Monteverdi and His Constellation

PRAISE FOR JOHN ELIOT GARDINER’S MUSIC IN THE CASTLE OF HEAVEN

'John Eliot Gardiner's book is, apart from anything else, a tremendous feat of narrative: he has the rare gift of always putting the camera in the right place. He tells this long and richly involved story in a way that makes everything clear, and sets the life and the music in a historical perspective where every detail is relevant and every comment illuminating. Simply as a biography this is splendid, but the fact that it comes with such a wealth of musical understanding and experience makes it invaluable. I learned an enormous amount, and I know I'll return to it again and again'

Philip Pullman

'How typical of John Eliot Gardiner to combine such great erudition with equal passion and enthusiasm. His book made me want to rush and listen to all the music he writes about, whether familiar or unfamiliar. A wonderful treasure chest'

Sir Simon Rattle

'There is something awesome about John Eliot Gardiner's achievement in this book: the interpretation of what to most of us can appear a great and mysterious force by a man whose entire life has prepared him for the task. Stunning'

Tom Holland

'A most impressive book. Not only does it contain an accessible guide to many of the major works of JS Bach, it also presents a well-considered portrait of the composer and his creative character … This book is going to be as indispensible to Bach scholars as it is to general readers'

John Butt

'A unique portrait of one of the greatest musical geniuses of all time by one of the greatest musical geniuses of our own age. John Eliot Gardiner uses his extraordinary immersion in Bach's music to illuminate Bach the man more brilliantly than in any previous work, and has created his own deeply moving work of art'

Amanda Foreman