Music Library

Twentieth-century music is explored from both a historical and a theoretical perspective in this enlightening text. Bryan R. Simms addresses style and structure with equal care as he chronicles the evolution of music from the time of Schoenberg to the work of such composers as Schnittke and Gorecki.

The guide is comprised of focused chapters on performance practice issues such as vocal and choral music; various types of ensembles; profiles of specific instruments; instrumentation; performance practice issues; theory; dance; regional profiles of Renaissance music; and guidelines for directors. The format addresses the widest possible audience for early music, including amateur and professional performers, musicologists, theorists, and educators.

Benny Goodman, Dizzy Gillespie, Jim Morrison, Kurt Cobain... these are the people who helped shape the history of music. Their stories and others are told in Musicians and Composers of the 20th Century. This five volume set offers biographical and critical essays on over 600 musicians in just about every genre imaginable, from Accordion Players to Musical Theater Composers to World Music, and everything in between.

This Historical Dictionary of Choral Music examines choral music and practice in the Western world from the Medieval era to the 21st century, focusing mostly on familiar figures like Bach, Beethoven, Brahms, and Britten. But its scope is considerably broader, and it includes all sorts of music-religious, secular, and popular-from sources throughout the world. It contains a chronology, an introduction, a bibliography, and more than 1,000 cross-referenced dictionary entries on important composers, genres, conductors, institutions, styles, and technical terms of choral music.

Provides an overview of the place of music in Renaissance society. Explains the most significant features of the music, and the distinguishing characteristics of each of the leading Renaissance composers. Emphasizes the music itself -- what it was like, and how it changed. Features many musical examples. Reflects the massive new scholarship in the field and new music examples -- e.g., Spanish and English music, the Italian madrigal, and the influence of Renaissance humanism on music.

This volume covers the history of classic music with individual chapters on its medieval and renaissance roots, the baroque era, classical period, romantic era, modern era, and classical music in the new millennium. Informative sidebars, numerous quotations from authoritative sources, annotated bibliographies, and a complete index make this volume a valuable research tool for students.