Book on music

[Delarge]

Sorry if I posted this thread in the wrong sub forum.

I am looking for a book about music.

What I am particularly looking for is a book about music history. I have been playing the guitar as well as the piano for quite a long time now, so I know a bit about music theory. Therefore my focus is on the music itself. We all know Mozart and Bethoven and their great works, but what are the less "popular" gems? Who else composed masterpieces and which are they?

I am interested in a book on classical music from the renessaince up to The Beatles/today. If you a book that is brilliant but only focuses on one era please wright anyway.

It seems so overwhelming to start out without any guidance, so some kind of equivalent to LitNets top 100 books would be a huge help.

Is someone has any recommendations to specifik CDs I would be very grateful.

[stlukesguild]

I have suggested Phil G. Goulding's Classical Music: The 50 Greatest Composers and their 1000 Greatest Works. The Book was written from the perspective of a non-expert for non-experts and clearly explains various classical music terms (sonata, concerto, motet, polyphony, etc...). Even if you eventually question the ordering of Goulding's "canon", he covers all the major players from the late Baroque through the early Modernists. In order to delve deeper into the Baroque and earlier music you will probably need to get a book that specializes in music of that era... although Wikipedia provides a decent start. Another book I have found especially useful was Richard Somerset-Ward's The Story of Opera, which is a beautifully illustrated history of the art form from the earliest works to the present.

[Wilde woman]

I really enjoyed What to Listen for in Music by American composer Aaron Copland. It's a bit dated (written in the '50s) but it was written to appeal to both the layman with no musical training and people like you and me who've grown up playing and/or studying music theory. For those who can read music, Copland explains some of the musical forms with examples from Classical music printed in the text. There is one chapter where he talks about where composers get their inspiration (and considering he's one of the greats), and it was the most interesting bit for me.

[Lokasenna]

I have suggested Phil G. Goulding's Classical Music: The 50 Greatest Composers and their 1000 Greatest Works. The Book was written from the perspective of a non-expert for non-experts and clearly explains various classical music terms (sonata, concerto, motet, polyphony, etc...). Even if you eventually question the ordering of Goulding's "canon", he covers all the major players from the late Baroque through the early Modernists. In order to delve deeper into the Baroque and earlier music you will probably need to get a book that specializes in music of that era... although Wikipedia provides a decent start. Another book I have found especially useful was Richard Somerset-Ward's The Story of Opera, which is a beautifully illustrated history of the art form from the earliest works to the present.

Well, Stlukes knows my quibbles with Goulding's book, but I'll second his recommendation.

[ralfyman]

If you are looking for related works, there's Alex Ross' The Rest is Noise.

[mal4mac]

Why not start with the Gramophone 2011 Classical Music Guide? It's mainly a CD guide, but it has a dozen or so pages on general music history at the beginning, and short but informative biographical sketch for each composer.