In a jungle in search of good music history

[bananafish]

There are so many theory/ideology/composer bio/musical style books out there, but they are mostly for "children" or have bad reviews. I'm looking for a general book that talks about the ideology of different eras and how it affects the composers of the time, the stylistic appoarch, and musical theory relating to the above. Any suggestion is appreicated. If possible, can you provide the name and the author, or the ISBN?

Thank you all.

[pianistimo]

maynard solomon comes to mind as an author that is interesting to read.  he's written a lot about beethoven and some on schubert and ives.  i suppose it all depends on the time period.  nobody that i know knows everything about every era of music  - although some people come pretty close.  you can get some good stuff by takinga music history class and/or going to a uni library and checking out what's there (cheaper, too).  in fact, some of my best reading has been more in the library than the bookstore.  they seem so limited in their music book selections at barnes and noble.

primary sources are sometimes hard to read - and you have to trust someone's translation.  that's where those detail minded musicologists get off on 'what really happened.'  just last night i was watching the news and a blurb zoomed across the bottom that marilyn monroe was actually murdered.  this is the kind of thing that musicologists love - to prove something was actually different than the way everyone says it did.

i just read that some new piece of music was discovered to be mendelssohn's.  have to look through my scribbled notes again.  if you really like musicology - you have to find a library that you want to work in - and just read and peruse.  that's a way you can get paid to just have fun - and maybe discover something (like the person at library of congress that discovered some sketches of mozart in his own hand - a few years back).

i would subscribe to a music journal if i could afford it.  i like to read for my own pleasure - but someday would like to research a topic and become a semi-expert.  probably on an american composer since i cannot read any foreign languages (except some musical words in french, german, and italian).  learned some russian about 10 years ago, but forgot much of it. 

once, in california, i went to a flea market and found a bunch of sousa marches signed by sousa himself (i believe).  estate sales and old antique book stores have unusual finds sometimes.  if you like rummaging through old stacks of books and music - you can occupy yourself for a long time.  imagine that if people were persistent enough with contacting every living relative, friend, and musical associate of a composer or pianist - they could try to get some interviews.  that's where the process breaks down, i think.  how can you prove the memories of one person are correct.  they have to be collaborated with others and then a dropping of everything not collaborated by two or three people.

[abell88]

The Enjoyment of Music, by Machlis, is a good general music history text.

https://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/search-handle-form/104-3544421-5518328

[quantum]

The Enjoyment of Music, by Machlis, is a good general music history text.

https://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/search-handle-form/104-3544421-5518328

It was/is used as the RCM recommended History Text for exams.  Although RCM will be moving away from recomending any text books.  Instead they will be listing all exam requirments in a syllabus and letting teachers and students choose their own preferred sources they wish to get the information. 


Also in the Same Catetgory is A History of Western Music, Sixth Edition
by Donald J. Grout, Claude V. Palisca.  Much more detailed than Machlis. 
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0393975274/102-1890232-3727320?v=glance&n=283155&s=books&v=glance


There is also Listen by Gary Tomlinson, Joseph Kerman.  I used this in a university course.  Not as detailed as the Grout, but a very enjoyable read. 
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0312401159/102-1890232-3727320?v=glance&n=283155&s=books&v=glance


I'd start with such books that survey Western Music history, then once you get interested in a topic go look for books that specialize in such topics. 

[cherub_rocker1979]

"Ideas and Styles in the Western Musical Tradition" by Douglass Seaton is excellent.