THE MUSICAL HUMAN

A RADIO 4 BOOK OF THE WEEK Full of delightful nuggets Guardian online Entertaining informative and philosphical An essential read All About History Extraordinary range All the world and more is here Evening Standard 165 million years ago saw the birth of rhythm 66 million years ago came the first melody 40 thousand years ago Homo sapiens created the first musical instrument Today music fills our lives How we have created performed and listened to music throughout history has defined what our species is and how we understand who we are Yet it is an overlooked part of our origin story The Musical Human takes us on an exhilarating journey across the ages from Bach to BTS and back to explore the vibrant relationship between music and the human species With insights from a wealth of disciplines world leading musicologist Michael Spitzer renders a global history of music on the widest possible canvas from global history to our everyday lives from insects to apes humans to artificial intelligence Michael Spitzer has pulled off the impossible a Guns Germs and Steel for music Daniel Levitin A thrilling exploration of what music has meant and means to humankind Ian Bostridge