good "medium level" music history book?

[Bob]

Something more than a music appreciation book but not too detailed.....


I think it might be the summaries on the more detailed books I've seen. 


Any recommendations?


What I'm not looking for.... X composer wrote x, y, z pieces in this year.... paragraphs/pages of explanation.... The following year.... etc, etc, etc,.... ie too much detail.

[j_menz]

Not a book, but Howard Goodall's Big Bangs DVD series makes for worthwhile viewing in this area.

[brianvds]

Not a book, but Howard Goodall's Big Bangs DVD series makes for worthwhile viewing in this area.

It is also available in book form, assuming it is still in print. Indeed very interesting.

[synthifou]

So, would the Grout/Palisca history (my main quick reference) be too detailed or not enough detail?

[williampiano]

I'm not sure if these are what your looking for, but here are some books on classical music history that I've enjoyed over the past few years:

Classical Music: The Great Composers and their masterworks by John Stanley
The Great Composers by Jeremy Nicholas
The Lives of the Great Composers by Harold C. Schonberg
Classical Music for Everybody: A companion to good listening by Dhun H. Sethna

[quantum]

It would also help us to know who the reader of the book will be: a non-musician, an non-musician but artist in another fine arts discipline, a young person (say under 18), a college level music student looking for something other than the standard Grout/Palisca, an educated musician looking for a reference text, a teacher, an academic (i.e. musicologist), etc.  

https://www.amazon.com/Vintage-Guide-Classical-Music/dp/0679728058

[49410enrique]

haven't read it yet (i just downloaded it) the kindle version is FREE. you don't need a kindle you can download a PC/computer kindle mimicker so you can download and read kindle titles on your desktop/laptop. it's what i did.  again it's free

https://www.amazon.com/Popular-History-Art-Music-Earliest/dp/B003XW0606/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1342184791&sr=1-1&keywords=music+history

[renepelt]

A Popular History of the Art of Music - From the Earliest Times Until the Present is a very useful book.
But I don't really understand what you're looking for, can you be a little bit more specific?

[Bob]

Something not as detailed as Grout, but more detailed than a music appreciation 101 book.