In his weaving of philosophy and musicology into an explication of redemption via the vehicle of compassion, this is an unparalleled, sadly posthumously published offering. It is at once required reading and a launch pad for an infinitude of musings. It is also, it should be clearly stated, magisterial. Colin Clarke Opera Now
Sir Roger Scruton, who died just after completing this book, was a writer and philosopher who held positions at the universities of London, Oxford, Boston, St Andrews and Buckingham and who wrote widely on art, architecture, music and aesthetics. His books include his now classic Short History of Modern Philosophy (1981), The Aesthetics of Music (1997), Death-Devoted Heart: Sex and the Sacred in Wagner's Tristan and Isolde (2004) and The Ring of Truth: The Wisdom of Wagner's Ring of the Nibelung (2016). He was a Fellow of the British Academy and a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature.