Introduction to Contemporary Music

by Joseph Machlis

Biographical and historical data and clear technical explanations are featured in a guide to the appreciation of twentieth-century music that includes a full discussion of trends since 1961, a dictionary of composers, and a concentrated review of musical concepts. This book is divided into three main sections: the development of twentieth-century concepts, minor and major developments in Europe, and “The American scene.”

Genres: Music

720 pages, Hardcover

First published July 1, 1961

Reviews

[Mary · Rating 4 out of 5]

Finished it, in that my class is done. I thought it was an engaging textbook; it's definitely in part because I'm applying myself in my grad work more than I ever did in undergrad, but I got quite a bit out of this. Maybe one day I'll go back through and reread, and read the parts we didn't cover in class. I think my real future interest in this, though, would be doing a comparative study of this book and a more recent textbook on the topic of music after 1900... LOTS has happened since this was published.