Thread: Music Books - A Quick Reference

I've been lent a book called "The Great Pianists" by Harold C. Schonberg, which covers the complete history of European piano from Bach to the 60's. Can't seem to find it online because it is a very old book, but it is full of vivid and humorous anecdotes.

Well,

I really am trying to honestly learn this stuff. I do play and read music but always want to improve. I have purchased many of the following books for under a dollar at amazon. Some may say I got what I paid for??? I will print this threat and use it for future purchases. Back to my reading, if you have any advice don't hesitate to throw it my way. I don't know what I am doing - just trying to learn. I can't get away from this music - it has captured me!

Thanks

Music: An Appreciation [Hardcover]
By: Roger Kamien

The Complete Book of Classical Music [Hardcover]
By: David Ewen

The Symphony: A Listener's Guide [Paperback] by Steinberg, Michael [Paperback]
By: Michael Steinberg

What to Listen For in Music [Paperback]
By: Aaron Copland, Leonard Slatkin

The Concerto: A Listener's Guide (Listener's Guide Series) [Paperback]
By: Michael Steinberg

Listen to the Music: A Self-Guided Tour Through the Orchestral Repertoire by... [Hardcover]
By: Jonathan D. Kramer

The Rough Guide to Classical Music: 100 Essential CDs, 1st Edition (Rough... [Paperback]
By: Joe Staines

The Oxford Companion to Music (Oxford Companions) [Hardcover] by Latham, Alison [Hardcover]
By: Alison Latham

Classical Music Top 40: Learn How To Listen To And Appreciate The 40 Most Popular And Important Pieces I [Paperback]
By: Anthony Rudel

The New York Times Essential Library: Classical Music: A Critic's Guide to the 100 Most Important Recordings [Paperback]
By: Allan Kozinn

Conducting Technique: For Beginners and Professionals Book [Spiral-bound]
By: Brock McElheran

The Art of the Conductor: The Definitive Guide to Music Conducting Skills, Terms, and Techniques [Paperback]
By: John J Watkins

The Classical Music Experience With Web Site, Second Edition: Discover the... [Hardcover]
By: Julius Jacobson II

Classical Music Without Fear: A Guide for General Audiences [Paperback] by... [Paperback]
By: Marianne Williams Tobias

The Classic Fm Guide to Classical Music: The Essential Companion to Composers... [Paperback]
By: Jeremy Nicholas

Classical Music Top 40: Learn How To Listen To And Appreciate The 40 Most Popular And Important Pieces I [Paperback]

Why Classical Music Still Matters [Paperback]
By: Lawrence Kramer

Classical music [Hardcover]
By: John Stanley

Random House Encyclopedic Dictionary of Classical Music [Hardcover]
By: Helicon Publishing Ltd.

The Chronicle of Classical Music: An Intimate Diary of the Lives and Music of the Great Composers [Paperback]
By: Alan Kendall

Mendelssohn (Illustrated Lives of the Great Composers) by Moshansky, Mozelle [Paperback]
By: Mozelle Moshansky

Vivaldi: Voice of the Baroque [Paperback] by Landon, H. C. Robbins [Paperback]
By: H. C. Robbins Landon

Antonio Vivaldi: The Red Priest of Venice [Hardcover]
By: Karl Heller

Vivaldi (Illustrated Lives of the Great Composers) [Paperback]
By: J. Booth

Johannes Brahms: A Biography [Paperback] by Swafford, Jan [Paperback]
By: Jan Swafford

Schumann: The Inner Voices of a Musical Genius [Paperback] by Peter Ostwald [Paperback]
By: Peter Ostwald

A Brahms Reader [Paperback] by Musgrave, Michael [Paperback]
By: Michael Musgrave

Classical Music (Eyewitness Companions) [Turtleback] by Burrows, John [Turtleback]
By: John Burrows

Who's Afraid of Classical Music [Hardcover] by Walsh, Michael [Hardcover]
By: Michael Walsh

The Classic FM Friendly Guide to Music (Classic FM Friendly Guides) [Paperback]
By: Darren Henley

The Essential Canon of Classical Music [Paperback]
By: David Dubal

Classical Destinations: An Armchair Guide to Classical Music [Hardcover]
By: Simon Callow, Wendy McDougall

Who Needs Classical Music?: Cultural Choice and Musical Value [Hardcover]
By: Julian Johnson

The Life and Death of Classical Music: Featuring the 100 Best and 20 Worst Recordings Ever Made [Paperback]
By: Norman Lebrecht

Ballet 101: A Complete Guide to Learning and Loving the Ballet [Paperback] by [Paperback]
By: Robert Greskovic

The Lives of the Great Composers [Hardcover]
By: Harold C. Schonberg

Story of the Orchestra : Listen While You Learn About the Instruments, the Music and the Composers Who Wrote the Music! [Hardcover]

The Vintage Guide to Classical Music [Paperback] by Swafford, Jan [Paperback]
By: Jan Swafford

Classical Music 101: A Complete Guide to Learning and Loving Classical Music... [Paperback]
By: Fred Plotkin

The NPR Classical Music Companion: An Essential Guide for Enlightened Listening [Paperback]
By: Miles Hoffman

Inside Music [Paperback] by Haas, Karl [Paperback]
By: Karl Haas

Opera 101: A Complete Guide to Learning and Loving Opera [Paperback] by Fred... [Paperback]
By: Fred Plotkin, Placido Domingo

Classical Music [Paperback]
By: Phil G. Goulding (Author)

The NPR Guide to Building a Classical CD Collection : The 350 Essential Works [Paperback]
By: Ted Libbey (Author)

The NPR Listener's Encyclopedia of Classical Music [Paperback]
By: Ted Libbey (Author)

Has there been a good Shostakovich biography? And how about Prokofiev? They have a slim biography in the library but I forget the author. I find the lives of composers interesting and would love bios of them all!

Hello,

harmony, theory, composition and music techniques are widely developped for advanced musicians and beginners. here.
A free webtv in music theory for beginners : here.

Enjoy

Great book for reference. 900+ pages

Originally Posted by airad2

I've been lent a book called "The Great Pianists" by Harold C. Schonberg, which covers the complete history of European piano from Bach to the 60's. Can't seem to find it online because it is a very old book, but it is full of vivid and humorous anecdotes.

Oh! I have that same book! It's quite a good read! It's my dad's actually, but yeah, it's really old.. There's another one of the series called The Great Conductors, which is great too..

Originally Posted by andruini

Oh! I have that same book! It's quite a good read! It's my dad's actually, but yeah, it's really old.. There's another one of the series called The Great Conductors, which is great too..

It's such a pity we don't have recordings from the epitome of the golden age... it makes me sad to think about all the names lost, Thalberg (rivalled Liszt, but why doesn't anybody know about him?), D'Albert, Gottshalk, Tausig, Dreyshock, Moscheles, Godowsky, C.Schumann (Robert's wife, that's what she's known as today!), Pleyel, etc. because for the romantic era, all we have now are the recordings of Horowitz and Cortot. I've been actively searching for very old recordings: there are some good ones of Von Sauer, Busoni, Paderewski, Rosenthal, Landowska, Saint-Saens and others.

There is also a good deal of music out there from the pianist-composers other than the ones we know today, It would be such a treat to see the works of Thalberg, Gottshalk, Moscheles, etc. be played more often.

I'll look for that Great Conductors book too. Is it just as old?

Over the years I have done a lot of bibliographical research and I have a large collection of complete bibliographical referrences (without commentary though), but I can't post them, because of their volume. Is there any way that I can upload files (as microsoft word documents) here?

Anybody know a good Biography of Antonin Dvorak, coverin the whole of his life musically and personally?

Thanks for the recommends, i'll check those out. I've heard of the musicians book through others.
Thanks

Hi,

I think we should not debating on topic which is better and which is not!!!!!!!
Well your efforts are appreciable and really great stuff for upcoming generation.
These music books can be so helpful for beginners.I like the idea of dividing the categories.
Fantastic!!!!!!!
Like to have one of your music book.


Thanks for information.

A while back, we mentioned in this post that we were working on the project of organizing many of the recommended music books into a unified location. At the top of this thread, the opening phase of the project has now been completed!!

The work will continue though. We're sure that there are some other worthy book-recommendations in unrelated threads. If you know of some that you feel merit special mention, please contact us (preferably via Private Message) and we will consider adding to the list.
Also (if we may indulge in a little unsolicited advice) future recommendations are a little more interesting if we can say a little about why a particular tome merits special attention.

Thanks to all past and future contributors...

Composers Voices from Ives to Ellington (with more volumes to follow!)

Principles of Orchestration (by Rimky-Korsakov)

Musicophilia: Tales of Music and the Brai (by Oliver Sacks)

May have been listed already - if so, another vote for it:




It has proven invaluable to quick research and a starting point in finding good works/recordings.

May I recommend an excellent series:

The Oxford History of Western Music.

A 6 volume set including from early music to the 21st century.
After reading volume 4 (early twentieth century) I must say this is indeed a masterpiece of research, literature and theory. Not only does Taruskin (professor of Musicology at Uni Cali, Berkely) beautifully describe all the historical events that occured to influence the art, not only does he cover the entire philosophy and paradigm shifts that have shaped the art (remarkably prominent in the later volumes), but he also includes detailed analyses of pieces (scores are printed in the book) showing exactly the developments that occur within the actual music and linking them through a chain of influence or innovation.

Fantastic!
http://www.amazon.com/Oxford-History...N%3D0195386302