The history of classical music is very much the history of western civilization; a reflection of the ages in which the individual composers lived and of the instruments that they could call upon.
In Classical Music � An Introduction, the reader is taken through the history of classical music from its mediaeval origins through to the modern era. Individual sections describe the great periods - Mediaeval, Renaissance, Baroque, Classical, Early Romantic, Romantic and Post World War 1 - putting the development of classical music into context and highlighting the most significant pieces and composers to emerge from each era.
Alongside the narrative history, individual sections provide biographies of the most famous composers and detail their most important works.
Finally, the book also examines how instruments evolved and how the sound of the modern orchestra differs from that of its earlier forms.
In chronicling the history of classical music and outlining the most influential composers with their works, Classical Music � An Introduction seeks both to explode the myth that classical music is somehow elitist and also to make all aware of the beauty of almost 1000 years of great and evocative music.
Includes a CD with a selection of the world's greatest classical music.

About the Authors

Author Michael Swift is a history Oxford graduate who specializes in church art and architecture, music and transport subjects. His life-long love of classical music is reflected in this book.

Michael Swift is a publisher with many years' experience, particularly in the fields of industrial archeology, transportation, and railroads. With family living close to the scenic railways of New England, he has spent many happy hours behind steam locomotives in North America and the rest of the world. He is also known for his books of cartography.

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