A History of Western Music

Now, it turns out that the one area in which this book is lacking is the 20th century. Palisca (who wrote the majority of that section) covers a broad range of composers but deals only briefly with them. Instead of focusing on a few of the most important (Stravinsky, Bartok, Schoenberg, Webern, Messaien, Cage, Stockhausen, Xenakis, Reich, Glass, and a couple others), he includes (in some detail) many composers whose influence on progressive music has been marginal when compared with others (e.g.Berg, Copland, Hindemith, musical theatre). Jazz, a major contribution to art music, is only given a nod. Certainly, by the end of the twentieth century more music was available to more people than there ever was before. Yet, since we are now in the twenty-first century, I think historians can begin to distinguish the two or three giants from 1900 to 1950, and deal with the rest proportionally.


The beset in its field -- revised or not   October 28, 1999
 25 out of 28 found this review helpful

Contrary to the views of the reviewer from San Francisco, the newly-revised fifth edition is much improved over the third and fourth editions. While I will agree that some book companies promote "newness" as a novlety, I don't agree that such is the case with this book. New discoveries are made about the history of music, especially early music, every year. If books such as this one weren't revised on a regular basis, the text wouldn't necessarily be accurate. Imagine writing a research paper on space travel using a set of enclopedias from 1962; it just won't work. This is by far the best book in its field. For some readers, it may be too concise, as I've heard many complaints that it's dry, boring reading. Well, it's a history textbook, not a Danielle Steele novel, so what would you expect?


Great Reference!   October 19, 2003
 19 out of 20 found this review helpful

Before I say anything else, you should know that the everyday price for this 6th edition hardcover book is much less at your local bookstore (not at liberty to state where). Why on earth does Amazon charge so much!?

I was delighted to hear that Palisca had released yet another edition of this fine reference on the history of Western art music. I present pre-concert lectures & talks for the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, Ravinia Festival and other local orchestras and I find this reference to be a good starting point for refreshing my knowledge of the historical context behind a piece of music I've been asked to talk about. The writing gets clearer and easier to read with every new edition. I found the 6th edition a very easy read, engrossing and wonderfully thorough given the scope of what it sets out to achieve.

Since I want this reference to assist me with historical context, I found that it does a terrific job up to the late 19th century, and is somewhat lacking from then on. The reference treats the late 19th and 20th century on a composer-by-composer basis and doesn't link the overall trends very well. For instance I couldn't find much on why Shostakovich and Prokovief composed as they did, whereas composers of the 18th and 19th centuries are placed in larger trends and movements rather easily. I understand that it takes time and dedicated scholars to reveal the many layers that make up an era and its art, so I am forgiving if still a little frustrated.

I was impressed that Palisca set out to have each and every section & composer reviewed by scholars in their respective fields of expertise. For instance, I had read a recently published and excellent book that set out to challenge the generally accepted view on Haydn and his place in history as a composer of symphonies, and that author is referenced as a source for the section on Haydn in this 6th edition. Palisca's desire to be thorough and to reflect the lastest research and thought on composers and their eras makes this 6th edition an even more valuable resource for my personal library.

I also found the revised glossary to be outstanding and incredibly helpful!


the history of western music?   September 9, 1999
 18 out of 43 found this review helpful

Agreeably the standard, but really, how can a "history of western music" never mention Gene Autry or Hank Williams or Merle Travis or Porter Wagner? And who is this "Verdi" who's supposed to be a opry composer? I'm sure I never sawed him sawing the fiddle there at the Grand Ole Opry.