Oxford History of Western Music: 5-vol. set

by Richard Taruskin

The universally acclaimed and award-winning Oxford History of Western Music by one of the most prominent and provocative musicologists of our time, Richard Taruskin. Now in hardcover, the set has been reconstructed to be available for the first time as individual books, each one taking on a critical time period in the history of western music. All five books are also being offered in a shrink wrapped set for a discounted price. Each book in this magnificent set illuminates - through a representative sampling of masterworks - those themes, styles, and currents that give shape and direction to each musical age. The five titles cover Western music from its earliest days to the sixteenth century, the seventeenth and eighteenth century, the nineteenth century, the early twentieth century, and the late twentieth century. Taking a critical perspective, Taruskin sets the details of music, the chronological sweep of figures, works, and musical ideas, within the larger context of world affairs and cultural history. He combines an emphasis on structure and form with a discussion of relevant theoretical concepts in each age, to illustrate how the music itself works, and how contemporaries heard and understood it. He also describes how the context of each stylistic period - key cultural, historical, social, economic, and scientific events - influenced and directed compositional choices. Moreover, the five books are filled with helpful illustrations that enhance the historical context of musical composition, as well as musical examples, black-and-white pictures throughout, suggestions for further reading, and indexes. Laced with brilliant observations, memorable musical analysis, and a panoramic sense of the interactions between history, culture, politics, art, literature, religion, and music, these books will be essential reading for anyone who wishes to understand this rich and diverse tradition.

Genres: Music, History, Nonfiction, Reference

3856 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2005

Reviews

[Michael · Rating 5 out of 5]

Incredible. After almost 4,000 pages, the only section I could have done without is the last quarter of the last chapter of the last volume. Overall, Taruskin's erudition and entertaining polemics make this monumental survey very much worth the time it took to get through.

[Matt Baker · Rating 4 out of 5]

Starts slow, picks up once you hit the 17th century.

Well written, I appreciate how well historical events and contemporaneous movements in the other arts are incorporated. I wish I had taken the time to read this earlier into my education, it alone is much better than any history course I ever took.

[Katie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Dude wrote SIX 800 page volumes about the history of Western music. I read this and a few chapters of Volume 2 for an elective this past semester. This book is at times long winded and confusing if you are not a musically minded person, but the topic is super interesting. I discovered I have a deep love for Western music written before 1600 (after that, not nearly so much) and this book is as in depth of an introduction as you are going to get.

[Joe Matson · Rating 4 out of 5]

I found it to be quite an interesting read, although I struggled to interest my students in reading it. I wonder if the target audience isn't college students (as the book claims) but people who have already studied Western art music and want to read a second opinion.