Classical Music Month

Classical Music Month is observed in September. It was established in 1994 by President Bill Clinton's proclamation. The month aims to celebrate the study and beauty of classical music. Here's a list of books to get you started.

Updated August 22, 2025
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Fond du Lac Public Library
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The way of Bach : three years with the man, the music, and the piano
Moller, Dan
Paper Book
A tale of passion and obsession from a philosophy professor who teaches himself to play Bach on the piano. Dan Moller grew up listening to heavy metal in the Boston suburbs. But something changed when he dug out his mother's record of The Art of the Fugue, inexplicably...
Beethoven : anguish and triumph : a biography
Swafford, Jan.
Paper Book
Jan Swafford's biographies of Charles Ives and Johannes Brahms have established him as a revered music historian, capable of bringing his subjects vibrantly to life. His magnificent new biography of Ludwig van Beethoven peels away layers of legend to get to the living, breathing human being who...
Mozart's starling
Haupt, Lyanda Lynn
Ebook
On May 27th, 1784, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart met a flirtatious little starling in a Viennese shop who sang an improvised version of the theme from his Piano Concerto no. 17 in G major. Sensing a kindred spirit in the plucky young bird, Mozart bought him and took him home to be a family pet. For...
The great composers : the lives and music of the great classical composers
Nicholas, Jeremy.
Paper Book
From the romantic agonies of Hector Berlioz to the lonely labors of Anton Bruckner; from the cosmopolitan triumphs of George Frideric Handel to the politically fraught career of Dmitri Shostakovich, the lives of the great composers are as varied and multifaceted...
Declassified : a low-key guide to the high-strung world of classical music
Warsaw-Fan Rauch, Arianna
Paper Book
"A refreshingly fun guide" that reads "as if you're a fly on the wall in conservatory auditions, cutthroat competitions and the obsessive practice routines of professional musicians." (The New York Times) Arianna Warsaw-Fan Rauch's life-long fascination with classical...
The NPR listener's encyclopedia of classical music
Libbey, Theodore
Paper Book
A complete education in classical music, written with verve and wit. No music lover can pick up this one-volume compendium without becoming a more knowledgeable, discerning listener. * The sonata form revealed, and why it's been deeply satisfying for three centuries. * What to listen for...

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