Music for Life

100 works to carry you through. That's the subtitle of music critic Fiona Maddocks's latest book, Music for Life, which emulates those wonderful poetry volumes 'Staying alive' and 'Being alive'.  (Probably others, too, but those are the books I own and know.) Those themed collections offer poetic advice and musings on various life themes; this book does the same with music. It starts at 'Childhood, Youth' and ends with 'And Yet… Unfinished Works' (and a 'Last Word'), taking in areas like 'Land, Sea and Sky' and 'Journeys, Exile' along the way. Of course, reading about a piece of music isn't the same as hearing it, but the prose is such a joy to read that it becomes spiritual nourishment in its own right. The choices are fascinating, sidestepping the obvious for something a little more personal, although not stubbornly so. I've been inspired to go and listen, and that surely is the point.