When one goes into book shops in Israel, one cannot not notice that there are no music books. You could find a few song books, usually popular song books. But you will rarely find books about music. There are a few books that where translated into Hebrew. The most important one that was lately translated is Music: A Short Introduction by Nicholas Cook. This is a great book and it will probable contribute much to the dull musicological scene in Israel.

I lately went to a book shop called “Sipur pashut” in Neve Tzedek. It is a wonderful book shop with critical books on a large variety of subjects: philosophy, literature, film, art and more. Yet also here the music section was almost not existent. When I approached the person behind the desk, I was told that when they will enlarge the store they will have room for music books. It seems to me that Israel in general has no room for music books.

Why read books about music if you could simply listen to music?
Good music books make you listen to music differently. It is not only music that changes the lives of many people. It is also the words “around” it: discussions with friends, what is during a radio broadcast, what one reads in the newspaper, and what you could discover in a book.

When I write about music, it is usually out of a process where I started to listen to a certain piece of music differently. I wish to share this experience with my readers.

This is what happened in my last research trip to Berlin. As a result of extensive reading and listening, I began to hear things connected to gender in Schoenberg’s Piano Piece, Op. 33a. You can read a draft of the article in the “Drafts for comments” section of this website.

I hereby call all Israeli readers of this post to approach your local book shop and ask: “Why no books about music? Think about it!”