Amazon.com Product Description (ISBN 0192840029, Paperback)

Originally published in 1919, this guide is addressed - '.not to students and connoisseurs, but to plain simple people who like music but are a little bewildered by its complexity and by the pace at which it passes across their attention. He opens the door of the Masters' workshop and shows, not the secret of their mastery, for none can show that, but the way in which they used their tools and dealt with their materials. And any reader who follows him carefully, and makes use of his illustrations, will confess at the end of the volume that he has gained something in power of appreciation he will have learned more fully what there is to appreciate.' Contents Include: The Need for a Guide Some Simple Necessary Terms Explained What the Listener Really Needs to Know How the Composer Works On the Principle of Design in Music How Small Instrumental Pieces are Made On the Mysteries of 'Sonata-Form' On the Sonata or Symphony as a Whole 'What Do You Mean by Your Mountainous Fugues?' On 'Programme Music' On the Song, On Oratorio and On Opera The Orchestra and its Instruments Some Typical Orchestral Combinations The Chain of Composers