'Edward Said had a lifelong passion for music, and possessed the rare ability to write about it for the general reader with a lucid and penetrating intelligence'

TLS

'Timely ... the essays come across as fresh and lively ... There are few whose command of words is sufficient not only to illuminate music, but to help music illuminate the world of those who make and listen to it. Said was one'

Daily Telegraph

The sheer eloquence of Said's writings reminds us that with his untimely death we have lost one of our most distinguished music critics.

Maynard Solomon, The Julliard School

'This fine collection by one of the most perceptive music critics of the last half-century is highly recommended'

Library Journal