The author shows how Western music has developed over the centuries by beginning with the basics - rhythm, melody and harmony. He explains how the key system works and discusses the principal musical forms such as preludes, fugues, sonata form, sonatas, symphonies and concertos. To illustrate differences in idiom and approaches to composition, he then analyzes movements by five composers, from the 18th century to the early 1990s.
- ISBN10 019521028X
- ISBN13 9780195210286
- Publish Date 2 September 1993 (first published April 1980)
- Publish Status Active
- Out of Print 7 August 2021
- Publish Country US
- Imprint Oxford University Press, USA
- Format Paperback (US Trade)
- Pages 256
- Language English