Music and Joy: Lessons on the Good Life (Hardcover) (ISBN-13: 9780300264210)

From Confucius to Saint Augustine and Beethoven to the blues, a rediscovery of the joy that is music

In this revelatory book, Daniel K. L. Chua asks a simple question: Is music joy? For Chua, the answer is a resounding yes--music is a lesson in joy that teaches us how to live well. But to hear this ancient knowledge, he says, we have to attend to a music that is so much greater than our greatest hits. Drawing on extensive sources, from the Confucian classics to the writings of Saint Augustine, Chua's book is a globe-trotting, time-traveling, mind-boggling journey to rediscover the joy that is music.

Using examples from Beethoven to the blues and from philosophy and theology to music theory, Chua updates the relation between music and joy and argues for its relevance in the face of our many political and environmental crises. He opens our ears to a music that is the very definition of joy for today's troubled world.

Author: Daniel K. L. Chua
ISBN-10: 0300264216
ISBN-13: 9780300264210
Publisher: Yale University Press
Language: English
Published: 08/27/2024
Pages: 336
Format: Hardcover