Join Amazon Prime and ship Two-Day for free and Overnight for $3.99. Already a member? Sign in.

 

or
Sign in to turn on 1-Click ordering.
 
 
More Buying Choices
39 used & new from $8.15

Have one to sell? Sell yours here
 
   
The Language of Music (Clarendon Paperbacks)
 
 
Tell the Publisher!
I’d like to read this book on Kindle

Don’t have a Kindle? Get yours here.
 
  

The Language of Music (Clarendon Paperbacks) (Paperback)

by Deryck Cooke (Author)
4.2 out of 5 stars See all reviews (4 customer reviews)

List Price: $55.00
Price: $49.50 & this item ships for FREE with Super Saver Shipping. Details
You Save: $5.50 (10%)
  Special Offers Available
o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o
In Stock.
Ships from and sold by Amazon.com. Gift-wrap available.

Only 3 left in stock--order soon (more on the way).

Want it delivered Monday, July 20? Choose One-Day Shipping at checkout. Details
18 new from $43.58 20 used from $8.15 1 collectible from $100.00
Also Available in: List Price: Our Price: Other Offers:
Hardcover (Import) Order it used!
Paperback 5 used & new from $30.77
Unknown Binding 2 used & new from $32.00

Special Offers and Product Promotions

  • Purchase this entertainment book and get 12 issues to either Rolling Stone, Men's Journal or Us Weekly for $2.95 each. That's less than $0.25 an issue. Here's how (restrictions apply)
  • Interact With Your Music: Discover, listen to, and buy new music, all from the pages of SPIN's digital edition, free to Amazon customers.


Frequently Bought Together

Customers buy this book with I Saw the World End: A Study of Wagner's Ring (Clarendon Paperbacks) by Deryck Cooke

The Language of Music (Clarendon Paperbacks) + I Saw the World End: A Study of Wagner's Ring (Clarendon Paperbacks)
Price For Both: $116.43

Show availability and shipping details


Customers Who Bought This Item Also Bought

Music and the Mind

Music and the Mind

by Anthony Storr
3.7 out of 5 stars (9)  $10.17
Emotion and Meaning in Music (Phoenix Books)

Emotion and Meaning in Music (Phoenix Books)

by Leonard B. Meyer
5.0 out of 5 stars (6)  $17.10
Listening and Voice: Phenomenologies of Sound

Listening and Voice: Phenomenologies of Sound

by Don Ihde
5.0 out of 5 stars (1)  $27.85
Beethoven`s Piano Sonatas: A Short Companion

Beethoven`s Piano Sonatas: A Short Companion

by Dr. Charles Rosen
4.8 out of 5 stars (5)  $28.00
How Musical Is Man? (Jessie and John Danz Lectures)

How Musical Is Man? (Jessie and John Danz Lectures)

by John Blacking
4.0 out of 5 stars (6)  $15.25
Explore similar items

Editorial Reviews

Review

"One of the most important publications of post-war English musicography...its honesty, its individualism, and its empiricism reflect the best intellectual traditions of English literature."--Music and Letters


Product Description
First published in 1959, this original study argues that the main characteristic of music is that it expresses and evokes emotion, and that all composers whose music has a tonal basis have used the same, or closely similar, melodic phrases, harmonies, and rhythms to affect the listener in the same ways. He supports this view with hundreds of musical examples, ranging from plainsong to Stravinsky, and contends that music is a language in the specific sense that we can identify idioms and draw up a list of meanings. The book's final section analyzes two symphonies, Mozart's Fortieth and Vaughan Williams's Sixth, to explore the nature of musical inspiration and the process whereby the notes actually convey emotion from composer to listener.

Product Details

  • Paperback: 304 pages
  • Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA (March 8, 1990)
  • Language: English
  • ISBN-10: 0198161808
  • ISBN-13: 978-0198161806
  • Product Dimensions: 8.4 x 5.5 x 0.8 inches
  • Shipping Weight: 14.1 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
  • Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
  • Amazon.com Sales Rank: #291,449 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Look Inside This Book


What Do Customers Ultimately Buy After Viewing This Item?

The Language of Music (Clarendon Paperbacks)
89% buy the item featured on this page:
The Language of Music (Clarendon Paperbacks) 4.2 out of 5 stars (4)
$49.50
Gustav Mahler: An Introduction to His Music
11% buy
Gustav Mahler: An Introduction to His Music 5.0 out of 5 stars (3)

Suggested Tags from Similar Products

 (What's this?)
Be the first one to add a relevant tag (keyword that's strongly related to this product).
Check a corresponding box or enter your own tags in the field below.
(36)

Your tags: Add your first tag
 
Help others find this product — tag it for Amazon search
No one has tagged this product for Amazon search yet. Why not be the first to suggest a search for which it should appear?

Sell a Digital Version of This Book in the Kindle Store

If you are a publisher or author and hold the digital rights to a book, you can sell a digital version of it in our Kindle Store. Learn more

 

Customer Reviews

4 Reviews
5 star:
 (2)
4 star:
 (1)
3 star:
 (1)
2 star:    (0)
1 star:    (0)
 
 
 
 
 
Average Customer Review
4.2 out of 5 stars (4 customer reviews)
 
 
 
 
Share your thoughts with other customers:
Most Helpful Customer Reviews

 
12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars An Engaging Read ! ! !, October 18, 2000
What gives music its meaning... is music akin to pure mathematics, to language... how do composers use forms and sounds to convey emotions, pictures and ideas and what are the basic idioms that are used to express those ideas in western music ?

When the book was first suggested to me, based on theme, I was expecting something "wishy washy" and not too keen on it, but for some reason I decided to give it a go, since it touches on one of my areas of reasearch. In the end it turned out to be one of those books that really got the old nogen brewing - - a book that sometimes you have to put down because it really gets your brain going or that if you read it before bedtime, you might wake up at 3:00 AM thinking about stuff he said ! - - Musicians as well as music lovers will appreciate it. You'll need to brush up on (or learn) basic music theory, however, it will be worth the effort... it might even change the way you hear your favorite symphony or music in general forever !

Comment Comment | Permalink | Was this review helpful to you? Yes No (Report this)



 
8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars A well written book by a distinguished musicologist, March 11, 2000
This wonderful little book explains how the basic elements of musical expression communicate emotional content, both locally and on a larger scale. Highly recommended to anyone trying to understand how music works.

Deryck Cooke is the person who orchestrated Mahler's tenth symphony, starting with Mahler's original draft. Take a listen to the excellent Bournemouth Symphony/Simon Rattle recording.

Comment Comment | Permalink | Was this review helpful to you? Yes No (Report this)



 
5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars Stimulating, but disappointing, March 29, 2007
Cooke raises THE fundamental question of music--what does music mean?--but his technique seems a little flawed.

First, he assumes that music has a universal meaning. Yet no two people will have exactly the same reaction to a piece of music, even if they like it. It's therefore a little hard to accept his collections of musically emotive examples as altogether valid, though they are impressive enough.

Second, anyone who has brushed around in music theory enough can tell you that if you want to find a certain pattern in a piece of music, you will find it if you look hard enough. And since Cooke only uses about four or five examples to "prove" each point, the possibility of these being the lucky five examples (with multiple exceptions) makes me skeptical. And one's not really sure whether Cooke is implying that his emotive musical phrases always work, or just work some of the time.

Basically, it's impossible to deconstruct how great composers think, in the manner that Cooke attempts. If you don't believe me, try writing music according to the emotive principles he proposes. You won't create anything nearly as good as the music he discusses unless you already have some talent. And the composers' talent, in Cooke, seems to be reduced to their ability to employ the musical phrases he considers emotional.

At the same time, I never thought about the issue of musical meaning very clearly until I read Cooke. Even though I disagree with his approach and his conclusions, reading his book made understand why I think about musical meaning the way I do. A must for students of musical philosophy.
Comment Comment | Permalink | Was this review helpful to you? Yes No (Report this)


Share your thoughts with other customers: Create your own review
 
 
 
Most Recent Customer Reviews

4.0 out of 5 stars The Language of Music
A well written and comprehensive view of the Harmonic predictability of tonal resolution. Not as much comment on the melodic aspects except by reference.
Published 4 months ago by Donald R. Mathis

Only search this product's reviews



Customer Discussions

 Beta (What's this?)
New! See all customer communities, and bookmark your communities to keep track of them.
This product's forum (0 discussions)
  Discussion Replies Latest Post
  No discussions yet

Ask questions, Share opinions, Gain insight
Start a new discussion
Topic:
First post:
Prompts for sign-in
  [Cancel]


   


Product Information from the Amapedia Community

Beta (What's this?)



Look for Similar Items by Category


Smooth Operator

Shop for garage door openers

Find garage door products (opener kits, remotes, mini-key-chain controls, and wireless-key entry systems) in the Hardware Store. Opening the garage door shouldn’t be a chore.

Shop all garage door hardware

 

Big Savings in Books

Bargain Books
Find great titles at fantastic prices in our Bargain Books Store.
 

Dive into Summer Reading

Summer Reading for Kids and Teens
Don't even think about hitting the beach without browsing the books in our Summer Reading Store. Discover bestsellers, paperback picks, beach reads, and more terrific titles all summer long.
 

Best Books

Best of the Month
See our editors' picks and more of the best new books on our Best of the Month page.
 

 

Feedback

If you need help or have a question for Customer Service, contact us.
 Would you like to update product info or give feedback on images?
Is there any other feedback you would like to provide?

Your comments can help make our site better for everyone.


Where's My Stuff?

Shipping & Returns

Need Help?

Your Recent History

  (What's this?)
You have no recently viewed items or searches.

After viewing product detail pages or search results, look here to find an easy way to navigate back to pages you are interested in.

Look to the right column to find helpful suggestions for your shopping session.

Continue shopping: Top Sellers
Free
Free by Chris Anderson
Paranoia
Paranoia by Joseph Finder
My Soul to Lose
My Soul to Lose by Rachel Vincent
Glenn Beck's Common Sense

Conditions of Use | Privacy Notice © 1996-2009, Amazon.com, Inc. or its affiliates