Book Description
Hailed as the definitive work upon its original publication in 1975 and now extensively revised and updated by the author, this vastly absorbing and richly illustrated book examines film as an art form, technological innovation, big business, and shaper of American values. 80 black-and-white photos.
Customer Reviews:
Out there.......2007-09-02
I have only read the first 3 or 4 chapters so far, but the editor has no linear stream of conciousness. He meanders along in his thought process with no logical structure in mind. Interesting take on the history of American movies.
A Grand Discourse on Filmdom and Society........2006-12-10
The author shows how movies not only reflect our society but influence it as well.
Are you a film buff, a history buff, or both?
Then this book will fascinate you from start to finish.
Interesting Course Reading.......2005-09-28
This is a great book that was required reading for Steven Ross' "Film, Power, and American, History" course at USC. Not only was it very relevant and well organized, but genuinely interesting too!
Great Classic work.......2005-02-15
This is a must read in the social and cultural history of American cinema.
Perfect.......2003-12-05
Sklar's Movie Made America was assigned as my textbook for a film class I just finished here at UCLA. At first I thought it to be a bit boring, especially because I thought it was just repeating what the professor had discussed in class. However, when I truly began to appreciate this book and take the time to read every word, I realized that Sklar not only presents the facts, but synthesizes the history of American cinema in innovative and interesting contexts. He discusses the way that film, from its start, has changed America as a social body, as a political body, as an economic body, and as a body in of itself.
Certain chapters were intriguing because they took standpoints different than any other author. And while the words are a bit dated, last revised over 10 years ago, it still has a spooky sense of relevance.
Overall, a wonderful book. If you're interested in the history of American film, here you go. I'm not selling this one back to the bookstore during Buy-Back time. That's for sure.
Customer Reviews:
A good study guide.......2000-12-17
If you are taking a music history course that uses A History of Western Music (Grout) then this would be a helpful study guide. It has a brief overview of the main points of each chapter. There are then many questions to answer about that chapter. It also uses the Norton recordings and Anthology of Western Music. If you did all the work in this book you would definitely do well in your course. The chapter overviews do NOT contain enough information to avoid reading the Grout text in case you wanted to be lazy.
I would highly recommend this for undergraduate or graduate music students taking a general music history course.
Book Description
Based on the classic A History of Western Music by J. Peter Burkholder, Donald J. Grout, and Claude V. Palisca, Concise History of Western Music provides authoritative coverage of the essential works and genres in Western music history. The Third Edition has been meticulously revised and reorganized to provide a more streamlined narrative that emphasizes a core repertory, social and historical context, and performance practice. This comprehensive revision features outstanding new pedagogy and multimedia resources.
Customer Reviews:
I know the author.......2007-03-13
I know the author of this book and took a class with her. She is quite knowledgable. This book goes well as a compliment to the Western Anthology of Music to expand upon the scores and history. There are many pictures within this book that help to visualize the feel of the time periods and movements in art. It can be useful to see the parallels in music and visual art.
Disappointingly dry.......2005-10-31
I chose this title because I wanted to get a sense of the history of classical music, its development and the lives of composers. I like classical music but my knowledge of it is sporadic at best, so this book seemed like a good starting point to build up some more structured knowledge, and to be introduced to music previously unknown to me.
While quite informative, I was disappointed by the book. The writing is really rather dry, and failed to convey any enthusiasm about music. This, I think, is a crucial lack. Music is intended to animate, not to bore. I expected to be inspired, and get lots of ideas about what music to explore, but sadly I wasn't. Has it not been shown over and over that one can write academically sound works without presenting the material in a clear but emotionless manner?
There are also some strange omissions in the book. For instance, Bach's Goldberg Variations are mentioned, but why they are called this is not in the text. Finally, I have the distinct feeling the book also sometimes presents information of questionable accuracy as true. Composer's lives tend to spark many legends which, though amusing, are usually completely false. The story that Rameau was such a nag that he reproached the priest who came to his deathbed for poor chanting is presented as true, but I would guess that it has the status of an emblematic anecdote, not historical fact.
If anyone knows of a book which gives a slightly more inspiring history of western music, please let me know!
Makes teaching Western Music Culture an excellent experience.......2005-07-12
I have been using Hanning's Concise History Vol. 2 in my Music History classes. I have found it an excellent tool. She uses standard excerpts often throughout the text with original manuscript citings and easily understood analyses. Each of the chapters begins with an excellent overview and ends with a review. Both are a strong broad cross section of historic context. Excellent period artwork in full color is included.
The teachers manual gives a good overview and can be used in class to teach from. The quizzes are appropriate and emphasize material that is most significant to each chapter. If I were to write a manual I would want to include what she has.
The anthology, CD and print, are well done and affordable. I have found the recordings she uses to be excellent in quality and fitting to each of the periods. I have struggles with this in other publisher's works especially with regard to the price. My students have told me they listen to these CDs long after the class has ended.
I do wish there was more from the current period, especially with regard for Rock, Pop and Contemporary Christian Music Culture. That said I think Hanning has done an exceptional job in capturing a concise history of western music culture.
A better study tool than Palisca's Grout..........2004-01-16
Barbara Hanning's "Concise History of Western Music" is indeed a thinned-out version of Grout's comprehensive survey history of western music. While it's certainly not as concise as a volume of Cliff's Notes, Hanning's edition very successfully accomplishes what it sets out to do: it condenses the Grout, creating an easier reading and teaching text for use with college (undergraduate) musicians and students.
If brevity is your thing, and most especially if you are new to music studies, you might instead look at Nicholas Cook's "Music: A Very Short Introduction" (Oxford, 1998, reissued 2000). There, you'll find a truly _concise_ text (about 120 pages) that discusses the status of western music in modern society, as well as some of "classical" music's persistent historical themes, composers, and performance trends.
If you're not involved with post-secondary music or humanities coursework, you may not consider the Hanning (or the Palisca "History of Western Music," for that matter) the most rewarding text for independent reading. Hanning's text functions quite well (perhaps best) as a book for classroom teaching and discussion, and I prefer it to Palisca's Grout edition.
Not much help.......2000-11-07
This book was not much help to me when trying to learn about music of the classical and romantic era. The text is very vague and poorly written
Book Description
Engaging, clear and informative, this is the story of western music - of its great composers, its performers and listeners, and of the ever changing ideas of what music is and what it is for. Paul Griffiths shows how music has evolved through the centuries, and suggests how musical evolution has reflected developments in history and culture. The book provides an enticing introduction for students and beginners, using the minimum of technical terms, all straightforwardly defined in the glossary. Its perspective and its insights will also make it illuminating for teachers, musicians and music lovers. Suggestions for further reading and recommended recordings are given at the end of each of the 24 short chapters.
Customer Reviews:
Succinct Summary.......2007-05-28
This book, at 316 pages of text, is about as concise as one can be about western music and still cover it reasonably well. This is not a "Music History 101" sort of book, but a reflective discussion of music in the west over centuries. I liked the chapters on modern and postmodern music composers, which I have always regarded with some impatience, (as in,"when are you people going to get a grip...", but Griffiths writes with real appreciation. The editorial description is very accurate- the book is better read by musicians with some background than people first dipping into music history, but I found it an enjoyable refresher, and it was short enough for one to see the forest rather than be overwhelmed by trees, as in the bulky volumes I remember from college.
Book Description
This best-selling survey text describes American music as a collection of distinct strains of music--including popular, folk, sacred, classical, blues, jazz, and rock music - that have evolved into a musical panorama reflecting the nation's unique character. By comparing and contrasting America's musical styles across regions and time periods, Kingman delivers a clear vision of American music that encompasses the historical sources of all American music, the ways in which diverse styles have influenced each other, and the cultural contributions of America's innovative and original composers.
Customer Reviews:
Uneven in its weight to genres of music.......2005-08-04
This is a concise edition of Daniel Kingman's previous book of the same title. I know of it having been used as a high school textbook on American Music.
Kingman's book begins with a great introduction of some of the various ethnic/folk musics of the American musical tradition: Anglo-American, African-American, American Indian, and Latino backgrounds. Part Two looks at music which germinated from the South-Country, Blues, and Rock. Other sections examine popular sacred music, secular music, jazz, a substantial section on classical music, and a small epilogue on other regional styles.
This text is good because it is not too difficult to read and interesting overall. Kingman does a good job of introducing the music and providing useful descriptions of each style.
His bibliographies at the end of each chapter are fantastic, and he also provides many useful project ideas which would work great for high school/college classes alike
Unfortunately, there are a host of problems. First, the section on jazz is too short (30 pages), as well as those on rock (25 pages) and musical theater (20 pages). Kingman also neglects to put each movement in its proper historical context. This does not seem to be an important goal for him.
Many courses teach either American Popular Music or American Art/Classical music, not both. There are better texts out there which are more specific. For a survey course on all American music, this can work, but will certainly need to be supplemented with primary source materials and information on jazz, rock, Broadway, and other areas.
Good Survey of American Music.......2001-08-31
I teach a course in United States music history at the high school level, and this college text is a good stretch for my students. It is clearly written, well organized, and provides great points for departure in my lectures. The accompanying CD set, though not perfect, is a convenient way to bring in examples and allows for some independent study. Music history teachers can augment the examples with their current CD holdings.
The text surveys "American" music, not just music of the United States, although that is in the majority. The distinction of American versus U.S makes for a good discussion point throughout the semester. We do not take the chapters in order (we begin with music of the early European settlers), and the book lends itself to that flexibility.
Although there may be better texts for specific music history topics, (i.e., Jazz or contemporary "serious" music) this is an excellent survey text for the advanced high schooler or college music history survey course. Term paper suggestions, questions for additional research and bibliography are included at the end of each chapter.
Good, but there could be more.......2000-05-14
American Music: A Panorama is a cd that has many different tracks from American Music History. I think that it contains many good examples of this, but there could be so many more. Elvis, the artist of the century, has no songs, as well as many other influential artists from the 50's and 60's. The booklet in it also had many errors in track numbers and song title numbers in it. Overall it was good but could be better, and I definitely do not think it was worth the money.
Book Description
The Norton Recorded Anthology of Western Music, Concise Edition includes professional recordings (many brand new) of selected works in the anthology in a six-CD set. These CDs are for use with The Norton Anthology of Western Music and A History of Western Music.
Customer Reviews:
I've reviewed the hardcover.......2005-07-07
FYI, I mistakenly reviewed the hardcover rather than the softcover edition of Rushton's fine book. Please look for that review if you are interested in this smart, gracefully written, thorough introduction to classical music from the Baroque through to Romanticism.
Book Description
The Listening Guide software synchronizes historical overviews, commentary, and analysis with performances from The Norton Recorded Anthology of Western Music, Fifth Edition.
Book Description
Derived from the full Oxford Dictionary of Music, this is the most authoritative and up-to-date dictionary of music available in paperback. Fully revised and updated for this new edition, it is a rich mine of information for lovers of music of all periods and styles * Over 10,000 entries on musical terms, works, composers, librettists, musicians, singers, and orchestras
Customer Reviews:
A Must HAVE for music students..........2006-09-09
My daughter is a music major, and I used to teach private lessons. This is a great book for a quick reference guide to theory terminology, and is a must have for anyone taking a music class of any sort, but an absolute necessity for those in music theory courses. A great, and as the name states, concise compellation of just about any term you'll ever need to know!
Very handy and most useful for any musician or general lover of music.......2005-12-29
Music has often been described as the universal language, but the terms a musician has to read on the printed page of the score are specific words in various languages. If we only had to deal with the basic piano or forte of diminuendo or other basic terms it would not be a problem. However, there are thousands and thousands of more obscure terms that deal with performance, types of instruments (and their component parts), composers, works of various types, and so forth. That is why a well-executed hand sized book like this is so valuable. You can keep it on your piano in easy reach when you turn the page and haven't a clue what Debussy or Beethoven or some other composer left there for you to decipher.
It is true that this dictionary does not have a pronunciation guide, but that is simply because these words are said differently in different places and since it has to be "concise" the choice would be to have half as many terms and pronunciations (and the problem of picking among many possible ways of saying the words) or leaving out the pronunciations and having many more terms. I am glad they picked the latter.
There are a few illustrations, and they are well chosen but sparse.
Highly recommended. Every musician or general lover of music is better off with this book or one like it kept nearby.
An indispensible guide.......2003-04-24
A comprehensive, well-organized volume that covers composers, compositions, periods and styles, terminology (though I must agree with another reviewer--this really needs a pronunciation guide for some of the more difficult names and terms), instruments, vocalists, cultural context, and more. Major composers get more attention, with longer bios and more detailed entries, though the entries for some of the more notable people (such as George Gershwin) come up a little short in detailing their impact and significance. I purchased this book about a year ago, when I found myself becoming more interested in classical music, and it has proven to be extremely handy in identifying major pieces, performers, and composers. A must-have for music majors and libraries (both college and public) and for individual reference, and as an added bonus, is a godsend for those of us who do crossword puzzles.
Amazon Shopper.......2001-01-31
The Oxford Music Dictionary is in some ways useful, but as the title depicts, one would assume that a "dictionary" would contain pronunciations, but this book does not. Its good to know what sfortzando and fortissimo means, but can you say them? Given that every book has some downfall or another, I felt this should be titled "The Oxford Collection of Musical Terms," with the exclusion of "dictionary."
Indispensable desk reference tool.......1999-11-29
As the maintainer of the Classical Archives, I use this reference every single day. Its contents has been most judiciously selected to permit searches on composers, musical forms, terms, instruments, orchestras and performers. Each composer's entry offers a work-list which provides an excellent perspective. An invaluable tool indeed.
Average customer rating:
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Concise Norton Recorded Anthology of Western Music
Donald Jay Grout , and
Claude V. Palisca
Manufacturer: W W Norton & Co Inc (Np)
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ASIN: 039310060X |
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