Madman's Orchestra: The Greatest Curiosities from the History of Music

A beautifully illustrated exploration of the strangest areas of music from around the world, from the author of the critically acclaimed bestsellers The Phantom Atlas, The Madman’s Library, and The Devil’s Atlas.

Join author Edward Brooke-Hitching on a backstage tour of the most surprising and eccentric stories in the history of music. From the musical secrets of prehistoric monuments to the future of compositions by artificial intelligence, The Madman’s Orchestra uncovers the most curious tales, madcap musicians, and unusual instruments lost in time. 

In these pages, discover answers to questions like: 

• What does the song of a black hole sound like?
  
• Which composition requires four helicopters and a string quartet with strong stomachs to play it correctly?
  
• When should you feed your piano hay? 
  
• What does the “cat organ” sound like, and is it any more pleasing to the ear than the “hog harmonium”?

Fascinating, funny, and at times barely believable, this abundantly illustrated volume is a unique compendium brimming with entertaining facts, stories, and playlists of obscure music that will thrill and delight every music lover.

A HISTORY OF MUSIC UNLIKE ANY OTHER: Discover the code-writing of musical cryptography, the beauty of Renaissance “eye music,” musical hoaxes, lost masterpieces, fire organs and witches’ flutes, compositions by the Devil, the singer who invented the “visible voice,” the symphony designed to bring about the Apocalypse, and many more stories that seem too strange to be true, but are.

Author/Artist: Edward Brooke-Hitching
Publisher: Chronicle Books
Page Count: 256pp
Size: 8 x 10.25 x 1.25
Notes: hardcover, color
Release Date: April 7, 2026
ISBN: 978-1797240121