Alex Ross
Music critic of The New Yorker since 1996 and author of The Rest Is Noise, Listen to This and Wagnerism.
Alex Ross did not write this page. ppll compiled it from their own words, each linked to the source. Is this you? · Report a mistake
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What they believe
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Contemporary composition is as vital as ever.
Although the musical scene exhilarates me more than ever - contemporary composition is eternally vital - I wouldn't want to overstay my welcome.
therestisnoise.comSaid 29 Jun 2026This on korrents
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Prose written in an intensely musical, rhythmically dense style is inherently difficult for composers to adapt successfully into music.
Writers of such concentrated style can pose a danger for composers.
therestisnoise.comSaid 17 Jun 2026This on korrents
The bold line is korrents’ wording; the quote is theirs. These 2: what they wrote before what they said aloud, one per source, newest first.
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As its own page →Hiding
14 August
27 July
2 July
29 June
From one piece Personal note 2 beliefs · therestisnoise.com
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korrents.com
Criticism as a field of writing is declining today.Their words
David Remnick, who has given me free rein at a time when criticism is withering away
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korrents.com
Contemporary composition is as vital as ever.Their words
Although the musical scene exhilarates me more than ever - contemporary composition is eternally vital - I wouldn't want to overstay my welcome.
20 June
18 June
17 June
From one piece Liner notes to What Belongs to You 2 beliefs · therestisnoise.com
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Their words
In the English-language arena, Britten sets the standard for handling writers of inborn musical power-the likes of Shakespeare, Donne, Blake, Keats, Hopkins.
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Their words
Writers of such concentrated style can pose a danger for composers.
15 June
19 May
18 May
Nothing matches.
Beliefs
Korrents What they believe 4 beliefs — each backed by an exact quote.
Each is a — compiled by korrents.com, not by them: the one-line wordings are korrents', the quotes are theirs.
Recent
Contemporary composition is as vital as ever.
Although the musical scene exhilarates me more than ever - contemporary composition is eternally vital - I wouldn't want to overstay my welcome.
Personal note Said 29 Jun 2026
Criticism as a field of writing is declining today.
David Remnick, who has given me free rein at a time when criticism is withering away
Personal note Said 29 Jun 2026
Prose written in an intensely musical, rhythmically dense style is inherently difficult for composers to adapt successfully into music.
Writers of such concentrated style can pose a danger for composers.
Liner notes to What Belongs to You Said 17 Jun 2026
Show 1 more
Benjamin Britten is the benchmark among English-language composers for setting the work of intensely musical writers like Shakespeare and Keats to music.
In the English-language arena, Britten sets the standard for handling writers of inborn musical power-the likes of Shakespeare, Donne, Blake, Keats, Hopkins.
Liner notes to What Belongs to You Said 17 Jun 2026
What is a korrent?
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Recommends rcmnd
rcmnd What they recommend 5 things — each backed by an exact quote.
Compiled by rcmnd.app, not by them: the quotes are theirs, and each links to the post it was copied from.
Recent
Loved Music in a New Found Land
This is a wonderful book, and somewhat forgotten. It's currently very hard to find, here in America at least. It's fantastically vivid and passionate writing about music of all kinds.
fivebooks.com 1 Jan 2013
Loved Silence
Silence is one of the great music books. Purely on a literary level, there's something about Cage's style which is tremendously unique, something quite special in the history of literature.
fivebooks.com 1 Jan 2013
Loved Doctor Faustus
I read Doctor Faustus when I was around 18 and something about the book just overwhelmed me. It was one of the most intense reading experiences of my life.
fivebooks.com 1 Jan 2013
Show 2 more
Loved The Birth of Tragedy and The Case of Wagner
The other thing about Nietzsche's writing about Wagner is that it's wonderfully brilliant, unpredictable vivid and perceptive, even when he's deliberately distorting the material for a certain effect or working out his own profound ambivalence about Wagner.
fivebooks.com 1 Jan 2013
What others say about The Birth of Tragedy and The Case of Wagner →
Loved The Infinite Variety of Music
When I was very young, I loved the fact that Bernstein's language was so vivid. I was already sold on the music. As far back as I can remember my parents had the records and were playing them, and I took to them immediately. It was really the only music that I cared about, early on. Bernstein allowed me to have a conversation – only with myself at first – about the music.
fivebooks.com 1 Jan 2013
Where they publish
Blog The Rest Is Noise His long-running blog of notes, links and unpublished material on music.
Recent
- A Müller-Hermann moment 14 Aug 2026
- At the grave of Leonhard Frank 27 Jul 2026
- A Brahms moment 2 Jul 2026
Show 7 more
- Personal note 29 Jun 2026 For thirty years, I’ve had the high honor of serving as the music critic of The New Yorker. My archive of writing contains nearly four hundred iterations of the column known as Musical Events, as well as eighty or so lo…
- A Reicha moment 20 Jun 2026
- Nightafternight playlist 18 Jun 2026 Martinů, Symphonies Nos. 1-6; Jakub Hrůša conducting the Bamberg Symphony (DG) In Darkness and Light: works of Beethoven, Iyer, Feldman; Sarah Rothenberg (DACAMERA) Bach, Clavier-Übung III; James McVinnie (Pentatone) Li…
- Liner notes to What Belongs to You 17 Jun 2026 These notes appear with Bright Shiny Things’ recording of David T. Little’s What Belongs to You. Garth Greenwell, the author of the novel on which David T. Little’s What Belongs to You is based, is an intensely musical…
- Habermas, Dudamel/Conlon 15 Jun 2026 The Dream of Reason. The New Yorker, June 22, 2026. Farewell, My Lovely. The New Yorker, June 22, 2026.
- For Felicity Lott 19 May 2026 The superb British soprano, as immaculately stylish as she was subtly expressive, has died at the age of seventy-nine. She was notable for her extraordinarily precise diction, which gave the musical line a tactile, etch…
- Czernowin in Witten 18 May 2026 Crisis Mode. The New Yorker, May 25, 2026.
Link verified 5 Sept 2026. Recent items update automatically from the channel.
Newsletter And the world was calm His Substack of stray notes on music and literature.
Link verified 5 Sept 2026.
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