The Npr Classical Music Companion: Terms and Concepts from A to Z - Softcover

Hoffman, Miles

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0395707420 ISBN 13: 9780395707425

Publisher: Mariner Books, 1997

Synopsis

Do you enjoy classical music but wish you knew more about it? Do you buy CDs, tune in to radio programs, go to concerts, and sometimes wonder just what, precisely, all those Italian musical terms mean? In this wonderfully engaging guide, Miles Hoffman demystifies the terms and concepts of classical music in an accessible and witty style. With more than one hundred entries, The NPR Classical Music Companion delves into definitions and etymologies, explores terms with reference to famous composers and works, and calls upon amusing analogies to make sense of music's finer points. Ranging from a paragraph to a few pages, the explanations gathered here tackle both the familiar and the not so familiar, from " a cappella " to " motet," from " opus numbers " to " zarzuela." The result is a delightful and comprehensive assemblage. For anyone who thinks that only professional musicians can understand classical music, this guide offers a clear path through a potentially daunting world. As much a companion to keep by the radio as an enjoyable book to read in a few sittings, The NPR Classical Music Companion makes understanding music a pleasure.

About this title

Review

Ever wondered what makes a conductor good or bad, or why a guitar has frets? The NPR Classical Music Companion answers these questions and many more in its 130 entries, which tackle the complicated lexicon of classical music from a capella all the way through zarzuela. Author Miles Hoffman defines basic terms, forms, and concepts while tracing major movements, providing context, and offering illustrative examples from well-known composers and works. A commentator on NPR's popular classical music program Performance Today, Miles Hoffman writes about music with clarity, humor, and grace. The result is a highly readable reference geared, as Hoffman writes, for the "ordinary listener."

From the Back Cover

Do you enjoy classical music but wish you knew more about it? In this wonderfully engaging guide, Miles Hoffman demystifies the terms and concepts of classical music in an accessible and clever style. With more than 130 entries, The NPR Classical Music Companion delves into definitions and etymologies, explores terms with reference to famous composers and works, and calls upon amusing analogies to make sense of music's finer points. Offering a clear path through a potentially daunting world, this book makes understanding music an irresistible pleasure.

About this edition

• Publisher: Mariner Books
• Publication date: 1997
• ISBN 10: 0395707420
• ISBN 13: 9780395707425
• Binding: Paperback
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 306