Donald Jay Grout (1902–1987)

It has a great depth and breadth of information--if you can find it. The book is poorly organized and sections are ordered in a counter-intuitive way. Again, a good thorough survey text that deserves its place as the standard of Western music history. Pity you'll have trouble finding things in it.

This is the essential reference work for understanding the history of Western music. Filled with so many details, yet interesting not only for that reason but also because it is well-written. Worth a few moments of consideration or a whole afternoon immersing yourself in the wonder of music and its development over the centuries.

This book serves as a wonderful introduction to the history of European and American art music. The book is structured in an interesting way. Instead of being a simple chronology of music history, ranging from the Renaissance to recent trends in American music, it subdivides each time period into categories, such as "chamber music", "vocal music", or "orchestral music." Scattered throughout each chapter are quotations from the composer or musician in question, making for an illuminating show more read.

This book isn't really packed with details, mostly because it covers more than 500 years of music history, so it has only enough space to briefly touch on each period, although the major composers and concepts are covered with more depth. Nevertheless, I think it's a good starting point for anyone interested in the history of Western classical music. show less

An outstanding production, the one-volume version. A model of scholarship rendered accessible to the layperson. Particularly good on the early centuries; at the time I first read this book, the boom in recording of Monteverdi, Lully, Cavalli, etc. had not occured, so my eyes were all but caked shut to the existence of opera pre-Handel. I should probably update my copy of this book, since I think a 2003 version has been issued (as well as a now-superceded 1988 edition).