This first comprehensive history of musical instruments, this book ranges from prehistoric times to the 20th century. It traverses five continents and every stage of evolution, from primitive rattles and bull-roarers to the electric organ. Author Curt Sachs, one of the world's most distinguished musicologists, combines rich scholarship with personal insight in a remarkable fusion of music, anthropology, and the fine arts.
Beginning with the earliest manifestations of rhythm, Sachs explores the association of sound with primitive rites of fertility, life, death, and rebirth. He traces the evolution of folk and ritual instruments to tools of entertainment and art, the rise of a professional class of singers and musicians, and the musical revolution that flowered during the Renaissance. Sachs chronicles the foundation of the modern orchestra during the baroque period and its subsequent development, concluding with the modern-day rise of electric and jazz instruments.
A pleasure to read as well as a valuable resource, this classic work is enhanced with 24 plates and 167 illustrations.
"synopsis" may belong to another edition of this title.
Seller: MW Books, New York, NY, U.S.A.
First Edition. Fine cloth copy in an equally fine dust wrapper. Particularly well-preserved overall; tight, bright, clean and especially sharp-cornered. Provenance: Library copy from The Queen's University of Belfast Department of Extra-Mural Studies. Physical description: 505 pages, 24 leaves of plates: illustrations; 25 cm. Contents: First Part: The primitive and prehistoric epoch. Early instruments; The chronology of early instruments -- Second Part: Antiquity. Sumer and Babylonia; Egypt; Israel; Greece. Rome and Etruria; India; The Far East; America -- Third Part: The Middle Ages. The Far East; India; Southeast Asia; The Near East; Europe -- Fourth Part: The Modern Occident. The Renaissance (1400-1600); The Baroque (1600-1750); Romanticism (1750-1900); The Twentieth Century. Subjects: Musical instruments History. Musical instruments. 3 Kg. Seller Inventory # 364395
Seller: Hanselled Books, Burntisland, FIFE, United Kingdom
Hardcover. Condition: Very Good. Dust Jacket Condition: Good. 1st Edition. H/B 505 pages condition is very good, this is an ex library book with the usual stamps. Seller Inventory # 087887
Seller: MW Books Ltd., Galway, Ireland
First Edition. Fine cloth copy in an equally fine dust wrapper. Particularly well-preserved overall; tight, bright, clean and especially sharp-cornered. Provenance: Library copy from The Queen's University of Belfast Department of Extra-Mural Studies. Physical description: 505 pages, 24 leaves of plates: illustrations; 25 cm. Contents: First Part: The primitive and prehistoric epoch. Early instruments; The chronology of early instruments -- Second Part: Antiquity. Sumer and Babylonia; Egypt; Israel; Greece. Rome and Etruria; India; The Far East; America -- Third Part: The Middle Ages. The Far East; India; Southeast Asia; The Near East; Europe -- Fourth Part: The Modern Occident. The Renaissance (1400-1600); The Baroque (1600-1750); Romanticism (1750-1900); The Twentieth Century. Subjects: Musical instruments History. Musical instruments. 1 Kg. Seller Inventory # 364395