Music in the Western World: A History in Documents

by Piero Weiss and Richard Taruskin

Book Overview

This classic anthology assembles over 200 source readings, bringing to life the history of music through letters, reviews, biographical sketches, memoirs, and other documents. Writings by composers, critics, and educators touch on virtually every aspect of Western music from ancient Greece to the present day.

• Format: Hardcover
• ISBN: 0136077978
• ISBN13: 9780028729107
• Release Date: April 1984
• Publisher: Schirmer Books
• Length: 556 Pages

Customer Reviews

good book

We use this book as additional readings in our music history class. The book provides letters,critiques or concert reviews at that time. It's very interesting to learn history in this way.

Highly Recommended

Music for the Western World is an excellent anthology of source readings in western music history. Texts are well-chosen and entirely relevant to the period being discussed. What's unique about this book is the breadth of issues addressed and variety of sources cited. You get to hear from all sorts of people, from composers, to critics, to philosophers, and the texts offered take the form of letters, articles, reviews, autobiographies. All is given within a clear historical context, with reference to such events as the Reformation, French Revolution, and World Wars. Interesting introductions by editors Richard Taruskin and Piero Weiss (my professor at the Peabody Conservatory) as well as pictures, diagrams, and a good glossary allow this book to go beyond being simply a textbook. Anyone with an interest in music will find it easy to understand and entirely enjoyable.

Fine collection edited skillfully for readability & breadth

This is a particularly fine collection of a couple of hundred readings on Western Music from the ancient Greeks to the 1980s. That is a broad span, but the editors, Weiss and Taruskin, have done a fine job and keep things moving in a lively manner. The energy and vitality of these articles holds the reader's interest and wondering what treasure is coming next. Of course, this is a perfect volume for students in courses on music history and music appreciation, but it is also a very fine book for the general reader who is interested in learning more about the history of Western Art Music ("Classical Music"). What I like about volumes of source readings is the way the writings give a better context and flavor of their time than any later writing. Yes, the editors have to provide some context for us, and the editors do make choices about what to provide to us and they are almost always in translation, but they make a valuable contribution to one's education about the matters at hand.This is a fine collection that is edited in a skillful way for readability, breadth, and vitality. Superb job!

Best collection of its kind

A fabulous collection for professors, students, and amateurs alike. More concise than others out there without sacrificing the breadth and importance of the readings. Editors' introductions are extremely helpful in placing each reading in context. A must-have for evey music lover.

recommended

Well...an entertaining and thought-provoking selection of essays and curiosities. It amused me to learn that Shoenberg called Stravinsky (with bitter sarcasm) "Modernsky". Milton Babbitt's notorious "Who Cares If You Listen?" article is followed by an apposite rebuttal evoking (though not alluding to) the second part of C.S. Lewis's brilliant "The Abolution of Man".Also recommended: PENTATONIC SCALES FOR THE JAZZ-ROCK KEYBOARDIST by Jeff Burns.