Customer Reviews

The Encyclopedia of Classical Music

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I borrowed this from the library as I needed help with my "Music Appreciation" class. It's great! So great I bought myself a copy! It breaks down the material and gives you the important highlights. Very engaging writing style, and it has helped me understand the material to a greater and more "rounded" degree.

This is a serious book on classical music. Behind all the color illustrations and photographs you have a highly readable, extremely concise survey of personalities, forms and styles of music, ensembles, instruments, opera, choral, and music theory. The contributors are experienced broadcasters, lecturers and writers in the field of music who know their subject and can communicate. For example, I didn't know Stravinsky called Rachmaninoff six feet of gloom. How would you like to read a 300 word evaluation of J. S. Bach? The biographical sketches are usually 200 words with an evaluation of the musician. The book has all the information most classical music fans would want. Unlike a textbook you can profitably read this book while you are on the bus or in the John.