Twentieth-Century Music: A History of Musical Style in Modern Europe and America (Norton Introduction to Music History)

This book isn't just about history. The author really got into the details of the techniques of each composer (while giving examples). A book that I would most definitely recommend to a fellow music student.

Being a huge fan of TV's intellectual-crime-mix show WHITE COLLAR, I wanted an art form I could deeply study and enjoy at the same time. I knew that would be something western music. I have loved my deep dive into 20th century western compositional music, now about a year in. Like learning to golf from the greens back, my affair with western composition music has been a reverse exploration of history.Here is the boring story. Before this, I was already a Mozart fan, respected the rest, and actually knew a little about Stravinsky's major works. I tried studying the content chronologically, with two text books and some anthology CD sets. I might have quit at the chants, could have split at Baroque, but got saved by Mozart (again). In the meantime, I was falling under the spell of the other books, especially Alex Ross's THE REST IS NOISE. His narrative mix of light history, cultural context, and well placed snippets of humor and interesting quotes made me realize that the eclectic and fast shifting 20th century would hold my interests like no other single era. So I made a point of buying literally every book in the used market (always hardcover; wanted a nice library). Wow, that is a LOT of books! Fortunately most of them are inexpensive on the after market, only a handful of them are keeps, and all of them have been good trade bait at the local book store -- or worthy donations to the city's library Friends program.Brings us to this book. This is one of the about eight, out of as many as 10 books, that I consider keepers in the shelf on my personal library dedicated to 20th century music. Yes, there are really that many general-subject books (I don't care for artist or composer bios; I have lead a more interesting life) that are worthy of reading because each one brings a unique mix of focus (period, nationality, person, style, level of context versus musicology, etc.). An that many keepers to the point where I have paid again for the same editions to get out of ex-library copies, highlighted copies, and the like. Again, this is a fun hobby that is pretty darn cheap to pursue; Thanks God for the Marketplace and a bevy of hungry book dealers (shame on us if the book dies).To this book, which won its place among those top eight about this subject. No book is perfect. The comments that "Morgan is not as strong on the more recent period, partly because the book was published in 1991 and thus misses such phenomena as Schnittke's surge of popularity, especially in Russia and Europe, after the collapse of the Soviet regime..." and "Well written for what it is, but does it make sense to spend so little time on the last 55 years of the century? If anything, there should be more space as we get closer to the present, as there is more music being composed now than at any time in history..." are completely valid. So take this book as strongest right up to the period we might think of as Contemporary Western Music. I grant that fact and hence the Four Star setting above.Seeing the book as a treatment of 20th Century, with emphasis on WWII and backwards, this is an excellent piece of work. I like to cluster and generalize things in my mind. I appreciate that he organized the study into:Part 1. Beyond Tonality: From 1900 to World War IPart 2. Reconstruction and New Systems: Between the WarsPart 3. Innovation and Fragmentation: From WWII to the PresentHe captures the historical context of each period with a leading chapter. Very nice summary overviews without the thickness that some of Ross's work gets into. He makes good arguments for the similarities within these time frames. This is a much better approach to me than the Decade-By-Decade style of some works or the Composer-By-Composer style of others. If you like a particular style, you are more likely to find kindred spirits and depth by exploring all of the wonderful works in the period you enjoy.I highly recommend this book as an introduction to this period. If you want more on the French Impressionist folks, the best work is Hansen's AN INTRODUCTION TO TWENTIETH CENTURY MUSIC (either 2e or 3e are fine); he is the only writer that really got into this stretch. For more contemporary, start with the aforementioned Ross book. If the latest music turns you on, get the Griffith's MODERN MUSIC AND AFTER (was not one of my favorites, but I respect its place and quality).

if you want to get into the XX century music, this is for you. all the information is very well organized, the quality of the book is amazing, the paper very white and great printing process.

I got this book not too long ago but it was in great condition and I am glad that I got it in such a good deal

I really recommend this book. It ties together music and culture, it is easy to read and well organized, and it covers composers, their styles, and their compositions. Too many music history books read like a list of facts. This book is much better than that. For anyone who wants to know more about modern music and modern composers, this book is really good.

Morgan's book is the best that I have found for an overview of the entire 20th century in "classical" music. He divides his analysis into 3 logical sections: Part 1. Beyond Tonality: From 1900 to World War I Part 2. Reconstruction and New Systems: Between the Wars Part 3. Innovation and Fragmentation: From WWII to the Present This allows for some nuance that a simple list of composers often misses. For instance, Schoenberg's "atonal revolution" is covered in Part 1, along with the "new tonalities" of Stravinsky and Bartok. Part 2 covers the origin of the "twelve-tone system," but makes clear that it did not become influential until years later with the "serial revolution" in France, led by Messiaen and Boulez, in Part 3. As others have noted, Morgan is not as strong on the more recent period, partly because the book was published in 1991 and thus misses such phenomena as Schnittke's surge of popularity, especially in Russia and Europe, after the collapse of the Soviet regime.I recommend two other books along with Morgan: 1) Gann's , which covers developments in the U.S. in greater detail, thus including for instance one of my favorites, Roger Reynolds, and 2) Griffiths' masterful , which begins after the Second World War.

Well written for what it is, but does it make sense to spend so little time on the last 55 years of the century? If anything, there should be more space as we get closer to the present, as there is more music being composed now than at any time in history.

It was a few days late from a city that’s a five hour drive from where I live, and the original delivery date was a few fans after I ordered it as it was. There were over 90 copies on sale, I picked this one for the delivery date and price, the delivery date was a tie breaker and part of the package so being so late from the same state drops the rating a star. The book was as described, and I wasn’t expecting a hard cover so it’s a four star deal. However, I doubt I’ll order again from this merchant if they can’t deliver on time…I have lots of options if the date isn’t important.

Questo libro mi è stato incaricato dal mio professore di musica all’università per fare due esami e per poterlo usare come manuale per la tesi della magistrale. Il problema è che costava 76$ ed era veramente complicato per me potermi permettere di spendere tale cifra. Così dopo aver fatto un po’ di ricerche, ho trovato questo venditore che segnalava libri usati in ottime condizioni, buone, come nuovo ecc. Questo libro non è come nuovo, ma in ottime condizioni e infatti a meno di venti euro ho comprato un libro che di rovinato a solamente la carta esterna che ricopre il libro. Per il resto tutto è perfetto e il libro anche negli spigoli è praticamente nuovo. Ho speso poco per un manuale di grande importanza che cita i maggiori esponenti della musica del novecento e contemporanei a noi. Cito Schonberg, Schnittke o John Cage che hanno rivoluzionato la musica contemporanea. Questo è un ottimo manuale per chi, come me, deve intraprendere un percorso indirizzato all’insegnamento. Il manuale è tutto in inglese e questo, a mio parere, aiuta molto per chi vuole studiare adottando una nuova lingua e apprendere più cose. Lo consiglio a tutti.

El libro resume de forma clara y entendible la música del último siglo. Además de curiosidades, sí permite llegar a tener una visión global del siglo.

Arrivato in tempi brevi ed in ottimo stato, sembra nuovo. Il testo è molto interessante.