Louder Than Bombs
A Life with Music, War, and Peace
- Contents
- Review Quotes
Table of Contents
Contents
Overture: Sarajevo, 1 August 1993
Haydn, String Trio Op. 8 No. 6
1 Hendrix Comes East
Isle of Wight Festival, 1970
2 What on Earth Is Going On?
Origins and Essence
3 Double Entendre: Shostakovich Goes West
Fifth Symphony, Leningrad Philharmonic, Jansons, BBC Proms, London, 1971
4 State and De Soto: ‘Down to the Crossroads’
B.B. King, Indianola, Mississippi, 2013
7” Single: Viva Verdi! Una Vita Italiana
5 ‘No Time for Love’
Planxty: National Stadium, Dublin, 1973
Christy Moore, Knightsbrook Hotel, Trim, County Meath, 2016
6 Floating Anarchy Radio: ‘You Can’t Un-ring the Bell!’
Planet Gong, Rougemont Gardens, Exeter, 1977
7” Single: Rock Against Racism
7” Single: Diamonds and Rust: Joan Baez and Bob Dylan
7” Single: Dvořák in Iowa
7 Fuck the Wall!
Berlin, 1989, and Plastic People of the Universe, Uničov, Czech Republic, 2009
8 Through the Wire
Music from Terezín, Nash Ensemble, Wigmore Hall, London, 2010
9 Symphony under Siege
Shostakovich, Seventh Symphony, Leningrad Radio Orchestra, August 1942
10 Radio Wall: Rock Under Siege
Ilijaz Delić: National Theatre, Mostar, October 1993
Amira Medunjanin, St George’s Hall, Liverpool, 2012
7” Single: La Louisiane
12” Extended Version: ‘I Think You’d Better Wake Up, the World Trade Center’s on Fire!’
11 Al-Malwiya – the Spiral
Led Zeppelin, ‘Kashmir’, O2, London, December 2007
7” Single: Singing Like a Saxophone
12 Please Step into the Next Hall, Comrades!
Shostakovich: Moscow, Cheryomushki, Mariinsky Opera, Gergiev, London, 2006
7” Single: La Discothèque
13 Strauss Is Cooler Than Salsa
The ‘Alpine’ Symphony, Simón Bolívar Youth Orchestra, Caracas, 2007, El Sistema
7” Single: Beethoven in Juárez
14 Through the Wall
Music for al-Nakba, Sebastia, West Bank, 2008
Brahms: Fourth Symphony, West–Eastern Divan Orchestra, Barenboim, BBC Proms, London, 2008
7” Single: Postcard from Rome – L’Ange Voyageur
7” Single: Postcard from the Recovery Ward, 2013
15 Drones over Wasteland
John Cale, Barbican, September 2014
16 When Words Fail
Schubert: Die Winterreise, Paul Lewis and Mark Padmore, Wigmore Hall, London, 2012
7” Single: Postcard from Amsterdam
7” Single: Postcard from the Night Train
Finale: ‘We Can Change the World’
Graham Nash, Paris, 2015–2016
Marianne Faithfull, Bataclan theatre, Paris, November 2016
Notes
Recommended Recordings
Bibliography
Acknowledgements
Index
Haydn, String Trio Op. 8 No. 6
1 Hendrix Comes East
Isle of Wight Festival, 1970
2 What on Earth Is Going On?
Origins and Essence
3 Double Entendre: Shostakovich Goes West
Fifth Symphony, Leningrad Philharmonic, Jansons, BBC Proms, London, 1971
4 State and De Soto: ‘Down to the Crossroads’
B.B. King, Indianola, Mississippi, 2013
7” Single: Viva Verdi! Una Vita Italiana
5 ‘No Time for Love’
Planxty: National Stadium, Dublin, 1973
Christy Moore, Knightsbrook Hotel, Trim, County Meath, 2016
6 Floating Anarchy Radio: ‘You Can’t Un-ring the Bell!’
Planet Gong, Rougemont Gardens, Exeter, 1977
7” Single: Rock Against Racism
7” Single: Diamonds and Rust: Joan Baez and Bob Dylan
7” Single: Dvořák in Iowa
7 Fuck the Wall!
Berlin, 1989, and Plastic People of the Universe, Uničov, Czech Republic, 2009
8 Through the Wire
Music from Terezín, Nash Ensemble, Wigmore Hall, London, 2010
9 Symphony under Siege
Shostakovich, Seventh Symphony, Leningrad Radio Orchestra, August 1942
10 Radio Wall: Rock Under Siege
Ilijaz Delić: National Theatre, Mostar, October 1993
Amira Medunjanin, St George’s Hall, Liverpool, 2012
7” Single: La Louisiane
12” Extended Version: ‘I Think You’d Better Wake Up, the World Trade Center’s on Fire!’
11 Al-Malwiya – the Spiral
Led Zeppelin, ‘Kashmir’, O2, London, December 2007
7” Single: Singing Like a Saxophone
12 Please Step into the Next Hall, Comrades!
Shostakovich: Moscow, Cheryomushki, Mariinsky Opera, Gergiev, London, 2006
7” Single: La Discothèque
13 Strauss Is Cooler Than Salsa
The ‘Alpine’ Symphony, Simón Bolívar Youth Orchestra, Caracas, 2007, El Sistema
7” Single: Beethoven in Juárez
14 Through the Wall
Music for al-Nakba, Sebastia, West Bank, 2008
Brahms: Fourth Symphony, West–Eastern Divan Orchestra, Barenboim, BBC Proms, London, 2008
7” Single: Postcard from Rome – L’Ange Voyageur
7” Single: Postcard from the Recovery Ward, 2013
15 Drones over Wasteland
John Cale, Barbican, September 2014
16 When Words Fail
Schubert: Die Winterreise, Paul Lewis and Mark Padmore, Wigmore Hall, London, 2012
7” Single: Postcard from Amsterdam
7” Single: Postcard from the Night Train
Finale: ‘We Can Change the World’
Graham Nash, Paris, 2015–2016
Marianne Faithfull, Bataclan theatre, Paris, November 2016
Notes
Recommended Recordings
Bibliography
Acknowledgements
Index
Review Quotes
Scott Elingburg | PopMatters
“The ultra-textured, extra-personal narrative [Vulliamy] weaves together, dual parts memoir and reportage, is a series of resoundingly deep and intellectual observations from a writer and music lover’s front-row seat to much of history. . . . Louder Than Bombs is a hefty read with loads of historical and cultural detail, geographical data, and stunning portraits of people experiencing life-affirming or life-changing events. As a guide, I can’t think of anyone better than Vulliamy to lead us across the joyous wastelands of war, peace, and music.”
Library Journal
“With a reporter’s keen eye for detail and a memoirist’s rich depth of experience, war correspondent Vulliamy asks: How can people play music through the worst calamities? Sourcing an encyclopedic knowledge of, and lifelong passion for, music, the author explores a range of examples. . . . This intriguing, at times poignant, contemplation will resonate with music fans of all stripes.”
Financial Times
“An impressively rich affair. . . . [Louder than Bombs] is not only a testament to a life-long love of music, it also represents an indefatigable act of reportage into it.”
New Humanist
“A lovingly sculpted monument to the songs and sounds that made sense, even—especially—when nothing else did.”
Irish Times
“Vulliamy conveys the sense that music is a deeply essential part of being human. . . . This book is an ambitious exploration of the soundtrack of Vulliamy’s eventful life and how much music inspired him to keep asking, ‘what is going on?’”
Matthew Collin, author of Rave On, Pop Grenade, and Altered State
“Vulliamy is one of the finest British journalists of his generation, and this thought-provoking book should captivate anyone who is interested in the meaning of music—how it sounds and feels, how it inspires, soothes and nurtures, and the vital role it has played socially and politically.”
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