Re: Books on music history


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Posted by MG on April 13, 2003 at 23:21:59:

In Reply to: Books on music history posted by Hiram Diaz on April 13, 2003 at 20:38:27:

We use the Grout at the University of Minnesota, but we also use another supplementary book called "Music in the Western World; A History in Documents" compiled by Piero Weiss and Richard Taruskin. This is the only "textbook" that I have ever actually enjoyed reading (for ANY subject). It's very interesting. Lots of composers wrote about music in various forms (articles, diaries, treatises, etc.), and it's good to have more than the short blurbs that you'll find in Grout.

You definitely shouldn't freak out about these courses. No one was more clueless about the classical tradition than I was when I arrived at college. 20th century and avant-garde music was what got me hooked initially, but alas, most of your time in history and theory classes in spent on what other people think you should know about. It's not that I don't like anything else, but I think if I survived given my interests and prior knowledge, most people shouldn't have any trouble. I don't know anyone who prepared ahead of time.


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