Black Inc. and Nero Books
Swooning
A Classical Music Guide to Life, Love,
Lust and Other Follies.
Christopher Lawrence
The Swoon CDs sold over half a million units, achieved Platinum status and
hold the record for the highest-selling classical compilations in Australia—
this is the book from the man who taught the nation how to swoon.
The history of classical music is littered with murder, adultery, bigamy, fraud,
sado-masochism, riches, poverty, gluttony, nervous breakdowns, bizarre
behaviour and terrible, terrible toilet humour (Mozart was the prime exponent
of the latter). Classical music–nice? Not at all. It’s the most immediate
expression of mental and emotional extremes: often deceptive, sometimes
dangerous and frequently a discomforting revelation.
Swooning documents the all too human flaws in the lives of the great
composers by loosely following the sequence of emotions as experienced in a
love affair—one that doesn’t work out, of course.
In this fully revised and updated edition, Christopher Lawrence leads us
through the listening experience, from anger and Beethoven to sadness and
Tchaikovsky, triumph and Wagner and freedom and Mozart—it’s all here in
this whimsical guide to the conduct of a romance, with some handy hints on
how to make it more, well, harmonious.
Christopher Lawrence is one of Australia’s favourite radio
personalities and he boasts a career spanning more than 40 years of
broadcasting. He is best known for his work with ABC Classic FM, presenting
the network’s Breakfast and Drive programs between 1994 and 2001. Three of
the Swoon CDs that evolved out of his Breakfast program broke sales records
in the Australian classical music industry, each achieving Platinum status.
As an orchestral and opera recording producer Christopher has been awarded
an International Emmy for Performing Arts, three ARIA Awards, a Churchill
Fellowship, and the Editors’ Choice Award at the Cannes Classical Awards in
France. Christopher has written three best-selling books and he can be heard
on ABC Classic FM from 9 a.m. to midday presenting Mornings.
