World in Six Songs

Dividing the sum total of human musical achievement, from Beethoven to The Beatles, Busta Rhymes to Bach, into just six fundamental forms, Levitin illuminates, through songs of friendship, joy, comfort, knowledge, religion and love, how music has been instrumental in the evolution of language, thought and culture. And how, far from being a bit of a song and dance, music is at the core of what it means to be human.

A one-time record producer, now a leading neuroscientist, Levitin has composed a catchy and startlingly ambitious narrative that weaves together Darwin and Dionne Warwick, memoir and biology, anthropology and a jukebox of anecdote to create nothing less than the ' soundtrack of civilisation' .

Impartind suma totala a realizarilor muzicale umane, de la Beethoven la The Beatles, Busta Rhymes la Bach, in doar sase forme fundamentale, Levitin lumineaza, prin cantece de prietenie, bucurie, confort, cunoastere, religie si dragoste, modul in care muzica a fost instrumentala in evolutia limbajului, a gandirii si a culturii. Si cum, departe de a fi un cantec si un dans, muzica este esenta a ceea ce inseamna a fi om. Un producator de discuri unic, acum un neurolog, Levitin a compus o naratiune captivanta si uimitor de ambitioasa, care tese impreuna Darwin si Dionne Warwick, memorii si biologie, antropologie si un tonomat de anecdote pentru a crea nimic mai putin decat „coloana sonora a civilizatiei”.