of musicians are explored in the colorful latest Letters of the Ages anthology from Drake and Smyth (after Letters from the Ages: Behind Bars). Among other topics, musicians touch on the meaning of their craft. For example, in 1178, the German abbess and mystic Hildegard of Bingen responded to the church’s prohibitions on her “performing worship of any kind” by asserting that music is the conduit to the divine (“It is fitting that the body simultaneously with the soul repeatedly sing praises to God through the voice”). Discussing the mysteries of the creative process, songwriter Nick Cave mused in 2018 that “Lyric ideas are as illusive [sic] as fireflies,” while Edvard Grieg, a 19th-century Norwegian composer, put it more brusquely in a letter to a fan (“I have no method at all when composing!”). Other entries feature musicians addressing their critics; in 1996, Green Day’s Billie Joe Armstrong responded to an angry parent’s letter about his “explicit” lyrics with the admonishment: “I don’t write music for parents, grandparents, or eight year olds. I write for myself and I’ll say anything I damn well please.” Spanning genres and centuries, the missives investigate music’s essential mysteries and how the complex relationship between artist and listener has evolved over time. Music lovers of all stripes will find something to enjoy. (Nov.)