Episode · Conversations with Tyler · 2025-07-09
Books mentioned on David Robertson on Conducting, Pierre Boulez, and Musical Interpretation
David Robertson is a rare conductor who unites avant-garde complexity with accessibility. After serving as music director of the Ensemble Intercontemporain, Pierre Boulez's storied contemporary-music ensemble, he went on to rejuvenate the St.
Books mentioned, in the order they came up
-
The Classical Style
The Classical Style by Charles Rosen is a landmark critical history examining the musical idioms of Haydn, Mozart, and Beethoven and defining the aesthetic architecture of the classical era.
Recommended“So I'm a real hardass at Giuliard. And I make my students I assume that they've all read Charles Rosen's The Classical Style.”
Where to get it
-
After Babel
After Babel by George Steiner is a profound philosophical study examining the nature of human communication, meaning, and translation across languages and cultures.
Recommended“I assume that they have a favorite orchestration book, but for the class I make them read um all of I'm afraid um George Steiner's After Babel, which is about translation and the whole the whole process of taking something from one situation, in this case one language, into another language, what you can carry across and what gets uh”
Where to get it
-
Metaphors We Live By
Metaphors We Live By by George Lakoff and Mark Johnson is a foundational cognitive linguistics text that argues human conceptual systems are fundamentally metaphorical in nature, shaping how we think, speak, and act.
Recommended“And then they make them read um uh the words we use of Jackson and Malof um because you know the metaphors we live by because that's one where we tend to speak and we haven't ever necessarily looked at the language we're using and what it what it communicates.”
Where to get it
-
Thinking, Fast and Slow
Thinking, Fast and Slow by Daniel Kahneman is a seminal book exploring the dual systems of the human mind that drive how we think and make decisions.
Recommended“I make them read uh someone that you've had on the uh podcast before, Daniel Conan, drinking fast and slow.”
Where to get it
