Did you know that the world’s oldest musical notations were discovered on the walls of prehistoric caves?

Did you know that the chants sung by farmers in the Valley of the Nile are the same as those that were sung five thousand years ago for the birth of a child or the death of a friend?

Did you know that Pythagoras invented his first musical instrument after visiting a blacksmith?

Did you know that Bach’s music is studded with messages for God in a code devised by the brilliant composer?

Did you know that the famous 'da-da-da-DUM' of Beethoven’s Fifth Symphony announce 'fate knocking at the door'? And that 'Für Elise' contains some very troubling mysteries?

Did you know that Schumann slipped several cryptograms that he called 'Sphinxes' into his Carnaval?

How and why were Wagner’s works able to make listeners go crazy? How did Scriabine hope to generate ecstasy? What secret rhythms in Debussy’s work create that impression of serenity? How did Shostakovich hope to terrify Nazi troops? And much, much more.

Lively, open-minded and surprising, Jean Louis Bachelet recounts the history of music and of the greatest composers via myriad references and anecdotes, drawing on the very sources and inspirations of their creativity.