THE LIFE OF A GREAT CRITIC. On the rare occasions when I'm asked to recommend a book that would be a good introduction to classical music, I suggest The Lives of the Great Composers by Harold C. Schonberg, who died on July 26 at the age of 87.

Schonberg spent decades covering music and chess for The New York Times, where he also wrote about mysteries and thrillers using the no-longer mysterious nom de plume Newgate Callendar. What makes his Lives of the Great Composers such a fine guide is his journalistic talent for expressing his passion for music in clear, engaging, and unpretentious prose.

Swiftness was also one of Schonberg's gifts. In the July 28, 2003 New York Times obituary for Schonberg, Allan Kozinn describes how the late critic drafted reviews with daunting speed and clarity: "Rarely did his copy contain a typo or crossed-over thought." In the August 3, 2003 Times, critic Bernard Holland remembers seeing Schonberg write "a 600-word, error-free, editor-proof review in 20 minutes."

The Times obituary includes wonderful examples of Schonberg's writing. Here's how Schonberg used the third person to recount his life-changing first visit to the old Metropolitan Opera House, in 1927: "The chord rose to the dress circle, and he felt as though he could reach out, touch it, caress it. He had been to concerts before, but somehow, in this vast dark auditorium, there was a different feeling to the texture and even the organization of this chord. It sounded warm and cozy. It covered him like a blanket."

The passage reminds me of some of my own early visits to Carnegie Hall and the new Metropolitan Opera House. I'm touched by the realization that St. Luke's Hospital, where Schonberg breathed his last breath, is nestled between those two havens for the music-lover.

There may or may not be a charge to read some of the above-mentioned articles at the website for The New York Times.