Music In Western Civilization

A comprehensive history of occidental music focuses on the function of music as an expression of the spirit and artistic life of each age.

"Music in Western Civilization, Media Update combines superior scholarship with pedagogy that helps students master the difficult and exhaustive material covered in the music history course. Its lively narrative discusses the 'place' of music history. Short chapters make material easier for students to study and enable instructors to pick and choose the repertoire they wish to emphasize"--Publisher's website.

A History of Music in Western Culture, 4/e is based on the premise that the best way to convey the history of Western music is to focus on specific works of music. The text is structured around a carefully selected repertory of music that reflects the development of the art form throughout time. Mark Evan Bonds helps readers gain a broad understanding of the nature of music, its role in society, and the ways in which these have changed over time. A History of Music in Western Culture challenges students to think critically about the nature of music and its past. Once familiar with a representative body of music, students can better grasp the evolution of musical style and music's changing uses within the Western tradition. -- Amazon.com.

Presenting music in its cultural context in a way that is clear and easy to understand, MUSIC IN WESTERN CIVILIZATION, MEDIA UPDATE, International Edition offers detailed discussions of 224 works of music, covering all the major musical styles, genres, and composers in 83 brief yet intriguing chapters. The book places music in the context of the politics, personalities, arts, and humanities of each period of Western history. The importance of the cultural setting of many composers and genres is evidenced by such chapters as Richard Strauss in Berlin, Johann Sebastian Bach: Vocal Music in Leipzig, and Music in Medieval Paris: Polyphony at Notre Dame.

Few music lovers realize that the arrangement of notes on today’s pianos was once regarded as a crime against God and nature, or that such legendary thinkers as Pythagoras, Plato, da Vinci, Galileo, Kepler, Descartes, Newton and Rousseau played a role in the controversy. Indeed, from the time of the Ancient Greeks through the eras of Renaissance scientists and Enlightenment philosophers, the relationship between the notes of the musical scale was seen as a key to the very nature of the universe. In this engaging and accessible account, Stuart Isacoff leads us through the battles over that scale, placing them in the context of quarrels in the worlds of art, philosophy, religion, politics and science. The contentious adoption of the modern tuning system known as equal temperament called into question beliefs that had lasted nearly two millenia–and also made possible the music of Beethoven, Schubert, Chopin, Debussy, and all who followed. Filled with original insights, fascinating anecdotes, and portraits of some of the greatest geniuses of all time, Temperament is that rare book that will delight the novice and expert alike.