Heritage of Music (4 Volume Set) [Hardcover]

Michael Raeburn (Editor), Alan Kendall (Editor)

Book Description

Publication Date: November 9, 1989

This handsome new reference is an encyclopedic record of Western music from the Middle Ages to the present day. With a lively text and copious illustrations, each volume is a complete survey of the period it covers; together the four volumes present a history of Western music as a whole. Written by renowned musical authorities, Heritage of Music is meant for everyone who enjoys music.
From oratorios to computer composition, the cultural climate of each period's music is carefully delineated. Pertinent illustrations, integrated with the text, amplify and complement it. Entire chapters are devoted to each of the best known musicians of each period, with detailed histories of their lives and work, and astute commentary about how their music related to their personalities.
A consistent approach is used in each volume. After a general introduction the chapters cover the main musical developments and personalities of the time. Between these, at appropriate points, each volume contains "interludes": short sections that give in-depth treatment of topics not covered in the chapters, including aspects of music history, the keyboard, the orchestra, opera houses, and more.
Authoritative, comprehensive, and profusely illustrated in both color and black and white, Heritage of Music is that rare musical reference, of interest to the specialist and casual listener alike.
In Heritage of Music you will find:
* Comprehensive coverage of Western Music from the Middle Ages to the present
* Entire chapters devoted to each of the most important composers of each period
* Illustrations throughout, with art from each musical period presented parallel to the subject matter in order to amplify and complement the text
* Special "Interludes" between chapters that offer cogent commentary and descriptive information related to--but not covered by--the chapters
* An illustrated biographical dictionary of composers of the period at the end of each volume
* A full index to each volume, and a cumulative index at the end of Volume IV for fast and easy access to information in all four volumes
* A handsome format (8 1/2 x 11) with approximately 225 color and 300 black and white illustrations in each volume

Editorial Reviews

From Library Journal

This history of Western music, lavishly presented with hundreds of color plates and illustrations, differs from the numerous single-author encylopedic surveys in two important ways: its various chapters are independently written by 55 scholars (a format used successfully by the ten-volume New Oxford History of Music , 1953), and stories of composers' lives are limited to the major figures (Bach, Beethoven, etc.), with biographical material about others consigned to short sketches at the end of each volume. This allows the authors to dwell on important compositions, placing music in its historical and social setting. It is in this regard that the series is most successful. Discussion is at a rather sophisticated level, directed at an educated and fairly well-read audience familiar with musical terms; words such as "monophony," "counterpoint," and "perfect fifth" are used freely without explanation, and no glossary is included. It is assumed that the reader has access to recordings of much of the music; the chapters are generous, with information about genres and sources, but they center on specific examples and require the reader to reinforce the descriptions and analyses with a sound image. The survey-like narrative is set off by regularly spaced interludes--beautifully illustrated vignettes that dwell for a moment on a particular item (person, place, instruments, etc.) that is somewhat extraneous to the general story. The copious illustrations have detailed captions and are tightly integrated into the text, providing a part of the essential story rather than merely serving as ornaments. Historical information is, for the most part, up to date. There is considerable variety in the writing styles and approaches of the different authors, and unfortunately many of the essays are somewhat pedantic and textbookish. The most disappointing chapters are those in volume 1, on the medieval and Renaissance periods; the attempt to supply far too much information in a short space results in paragraphs with a painfully high factual density. In most other essays, however, the quantity of material and pace of the writing is quite comfortable. Three especially thought-provoking chapters highlight the advantage of the essay format: a discussion by Carl Dahlhaus of the term "Romantic" and how it can be applied (Volume 2); Wilfrid Mellers's essays "Meaning and Function," (Volume 4); and the chapter by Heinz Becker on Emperor Franz Joseph (Volume 3), which engagingly captures the flavor of the end of the 19th century. On the whole, then, this is a solid accomplishment.
- Timothy J. McGee, Univ. of Toronto
Copyright 1989 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Review

"The overall efect is stunningly beautiful and should attract layman and scholar alike. On the purely practical level, these highly literate volumes, as a whole, could be adapted to virtually any and every undergraduate music history and literature course."--Notes

"Had the Oxford University Press's four-volume 'Heritage of Music' failed in all other respects, it would still be worth the price just for the remarkable selection and vivid reproduction of the copious artwork. Happily, though, this is, on just about all counts, an impressively executed undertaking....Present[s]...its information so lucidly, informatively, effortlessly, in a fashion that can be taken piece by piece, page by page, or in mighty chunks--the choice is up to the reader--[that] we will be in a better position to monitor the future progress of the art form we have come to know as classical music."--The Christian Science Monitor

"It does make for fascinating reading ... provides a review of musical history and a good overall perspective on how the Western world helped to shape the music of the time."ARBA

"This is a very fine collection of articles most of which are on individual composers, blending biographical material with analyses of the composer's style(s) and descriptions of the composer's most important works....The articles are informative and lively, written for the non-specialist reader but without condescension....This reference set is a reliable and eminently readable introduction to most of the major figures in the modern western musical tradition."--The Journal of Aesthetics and Art Criticism

"This history of Western music, lavishly presented with hundreds of color plates and illustrations, differs from the numerous single-author encyclopedic surveys in two important ways: its various chapters are independently written by 55 scholars...and stories of composers' lives are limited to the major figures...with biographical material about others consigned to short sketches at the end of each volume. This allows the authors to dwell on important compositions, placing music in its historical and social setting....A solid achievement."--Library Journal

"If one follows the authors' suggestion to listen while reading, this series should be an autodidact's delight....Illustrations are magnificent and the varied page format keeps one turning them. Both public and undergraduate libraries."--Choice

"The overall effect is stunningly beautiful and should attract layman and scholar alike. On the purely practical level, these highly literate volumes, as a whole, could be adapted to virtually any and every undergraduate music history and literature course."--Notes

Product Details

• Hardcover: 1294 pages
• Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA (November 9, 1989)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 019520493X
• ISBN-13: 978-0195204933
• Product Dimensions: 11.1 x 8.7 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.4 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,365,694 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Jewel of a Reference, June 1, 2001

By 

Robert K Doidge (Rowland Heights, CA United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Heritage of Music (4 Volume Set) (Hardcover)

This 4-volume work is the centerpiece of my collection of books related to classical music. Abundantly illustrated, each volume discusses a period in the history of Western music from the Middle Ages to the Twentieth Century.

Each volume presents the key composers of that time and discusses how their lives and their personalities, as well as the culture of the time, exerted an influence on their compositions. (Other contemporaneous composers are presented in a section at the end of each volume.)

But that is not all, for separate chapters, called "Interludes", are interspersed throughout each volume giving pictures of the development of instruments, the orchestra, concert halls and opera houses, and much more.

You don't have to be an expert to enjoy these books (I'm not), they offer much for anyone interested in classical music.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An Encyclopedic Reference of Western Classical Music, April 3, 2003

By 

Suckwoo Lee (Seoul, Seoul South Korea) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Heritage of Music (4 Volume Set) (Hardcover)

Enjoying music must be the demanding toy. It exacts not only our time and money, but also knowledge. You should be acquainted with a heap of idiosyncratic terminology, and be able to distinguish masterwork from the mass of lemon. There is no easy workout. All you could do is just listen and listen. Here comes in the critics who coach us what is good or bad. But the problem is this: day by day, new pieces are flooding the market and just reviewing only the title is a daunting task. So most listen what they find surreptitiously.
But the merit of classical music is that all the works are already canonized and there are well established critical mechanics. You don¡¯t need to pick up by yourself. The valuables have been culled over generation and generation. All you have to do is registering the list of the established canon in your mind and choose between players.
This book is written to help audience with encyclopedic survey of masters in Western classical music. This is not the textbook for the class on the history of music, but the reference for the common audience. Subjects are restricted to well-known masters like Bach, Mozart, Brahms or Prokofiev. The discography-like descriptions are provided for masterpieces of each composer by over 50 critics. With no doubt, words are not that suitable to demonstrate the beauty of the music. So writers seem to assume that readers have already given ear to the music or at least have CDs at hand. It¡¯s not that problem for the music can tell itself only with sound in the note not with words in the paper. But the real beauty of this book lies in its comprehensive approach. It offers not only the accounts on music itself, but relates it to the rest of society. Not only they explain each composer¡¯s personal life, but also they set them in the context of their times. Music tells itself. But knowing the social settings that the music was played and enjoyed is definitely helpful to the modern audience. For such purpose, this book contains thousands of illustration showing the social and historical background. This book could, in this regard, be read something of a history in the view of music. This heightens the joy of reading.
But this book has some weaknesses. First, this book is targeted to somewhat advanced reader. So there is no explanation about some basic terminology like polyphony, cord, or counterpoint. Those should be the basic. And this kind of writing style leads to pedantic and textbook-like reservedness, in some cases. But overall, this book is readable and informative.