No Minor Chords

This is one hilarious book I have ever read in my life! Previn brings all those big name Hollywood directors, producers, actors/actresses and musicians to life with funny little sweet anecdotes. Some of them are funny beyond imagination. I am not the kind of person who laughs aloud when reading or watching TV, but this one, I couldn't help cracking up. I don't want to spoil it by telling the contents with my stale language skills. You just got to read it yourself! At the same time you will learn about inside Hollywood in its glorious days. It's amazing how hard those guys worked, and how genius they were! Very colorful, fun to read, and for all ages.

This is a most enjoyable book written for all readers-although the more you know about music, the harder you'll laugh. It recalls Previn's youthful days among the musicians in Hollywood, which includes a telling view of the movies' relationship with music. Previn himself is such a proficient musician-classical, jazz, he can write or play in any style-that his point of view is rounded, grounded, and surrounded by crazy ironies. This isn't a long book or a hard read, making it all the more fun. It would be a fantastic gift item-if it were in print!

In this autobiography, Andre Previn takes you on a candid and entertaining journey through his years working as composer, arranger, conductor and accompanist in the undoubted film capital of the world, Hollywood.It is fascinating and funny all at once. The American film institution has always been admired and criticised, and Previn details some of the high and low points of being a part of it: the fact that musicians in Hollywood are a long-suffering breed at the hands of actors, producers and directors who haven't got a clue about music; the accounts of film personnel as seen at work and away from the glamour that publicly accompanies them; stories of wildly extravagant experiences that make up the off-hours and nightlife of the Hollywood populace. Previn also has plenty of musical experiences to relate: studying with Pierre Monteaux (conductor of the premiere of "The Rite of Spring"), playing Stravinsky's piano music and receiving the composer's comment afterwards, rubbing shoulders with other members of the Screen Composers Guild including William Walton, playing snooker with Schoenberg and consulting Shostakovich (via an interpreter) for information about his string quartets. We learn some remarkable things about a bygone era in cinema history, as well as a few home truths about living and working in Hollywood's incomparable atmosphere. All in all, it is a very amusing tale.Previn reveals himself to be a great storyteller: his tone of writing is friendly and hands-on, and fans of Bill Bryson may recognise in Previn the same kind of bemused wit. For musicians, this is certainly an enjoyable account. For the casual reader, this is a good way to spend a few hours at home, on the train or in the air. My copy is much-thumbed, I can tell you...

Anyone who enjoys movies, movie history, music, film music, and laughter will greatly enjoy this book.

Previn writes with a witty keen sense of humor about the nuttiness of Hollywood, about producers who know nothing about music but who also control everything having to do with music in pictures.