Charles Munch

Charles Munch (1891-1968) was a conductor and music director with stature and influence on par with that of Toscanini and Bernstein. A pivotal figure in many arenas of classical music, Munch almost single-handedly established Berlioz in the canon, perfected the orchestral work of Debussy and Ravel, led the world to Honegger, Poulenc and Dutilleux, shepherded the Paris Conservatoire Orchestra past the Nazi Occupation and on to its re-emergence as today's Orchestre de Paris, proved beyond doubt that there could be a vibrant Boston Symphony Orchestra after Koussevitzky, and created still unrivaled recordings on RCA Living Stereo. "Now we can play without ulcers," a Boston Symphony Orchestra musician told the press when Munch succeeded Koussevitzky, and the Providence newspaper reported a few weeks into the Munch tenure: "They're crazy about him to a man." Audiences, too, were crazy about him, almost without exception; and about most of the composers he played. The majority of critics who heard him, though quicker to identify his foibles, had little trouble elevating Charles Munch to the ranks of the great conductors.This is the first book-length biography of Charles Munch, written by an authority on orchestras and conductors who is noted for his engaging prose style and ability to interweave the stories of classical music's constituents: composers, performing artists, and their publics.

D. Kern Holoman is Distinguished Professor of Music at the University of California, Davis, and conductor emeritus of the UC Davis Symphony Orchestra. He is the author of Writing About Music, Evenings with the Orchestra, Berlioz, and the popular textbook Masterworks.