Published in association with the Cosman Keller Art and Music Trust. Over the last forty years Bayan Northcott has established himself as one of London's leading music critics, a figure much admired by Hans Keller [1919-85] whose ideas he frequently invokes. Moving easily between the classics and the moderns, and writing with exceptional acuity, he brings a vast knowledge to bear on every issue great or small. In these years, though, he has alsodeveloped as a composer; and it is the meeting point of critic and artist that this, his first selection of essays, celebrates. The first part deals mainly with musical questions, the second with music for words, the third with agallery of composers, and the fourth with the various states of music. It is a book that will appeal to ordinary music lovers and connoisseurs alike.