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A History of Western Music
Building on his monumental revision of the Seventh Edition, Peter Burkholder has refined an inspired narrative for a new generation ofstudents, placing people at the center of the story. The narrative of A History of Western Music naturally focuses on the musical works, styles, genres, and ideas that have proven most influential, enduring, and significant but it also encompasses a wide range of music, from religious to secular, from serious to humorous, from art music to popular music, and from Europe to the Americas. With a six-part structure emphasizing the music's reception and continued influence, Burkholder's narrative establishes a social and historical context for each repertoire to reveal its legacy and its significance today.
1152 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 1960
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February 10, 2017
[To listen as you read.]
What seems like a long time ago, I worked in a university music department as a professor’s office assistant. At the time, I was trying to improve my meager understanding of art history by reading E.H. Gombrich’s excellent Story of Art. Seeing art as an integral part of civilized society, in the context of historical change—rather than as decontextualized globs of color on canvass—really helped me to appreciate it in a way I could not before; and I wondered if the same might not be possible with music.
One day I asked my boss if there was a book similar to Gombrich’s about music, and he responded with one word: “Grout.” Finally I’ve gotten around to following up his recommendation.
A History of Western Music is the standard music history textbook in use on college campuses, at least in the United States. Its first edition was written by Donald Jay Grout; later editions were revised, first by Claude V. Palisca, and then by J. Peter Burkholder. I bought the fifth edition, mainly because it was cheap. Between the previous edition and this one, Palisca had entirely rewritten the book, removing the last remaining traces of Grout’s prose. So in this review I’ll being talking about Palisca.
Any author of a general music history textbook deserves some sympathy. First, it is proverbially difficult to write about music. The poor writer is forced to choose between a vague string of adjectives, metaphors, and images, discussing the music’s subjective effects; or he can resort to the technical language of music analysis, which at least allows him to be precise and objective, but at the cost of being inaccessible to music newbies.
Somewhere between these two extremes is the narrow path that Palisca tries to tread, sometimes precariously—veering too much in one direction, and then too much in the other—but for the most part ably. Even so, this middle path carries its own cost: dryness. Since Palisca can neither describe his own tastes and aesthetic responses, nor make any incisive analyses with music theory, he is forced to be an unexciting guide—the fate of most textbook writers.
The other major challenge is compression. How do you fit 2,000 years of music history into 800 pages? How do you give a decent overview of medieval plainchant, Italian opera, German romanticism, and American minimalism, while also providing the names, biographies, and accomplishments of the major composers, as well as integrating the relevant cultural history—all in enough time to teach it in two semesters? The obvious answer is that you can’t, and Palisca doesn’t. There is simply too much material to do justice to it all. But he does succeed in giving his reader a generous spoonful of all the main dishes.
If I measure this book by my own progress, I must deem it a success. Beforehand, I had only a scattered and incidental knowledge of the major composers. I could rattle off a few names, but I didn’t know who influenced whom, who lived when, who was part of what movement; and I could only name about two composers who lived before J.S. Bach. Now, not only do I feel much more knowledgeable, but the chronological framework will make it easier to learn more.
One of my most pleasant discoveries was the wealth of wonderful music that was written before J.S. Bach even took his first breath, in 1685. There was Leonin and Perotín, Guillaume de Mauchaut, Guillaume Dufay, John Dunstable, Henry Purcell, Claudio Monteverdi, and Arcangelo Corelli, to name just a few of my favorites. Most surprising for me was how much I enjoy sacred music. Like the shadowy interior of a gothic cathedral, the music is tranquil, meditative, and otherwordly—pregnant with tragedy and hope.
So this book does its job. What prevents it from being as great as, say, E.H. Gombrich’s history of art, Kenneth Clarke’s history of civilization, or Bertrand Russell’s history of philosophy, is the lack of authorial personality. In all three of those works, the author is not afraid to opine and speculate. Palisca, by contrast, rarely offers his own judgment, and does not venture to make any theories. His writing is neutral and plain, simply serving up information. There is nothing wrong with this, of course; and many would think that it’s the correct approach. But I think that when you’re dealing with an art form, it is neither possible nor even desirable to be “objective.” Gombrich, Clarke, and Russell are experts, and thus have refined taste. Seeing how they think about their subject, and how they feel about it, is as much an education as the information they present.
As I went through this book, I downloaded and listened to most of the representative pieces discussed in each chapter. I ended up with a long playlist (which you can see here), which I replayed over the course of few weeks before writing this review. I recommend that any curious listener do the same. Several historical trends seem apparent when you do this.
First is the obvious rise of instrumental music, as music shifts from purely vocal, to vocal with instrumental accompaniment, to mainly instrumental. The second is the rise in the prestige associated with secular music, and the attendant fall in the importance of sacred music. The composer becomes increasingly important as time goes on, exerting ever more control over the performance, while the performer becomes merely an executor rather than a collaborator. With many notable exceptions, art music also seems to grow in harmonic and rhythmic complexity, at least in the time since Haydn and Mozart, until the traditional rules of harmony break down entirely.
Something strange happens in the twentieth century, especially in the second half. Music—along with literature and art—seems to split into a dichotomy: erudite and inaccessible, and popular and oversimplified. The first camp, represented most perfectly, perhaps, by Milton Babbitt, write music that does not make sense to the untrained human ear, while popular songwriters make catchy tunes with little depth. This division seems to correspond to sources of income: the university patronizes experimental music; while popular music is obviously commercial. To me it seems that neither of these extremes is desirable, but I don’t know a way out of this dilemma.
Now that I know more about European history than ever before, I can’t help drawing connections between composers' styles and their cultural moment. The impish, dancing, and perfectly balanced melodies of Mozart now remind me of Voltaire’s prose, suffused with Enlightenment ideals of harmony and wit. I also mentally associate the fall of religious vocal music, and the concomitant rise of secular instrumental music, with widespread changes in attitude towards nature: Nature went from being conceived as animated by intelligence and oriented around humankind, to an impartial force, indifferent to humanity, driven only by mechanical laws.
I also wonder why so many first-rate composers—Bach, Mozart, Haydn, Beethoven, and Brahms, to name only some—are from German-speaking countries? (And I might also ask why relatively few first-rate painters have arisen from these same countries.) Is this something to do with language? With the Protestant Reformation? I’m sure there are a few monographs about this, somewhere.
To bring this review back to its purported subject, I think that this book is a competent, well-researched, and intelligent overview of the history of western music. And with this rather bland statement, and this song, I will make my final bow.
The audience for “serious” music—art music of a certain complexity that requires some effort to understand—has never been more than a small fraction of the population.
What seems like a long time ago, I worked in a university music department as a professor’s office assistant. At the time, I was trying to improve my meager understanding of art history by reading E.H. Gombrich’s excellent Story of Art. Seeing art as an integral part of civilized society, in the context of historical change—rather than as decontextualized globs of color on canvass—really helped me to appreciate it in a way I could not before; and I wondered if the same might not be possible with music.
One day I asked my boss if there was a book similar to Gombrich’s about music, and he responded with one word: “Grout.” Finally I’ve gotten around to following up his recommendation.
A History of Western Music is the standard music history textbook in use on college campuses, at least in the United States. Its first edition was written by Donald Jay Grout; later editions were revised, first by Claude V. Palisca, and then by J. Peter Burkholder. I bought the fifth edition, mainly because it was cheap. Between the previous edition and this one, Palisca had entirely rewritten the book, removing the last remaining traces of Grout’s prose. So in this review I’ll being talking about Palisca.
Any author of a general music history textbook deserves some sympathy. First, it is proverbially difficult to write about music. The poor writer is forced to choose between a vague string of adjectives, metaphors, and images, discussing the music’s subjective effects; or he can resort to the technical language of music analysis, which at least allows him to be precise and objective, but at the cost of being inaccessible to music newbies.
Somewhere between these two extremes is the narrow path that Palisca tries to tread, sometimes precariously—veering too much in one direction, and then too much in the other—but for the most part ably. Even so, this middle path carries its own cost: dryness. Since Palisca can neither describe his own tastes and aesthetic responses, nor make any incisive analyses with music theory, he is forced to be an unexciting guide—the fate of most textbook writers.
The other major challenge is compression. How do you fit 2,000 years of music history into 800 pages? How do you give a decent overview of medieval plainchant, Italian opera, German romanticism, and American minimalism, while also providing the names, biographies, and accomplishments of the major composers, as well as integrating the relevant cultural history—all in enough time to teach it in two semesters? The obvious answer is that you can’t, and Palisca doesn’t. There is simply too much material to do justice to it all. But he does succeed in giving his reader a generous spoonful of all the main dishes.
If I measure this book by my own progress, I must deem it a success. Beforehand, I had only a scattered and incidental knowledge of the major composers. I could rattle off a few names, but I didn’t know who influenced whom, who lived when, who was part of what movement; and I could only name about two composers who lived before J.S. Bach. Now, not only do I feel much more knowledgeable, but the chronological framework will make it easier to learn more.
One of my most pleasant discoveries was the wealth of wonderful music that was written before J.S. Bach even took his first breath, in 1685. There was Leonin and Perotín, Guillaume de Mauchaut, Guillaume Dufay, John Dunstable, Henry Purcell, Claudio Monteverdi, and Arcangelo Corelli, to name just a few of my favorites. Most surprising for me was how much I enjoy sacred music. Like the shadowy interior of a gothic cathedral, the music is tranquil, meditative, and otherwordly—pregnant with tragedy and hope.
So this book does its job. What prevents it from being as great as, say, E.H. Gombrich’s history of art, Kenneth Clarke’s history of civilization, or Bertrand Russell’s history of philosophy, is the lack of authorial personality. In all three of those works, the author is not afraid to opine and speculate. Palisca, by contrast, rarely offers his own judgment, and does not venture to make any theories. His writing is neutral and plain, simply serving up information. There is nothing wrong with this, of course; and many would think that it’s the correct approach. But I think that when you’re dealing with an art form, it is neither possible nor even desirable to be “objective.” Gombrich, Clarke, and Russell are experts, and thus have refined taste. Seeing how they think about their subject, and how they feel about it, is as much an education as the information they present.
As I went through this book, I downloaded and listened to most of the representative pieces discussed in each chapter. I ended up with a long playlist (which you can see here), which I replayed over the course of few weeks before writing this review. I recommend that any curious listener do the same. Several historical trends seem apparent when you do this.
First is the obvious rise of instrumental music, as music shifts from purely vocal, to vocal with instrumental accompaniment, to mainly instrumental. The second is the rise in the prestige associated with secular music, and the attendant fall in the importance of sacred music. The composer becomes increasingly important as time goes on, exerting ever more control over the performance, while the performer becomes merely an executor rather than a collaborator. With many notable exceptions, art music also seems to grow in harmonic and rhythmic complexity, at least in the time since Haydn and Mozart, until the traditional rules of harmony break down entirely.
Something strange happens in the twentieth century, especially in the second half. Music—along with literature and art—seems to split into a dichotomy: erudite and inaccessible, and popular and oversimplified. The first camp, represented most perfectly, perhaps, by Milton Babbitt, write music that does not make sense to the untrained human ear, while popular songwriters make catchy tunes with little depth. This division seems to correspond to sources of income: the university patronizes experimental music; while popular music is obviously commercial. To me it seems that neither of these extremes is desirable, but I don’t know a way out of this dilemma.
Now that I know more about European history than ever before, I can’t help drawing connections between composers' styles and their cultural moment. The impish, dancing, and perfectly balanced melodies of Mozart now remind me of Voltaire’s prose, suffused with Enlightenment ideals of harmony and wit. I also mentally associate the fall of religious vocal music, and the concomitant rise of secular instrumental music, with widespread changes in attitude towards nature: Nature went from being conceived as animated by intelligence and oriented around humankind, to an impartial force, indifferent to humanity, driven only by mechanical laws.
I also wonder why so many first-rate composers—Bach, Mozart, Haydn, Beethoven, and Brahms, to name only some—are from German-speaking countries? (And I might also ask why relatively few first-rate painters have arisen from these same countries.) Is this something to do with language? With the Protestant Reformation? I’m sure there are a few monographs about this, somewhere.
To bring this review back to its purported subject, I think that this book is a competent, well-researched, and intelligent overview of the history of western music. And with this rather bland statement, and this song, I will make my final bow.
Currently reading
January 20, 2016This is simply a marvellous book. The book itself is beautifully printed and bound; on the cover is a gorgeous work by the impressionist painter Renoir, and on the inside awaits crisp, glossy pages lined in full-colour and laid out in a simple and classy theme, which is so often not the case with textbooks. (For comparison, the only textbooks I own which are comparable in their physical beauty are Kandel's Principles of Neural Science and Molecular Biology of the Cell, both also the standard works of general reference in their own fields). I love the attention to detail; asides taking the form of colour-coded boxes include 'source reading' as a recurrent feature, providing a taste of the criticism and praise of musical works in their own time; historical background an artworks appropriate to each musical period are given just the right treatment. I wonder how the authors were able to sustain the overall harmony of this massive effort...
In short, this is truly the musical equivalent of a Taschen art title (I own their very beautiful collection of Leonardo da Vinci's works).
In short, this is truly the musical equivalent of a Taschen art title (I own their very beautiful collection of Leonardo da Vinci's works).
August 31, 2007
i'm such a nerd. i've never read this cover to cover, but i've probably read every page at least once, and i'm getting ready to the whole cover to cover thing soon for a big exam. i <3 the grout, and each edition has been better than the previous. it even has a few chicks and black people in it now. no black chicks yet. are there any other grout nerds out there?
March 7, 2012
Marvelous introduction to Music History in Western Civilization.
My copy was well-worn, and almost purloined by Igor Stravinsky, who misunderstood I wanted to autograph the page with a sketch of him by Picasso. Dr. Edgar Sholund of Chapman College
My copy was well-worn, and almost purloined by Igor Stravinsky, who misunderstood I wanted to autograph the page with a sketch of him by Picasso. Dr. Edgar Sholund of Chapman College
September 3, 2020
Este es el manual de historia de la música por excelencia. No importa si estás en la universidad, en el conservatorio o eres autodidacta, siempre se recomendará. Por eso decidí leerlo, para refrescar un poco la materia. En general me ha parecido una lectura amena. Está fragmentado en capítulos y en bloques por periodos de la historia, por lo que es muy fácil imponerte el objetivo de leer un capítulo al día (es un manual, no una novela, y acabas con la cabeza como un bombo). Además, las cronologías y las lecturas de fuentes ayudan mucho a asentar la información que estás ingiriendo.
Lo que más destacaría de este libro son los contextos históricos, bastante potentes y centrados en los acontecimientos políticos y económicos que te ayudan a entender la situación social y cultual. Lo que menos me ha gustado han sido los extensos análisis de obras musicales. No he reflexionado lo suficiente como para posicionarme en si son o no necesarios para entender la historia de la música, o ya están asumidos dentro de la música pero es objeto de publicaciones más centradas en la composición, teoría musical.... Lo que sí sé es que "corta un poco el rollo" cuando estás centrada en el discurso de los acontecimientos y de repente te encuentras cuatro páginas de análisis.
También hay que decir que se centra fundamentalmente en la música que se da en las grandes potencias a lo largo de la historia (Francia, Italia, Centroeuropa y Norteamérica). Las referencias a España son nulas. Pero es un libro que te hace reflexionar mucho y te abre el apetito para conocer justo lo que no trata.
Lo que más destacaría de este libro son los contextos históricos, bastante potentes y centrados en los acontecimientos políticos y económicos que te ayudan a entender la situación social y cultual. Lo que menos me ha gustado han sido los extensos análisis de obras musicales. No he reflexionado lo suficiente como para posicionarme en si son o no necesarios para entender la historia de la música, o ya están asumidos dentro de la música pero es objeto de publicaciones más centradas en la composición, teoría musical.... Lo que sí sé es que "corta un poco el rollo" cuando estás centrada en el discurso de los acontecimientos y de repente te encuentras cuatro páginas de análisis.
También hay que decir que se centra fundamentalmente en la música que se da en las grandes potencias a lo largo de la historia (Francia, Italia, Centroeuropa y Norteamérica). Las referencias a España son nulas. Pero es un libro que te hace reflexionar mucho y te abre el apetito para conocer justo lo que no trata.
August 21, 2019
This book is very good.
October 4, 2021
It’s a history book that conveys what the title says. It’s accurate information and invaluable for the study of music, but it’s not written in a way that’s necessarily interesting.
November 4, 2023
As a music student, who attempted to take Music History I, with this textbook being assigned, I will say, that while this book is good reference, it is quite wordy and, at times, unclear for how certain pieces of information are included (i.e., madrigalisms, harmonic thirds and sixths [as it applies to the English style], etc.).
Although, I rated this book a three, it is more accurate to rate it a 3.5 due to my positive, yet conflicting, feelings on this book.
Do I believe that Burkholder comprehensively outlines the history of different eras, along with their characteristics and compositional techniques? Yes.
Do I believe that this book is easy to understand? To a degree.
Yet, at least for me, this is where the problem lies. It is not that Burkholder hadn't had written something that was understandable, It is that he had written something that was not as clear. Whenever I reminisce about my experiences reading this book, I often become reminded of the lack of clarity regarding specific terms or definitions, such as, "what is a motet?" or "What is a madrigal or madrigalism?"
While the book provides provides proper historical context, both historically and musically, it fails to simplify the information in a way that would lead the reader to being able to easily identify what a specific term or characteristic is. Instead, at least in my opinion, it provides a lot of context with the meaning being hidden within the details (i.e., "fine print").
While I found the basic structure of the book to be helpful, I found that it lacked support within specifics becoming more dense and wordy than anything else. This is unfortunate, as a textbook should be clear in it's identification of terms, or characteristics, when it applies to a student's success. As it is relevant to gain knowledge, and take it away for the purposes it applies to, either as a teacher, musician, composer, writer, or scholar, it is equally relevant to have a book that presents information in a straight forward manner.
In other words:
If I am looking how to define a motet, I should be able to have that defined in clear and concise language. What is rather disappointing, is that while that is given, it is done so through a mixture of historical context, that leads the text to not be as clear as it is.
As always, with any academic music history textbook, or music textbook in general, the emphasis is on musical analysis. Burkholder, who I will give some credit to, has a means of outlining the analysis portion of each chapter in a way that is easily understood with each term, and musical characteristic, corresponding to the appropriate context, as it applies to the style and era.
Overall, this is less of a textbook and more of a reference guide for topics such as:
"Who court musicians were."
"How imitation was used within the era of the Renaissance."
And many other questions. Unfortunately, it does not provide the form of providing the reader with a definition and then expanding on it's usage in it's given era. This, at least to me, through my own experience, is the negative, downside to this book. As with other users who feel burkholder should be given sympathy, this seems, to me, irrelevant as any assigned textbook should follow the protocol of "less is more" and "work smarter not harder."
If I am using this book to provide myself with a successful outcome, or in other words, a grade that allows me to pass the class, it should serve as a means of being simplistic enough to easily answer any questions I have, regarding terms, characteristics, or styles, and be in-depth to provide context to these elements. Burkholder, in my opinion could have eliminated any attempts at being dense or wordy, as it only contributes to the lack of cohesion, and relation, this book would form with any material needed forthe specifics of fulfilling what is asked as a student.
Apart from a student, I find this book to be a good reference, BUT NOT, a proper source of literature for the history of western music. I will admit, that I have no alternatives, primarily, because music history is only quantifiable when you understand the era. There are no shortcuts, and if there was a book to be chosen that could act as a summary, I would choose the Burkholder, but only because it serves a means to an end becoming the best, IMPERFECT example of how music history can be summarized.
In summary:
Proper reference, with constructive applications of different terms, or characteristics, as it applies to it's extensions and uses, but wordy and dense when relating to the defining's of these terminologies and elements. If the text was more minimal and straight forward, it would be of more value.
Although, I rated this book a three, it is more accurate to rate it a 3.5 due to my positive, yet conflicting, feelings on this book.
Do I believe that Burkholder comprehensively outlines the history of different eras, along with their characteristics and compositional techniques? Yes.
Do I believe that this book is easy to understand? To a degree.
Yet, at least for me, this is where the problem lies. It is not that Burkholder hadn't had written something that was understandable, It is that he had written something that was not as clear. Whenever I reminisce about my experiences reading this book, I often become reminded of the lack of clarity regarding specific terms or definitions, such as, "what is a motet?" or "What is a madrigal or madrigalism?"
While the book provides provides proper historical context, both historically and musically, it fails to simplify the information in a way that would lead the reader to being able to easily identify what a specific term or characteristic is. Instead, at least in my opinion, it provides a lot of context with the meaning being hidden within the details (i.e., "fine print").
While I found the basic structure of the book to be helpful, I found that it lacked support within specifics becoming more dense and wordy than anything else. This is unfortunate, as a textbook should be clear in it's identification of terms, or characteristics, when it applies to a student's success. As it is relevant to gain knowledge, and take it away for the purposes it applies to, either as a teacher, musician, composer, writer, or scholar, it is equally relevant to have a book that presents information in a straight forward manner.
In other words:
If I am looking how to define a motet, I should be able to have that defined in clear and concise language. What is rather disappointing, is that while that is given, it is done so through a mixture of historical context, that leads the text to not be as clear as it is.
As always, with any academic music history textbook, or music textbook in general, the emphasis is on musical analysis. Burkholder, who I will give some credit to, has a means of outlining the analysis portion of each chapter in a way that is easily understood with each term, and musical characteristic, corresponding to the appropriate context, as it applies to the style and era.
Overall, this is less of a textbook and more of a reference guide for topics such as:
"Who court musicians were."
"How imitation was used within the era of the Renaissance."
And many other questions. Unfortunately, it does not provide the form of providing the reader with a definition and then expanding on it's usage in it's given era. This, at least to me, through my own experience, is the negative, downside to this book. As with other users who feel burkholder should be given sympathy, this seems, to me, irrelevant as any assigned textbook should follow the protocol of "less is more" and "work smarter not harder."
If I am using this book to provide myself with a successful outcome, or in other words, a grade that allows me to pass the class, it should serve as a means of being simplistic enough to easily answer any questions I have, regarding terms, characteristics, or styles, and be in-depth to provide context to these elements. Burkholder, in my opinion could have eliminated any attempts at being dense or wordy, as it only contributes to the lack of cohesion, and relation, this book would form with any material needed forthe specifics of fulfilling what is asked as a student.
Apart from a student, I find this book to be a good reference, BUT NOT, a proper source of literature for the history of western music. I will admit, that I have no alternatives, primarily, because music history is only quantifiable when you understand the era. There are no shortcuts, and if there was a book to be chosen that could act as a summary, I would choose the Burkholder, but only because it serves a means to an end becoming the best, IMPERFECT example of how music history can be summarized.
In summary:
Proper reference, with constructive applications of different terms, or characteristics, as it applies to it's extensions and uses, but wordy and dense when relating to the defining's of these terminologies and elements. If the text was more minimal and straight forward, it would be of more value.
June 13, 2024
El mejor manual de Historia de la Musica escrito hasta el momento. Desde el Epitafio de Seikilos hasta los géneros urbanos de la segunda mitad del siglo XX, con cápitulos completos dedicados a la producción de los compositores más importantes, tratados de forma monográfica. Gran valor a la selección de fuentes primarias (cartas de Mozart, testamento de Heiligendstadt de Beethoven, etc.). De ineludible citación para cualquier pequeño diablo que estudie Conservatorio/Musicología.
July 14, 2013
The material covered is highly comprehensive ranging from Greek music to electronic music. I appreciate how the book consistently touches on the political, intellectual, and religious movements alongside with the development of music in a given era. The context helps keep everything grounded in the real world so it's easier to relate, understand, and memorize the plethora of musicians and the underlying meaning behind their works. Explanation of the material never gets too difficult to understand. A first-year theory understanding of music should all be that is necessary to read the book.
Some topics could have been delved more into, but understandably, it's a difficult balance between conciseness and content that these types of books can't help but sacrifice one or the other somewhere along the line. The material is mostly presented chronologically, but I found the few parts which aren't chronological to not be helpful in my mental organization despite how they're supposed to help as determined by the author. The listening CD's contain some truly beautiful works, and I consider it an invaluable resource to move beyond the text and to capture the different styles of music of a composer or genre. Disappointingly, the CD's are not included with the book.
Some topics could have been delved more into, but understandably, it's a difficult balance between conciseness and content that these types of books can't help but sacrifice one or the other somewhere along the line. The material is mostly presented chronologically, but I found the few parts which aren't chronological to not be helpful in my mental organization despite how they're supposed to help as determined by the author. The listening CD's contain some truly beautiful works, and I consider it an invaluable resource to move beyond the text and to capture the different styles of music of a composer or genre. Disappointingly, the CD's are not included with the book.
August 6, 2007
So, let me be honest. I read this book to pass the Praxis exam for music teachers. It took about four months to read, and I ended up buying four other books to use as references, most of them music theory books.
I learned more about music from reading this book than I had in the twenty-nine years and eight months prior to picking it up. It was just amazing. His writing style is very dense - when I say four months, I mean four months, several hours a day of reading, note taking, cross referencing and plunking on the piano to hear what he was talking about. But it was well worth the time invested. And not just because I passed the Praxis. :)
I learned more about music from reading this book than I had in the twenty-nine years and eight months prior to picking it up. It was just amazing. His writing style is very dense - when I say four months, I mean four months, several hours a day of reading, note taking, cross referencing and plunking on the piano to hear what he was talking about. But it was well worth the time invested. And not just because I passed the Praxis. :)
March 25, 2022
Vrij technisch boek. Meer een studieboek dan een leesboek voor amateurs.
Met ruim 800 blz. informatie is het een veel omvattend boek dat zich wel beperkt tot klassieke muziek, maar zich niet beperkt tot instrumentale muziek.
Ik heb nu in een jaar tijd het hele boek doorgelezen, en ik heb het gevoel dat ik er door heen gejaagd ben. Ik heb nu wel de hoofdlijnen meegekregen, maar ik zou graag het nog eens herlezen en alle genoemde muziek erbij beluisteren.
Tot de dag dat ik daar de tijd voor heb, zal ik individuele passages herlezen als ik me in een bepaald onderwerp wil verdiepen.
En misschien toch beter niet de goedkope pocket met het kleine lettertype gekocht…
Met ruim 800 blz. informatie is het een veel omvattend boek dat zich wel beperkt tot klassieke muziek, maar zich niet beperkt tot instrumentale muziek.
Ik heb nu in een jaar tijd het hele boek doorgelezen, en ik heb het gevoel dat ik er door heen gejaagd ben. Ik heb nu wel de hoofdlijnen meegekregen, maar ik zou graag het nog eens herlezen en alle genoemde muziek erbij beluisteren.
Tot de dag dat ik daar de tijd voor heb, zal ik individuele passages herlezen als ik me in een bepaald onderwerp wil verdiepen.
En misschien toch beter niet de goedkope pocket met het kleine lettertype gekocht…
January 1, 2015
The sections on Greek and Rome music theory and philosophy was fascinating- as well as the troubadours during the middle ages, and the short bio's from some of the composers from the baroque, classical and romantic periods- but the music theory for most of this book was just long and drawn out. This is not a book to read if you just want an overview of composers and famous classical pieces. The information goes into a lot of depth. But, for those who are music majors, reading this book will be very beneficial.
March 7, 2009
Everybody else in my class hates this book, but I think it's wonderful. It does go into a lot of detail about the form and structure of specific pieces. But even that information can be useful and interesting. If you want a resource on music history, this is great. It provides great historical context for the development of musical eras and genres, and makes lots of parallels to literature and art too.
June 22, 2017
A good introduction to the history of Western music, assuming that by "Western" they mean "mostly white men." Still, a good starting point from which to dive off into bits of musical history that were whitewashed or carefully curated over, not just in this book but in most histories of Western music.
Took me five years but I conquered you, HoWM!
Took me five years but I conquered you, HoWM!
June 27, 2021
This is one of the standard music history textbooks. A must read for anyone wanting to learn about the history of Western Music. I know Dr. Burkholder personally and he is a kind man and a brilliant scholar.
March 22, 2013
This edition is SO much better than the earlier editions (the ones before Burkholder joined up). More readable; includes more info on music and composers not covered in earlier editions.
December 29, 2014
Great music history text.
March 18, 2017
Read for MUS 221
-Brief overviews of cultural movements
-Summaries of musical eras
-Short biographies of important composers
-Analysis of select musical pieces
-Brief overviews of cultural movements
-Summaries of musical eras
-Short biographies of important composers
-Analysis of select musical pieces
September 30, 2018
Pretty good book covering the whole history of western music! I wish I read it more when I was actually in my music history classes, but it explains things in a very clear and concise way!
June 12, 2021
This book is a must for any musician but definitely reads like a textbook and takes some effort but so worth it for the knowledge alone.
April 29, 2021
I owned and studied through the first edition of this when I was a student. Somewhere along the line, I acquired the 3rd edition (1980) and have it on my bookshelf but have used it only to look things up once in a while.
This link is to the 7th edition. The current edition is to the 10th edition and costs $125 if you want a new one or can even get it. Such is the way with textbooks these days.
Instead, I got the 8th edition from the library, which covers things up to about the year 2010, the beginning of the streaming era. Given that it starts with music in the 9th century (or earlier if you count the little bit that's known about Greek music and even less about Roman music), that's a pretty big chunk of art music to cover. The 8th edition is well over 1,000 pages, including final notes, Further Reading, and the index.
I have a strong background in classical music all the way back. I didn't need to read this as new information, but as reinforcement, to help me put things into perspective, to help me remember who follows who and when.
In the first edition, hardly any mention was made at all of music in the twentieth century, as if it was not anything worth bothering with in a history of Western music. It also does a good job of clarifying what is meant by the term classical music, which is context dependent. Most people who know music understand what usage is meant. Today it refers to a certain tradition and attitude that solidified starting early in the nineteenth century. Before that, music was regarded as more disposable than it is today. After that, a stable repertoire of masterpieces developed along with standardized ensembles dedicated to playing it. Still, there has been a steady stream of composers who have written new music in that tradition, even though their sounds may be vastly different.
The eighth edition does a commendable job of correcting the omission of the twentieth century (which was still only about half over when the book was published). It must be admitted that the greater part of what is interesting in art music in the twentieth century and until our day has come from developments in music in the United States that have propagated themselves. In this, we have the folk music of slaves and farmers, the development of jazz as a true art music, and many, many other forms of music that today all seem almost equally important with one another. And to that I happily say: Let it be!
This link is to the 7th edition. The current edition is to the 10th edition and costs $125 if you want a new one or can even get it. Such is the way with textbooks these days.
Instead, I got the 8th edition from the library, which covers things up to about the year 2010, the beginning of the streaming era. Given that it starts with music in the 9th century (or earlier if you count the little bit that's known about Greek music and even less about Roman music), that's a pretty big chunk of art music to cover. The 8th edition is well over 1,000 pages, including final notes, Further Reading, and the index.
I have a strong background in classical music all the way back. I didn't need to read this as new information, but as reinforcement, to help me put things into perspective, to help me remember who follows who and when.
In the first edition, hardly any mention was made at all of music in the twentieth century, as if it was not anything worth bothering with in a history of Western music. It also does a good job of clarifying what is meant by the term classical music, which is context dependent. Most people who know music understand what usage is meant. Today it refers to a certain tradition and attitude that solidified starting early in the nineteenth century. Before that, music was regarded as more disposable than it is today. After that, a stable repertoire of masterpieces developed along with standardized ensembles dedicated to playing it. Still, there has been a steady stream of composers who have written new music in that tradition, even though their sounds may be vastly different.
The eighth edition does a commendable job of correcting the omission of the twentieth century (which was still only about half over when the book was published). It must be admitted that the greater part of what is interesting in art music in the twentieth century and until our day has come from developments in music in the United States that have propagated themselves. In this, we have the folk music of slaves and farmers, the development of jazz as a true art music, and many, many other forms of music that today all seem almost equally important with one another. And to that I happily say: Let it be!
April 21, 2020
I absolutely loved this book. It's just all love. Even when a particular person or time period is brutal or dark, the focus is on the music and so it stays just lovely. The people who wrote it, they seem to like all music no matter who, when or where. This isn't just the stuff you hear on the classical radio station, it's everything. This 6th edition makes a real effort to go broad and I think it succeeds, including women composers and musics from marginalized peoples wherever they can be found. It took me just about a year to read it, periodically stopping to listen to some of the music they were talking about. Sometimes the theory stuff got a little difficult for a non-musician like myself, but there is a glossary in the back. Bits of sheet music throughout would have given the opportunity to sit at a piano and actually puzzle out the chords or intervals they are gushing over but I didn't nerd out that hard. Where I did nerd out though? of course: the 90 plus pages of suggested further readings!! I love that kind of thing! This might be my favorite book ever!
December 25, 2024
Unbelievably, I have finished this entire textbook on western music. Overall I think it did a really great job balancing competing needs of going into musical technicalities (above my head) with giving broad strokes patterns, and choosing representative examples of styles in terms of the artists and particular pieces. No small task, and I think overall it does well. I was surprised a few times, particularly in the final chapters, to pull up spotify to find the referenced song and come to an artist with as little as 5k streams monthly. It's interesting that they were able to hit not just big names but delve into esoteric smaller examples as well.
Overall a huge undertaking and though I think a good book, for those of us not in a college course, there are probably much easier ways to get some aerial view perspective on musical history. Even so, it will be nice to come back to this book if needed as a reference.
Overall a huge undertaking and though I think a good book, for those of us not in a college course, there are probably much easier ways to get some aerial view perspective on musical history. Even so, it will be nice to come back to this book if needed as a reference.
November 18, 2025
Hoo boy, this was a journey. A fun, sometimes exhausting, but mostly fun, journey. My interpretation of music history: medieval and Renaissance is boring and all of them basically sound the same. Baroque is fun and when it starts to actually sound normal plus my new music hero, BACH!! Classic period guys are pretty normal too. Romantic sounds neat but man these guys were uh… somethin’s not right in their heads most of ‘em. Esp Schumann… And then there’s the modernist people and I swear some of those pieces were the inspiration for the Joker from Batman lol. They make some of the weirdest Beatles songs look tame. But I think I enjoy this period the best just because of the absurdity lol. Though that being said I like and appreciate pieces from every period, even the boring medieval and Renaissance periods. I learned a lot and this was definitely helpful to study the scores to help make me a better musician.
February 21, 2022
I’m grateful I took the time to explore this history and its many companion recordings. I’d never taken any kind of music appreciation course before, much less music history. It was mind-blowing. From the obvious things I didn’t understand (“Why is there hardly any music surviving from before ~1100 AD? Ah — musical notation hadn’t been invented yet; or the printing press”) to big revelations — especially around female composers of chamber and orchestral music, dismissed in their day due to sexism, who are finally being rediscovered, and getting their due.
History of music, like history of Art, like history of literature, is history itself. It captures the spirit and values of its time. Four months of immersion in this book was a joyful journey. The only reason I’m giving four stars is because it should be two volumes, but I guess I’ll have to do the further exploration myself.
History of music, like history of Art, like history of literature, is history itself. It captures the spirit and values of its time. Four months of immersion in this book was a joyful journey. The only reason I’m giving four stars is because it should be two volumes, but I guess I’ll have to do the further exploration myself.
May 30, 2025
This book offers a wealth of information and covers a broad range of topics related to music. At times, it dives deep into music theory, while at other points it shifts focus to the cultural and historical influences on music. Although this lack of a consistent direction can make it feel a bit scattered, the varied perspectives also keep it engaging. Overall, it's a good read for those interested in exploring music from multiple angles.
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December 7, 2020I won't rate this book because it is over my head and I only perused it. But it seems to be a really good introduction to the main classical composers. Swafford's Language of the Spirit covers much of the same ground for beginners, which describes me.
December 19, 2022
An encyclopedic work of the development of western classical music. A few prominent composers are glossed over (Tchaikovsky and Rachmaninov) while relatively minor ones are have pages dedicated to them. Other than that, it is a very good compendium.
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September 11, 2025read for music history class. very informative and well written, and a great supplement for my professors lectures. obviously i did not read every page but i read the chapters that were assigned for the class. maybe later i will go through and catch up on the sections that were skipped
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