The Chronicle of Classical Music: An Intimate Diary of the Lives and Music of the Great Composers - Softcover

Kendall, Alan

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0500282137 ISBN 13: 9780500282137

Publisher: Thames & Hudson, 2000

Synopsis

"Walks us through history in a nicely paced diary format ..A superb project."Rocky Mountain News

Taking the form of a chronological diary from 1600 to the present, this book leads the reader through the centuries, year by year, following the musicians' overlapping and interweaving lives.

The composers' own worlds, public and private, spring to life in extracts from contemporary letters and journals, and in hundreds of illustrations, many in full color. An informative introduction traces the history of music before 1600, and special features discuss key works, influences on musical form and performance, centers of musical energy, and changing working conditions. A companion chronology introduces the wider context of important historical and artistic events.

The reference section includes biographies, a glossary of technical words, charts summarizing the history of music and the development of orchestras, and a guide to CDs and performers. 388 illustrations, 160 in color.

About this title

About the Author

Alan Kendall sings professionally and lectures on music. He has also worked for many years as an editor, and is the author of some twenty books, mostly on music and history. He and Michael Raeburn coedited the four-volume Heritage of Music for Oxford University Press.

From Library Journal

This lavishly illustrated general history of music is presented in diary format. Beginning in 1600, periods of two to five years get single-paragraph overviews, which are followed by date entries that offer one or two sentences stating factual events in the history of music (e.g., "1700, 18 September. Vivaldi is ordained deacon, aged twenty-two, in Venice"). Accompanying sidebars list contemporary political and cultural events, and short quotes and captions add tiny vignettes. Every few pages, the chronology is broken up by a few tightly focused, diary-like paragraphs on an instrument, a composition, an event, a letter, or an idea. Completing the book is a reference section that includes a biographical listing of composers that gives little more than birth and death dates, a list of the "Top 100 Classical Recordings," acknowledgments, a bibliography, an index, and more-all in just 32 pages. The book is beautiful, but much of the writing is dry and overly brief; the style makes it impossible to formulate a cohesive vision of an artist or period. Not recommended; a better general reference is the four-volume Heritage of Music (LJ 10/15/89), edited by Kendall and Michael Raeburn.
Timothy J. McGee, Univ. of Toronto
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Edition details

• Publisher: Thames & Hudson
• Publication date: 2000
• ISBN 10: 0500282137
• ISBN 13: 9780500282137
• Binding: Paperback
• Language: English
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 288