BY SAMUEL COTTELL
Andrew Ford: Earth Dances (2015)
Black Inc. Books, $30.00 RRP
An appropriate reaction to the news that Andrew Ford has another book coming out might be to pump ones fist in the air and exclaim: ‘Yes!’. In fact, on this very occasion, I did so. A somewhat primal urge, I soon realised this may very well have been the most appropriate reaction in this case.
Earth Dances, taking its title from Harrison Birtwistle’s piece of the same name, is about music that goes in search of the primal, often resulting in renewal. Neatly divided up between chapters and interviews with numerous composers (including Brian Eno and Liza Lim), Ford gives his own insight to these ideas, and then discusses these ideas with the composers. Ford’s ability to interview in a most illuminating way really engages the composers at a core level, discussing the ‘nitty gritty’ of their work in relation to the overarching themes of the book.
Ford has dedicated this book to Wilfred Mellers (who, like Ford, wrote on a wide range of musical topics, including the Beatles). Mellers suggested that if you are not talking about music technically, then you are not writing about music. Ford certainly writes technically, but in an accessible way that non-musicians could understand and value. Indeed, when Ford writes about music, it dances off the page. His detailed descriptions are evidence of his musical ability as a composer. He is able to provide information with ease and clarity so that the most advanced connoisseur or eager novice could gain pleasure from it. His descriptions of orchestras and the colours they produce, or the subtlety of a musical passage, evoke images in the mind and immediately make you want to listen to the works.
Ford writes about music in intricate detail, pointing you towards the core of the music itself. He is able to write about any music with a natural ease and wit. His style is clear, concise, and conversational, and one of his key features lies in his ability to smoothly segues between topics. From Beethoven to Brian Eno to the Beatles, the range of the music examined is not just confined to the classical genre – and he draws inexplicable links between all types of music.
This is another great addition to the long list of Andrew Ford books. The wide plethora of topics from drones to drums, the voice to child’s play, this book certainly made me jump up in the air, pump my fist and shout: ‘Yes!’.
