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Topic: good "medium level" music history book?  (Read 1797 times)

Offline Bob

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good "medium level" music history book?
on: July 13, 2012, 12:23:25 AM
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.
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Offline j_menz

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Re: good "medium level" music history book?
Reply #1 on: July 13, 2012, 12:45:03 AM
Not a book, but Howard Goodall's Big Bangs DVD series makes for worthwhile viewing in this area.
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Offline brianvds

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Re: good "medium level" music history book?
Reply #2 on: July 13, 2012, 03:41:21 AM
Quote from: j_menz on July 13, 2012, 12:45:03 AM
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.
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Offline synthifou

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Re: good "medium level" music history book?
Reply #3 on: July 13, 2012, 03:53:00 AM
So, would the Grout/Palisca history (my main quick reference) be too detailed or not enough detail?
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Offline williampiano

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Re: good "medium level" music history book?
Reply #4 on: July 13, 2012, 04:13:11 AM
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
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Offline quantum

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Re: good "medium level" music history book?
Reply #5 on: July 13, 2012, 04:49:20 AM
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
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Offline 49410enrique

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Re: good "medium level" music history book?
Reply #6 on: July 13, 2012, 01:07:32 PM
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

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Offline renepelt

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Re: good "medium level" music history book?
Reply #7 on: July 15, 2012, 07:26:47 PM
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?
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Offline Bob

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Re: good "medium level" music history book?
Reply #8 on: July 15, 2012, 08:09:18 PM
Something not as detailed as Grout, but more detailed than a music appreciation 101 book.
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