The Rough Guide to Classical Music is the ideal handbook, spanning a thousand years of music from Gregorian chant via Bach and Beethoven to contemporaries such as Thomas Adès and Kaija Saariaho. Both a CD buyer's guide and a who's who, the guide includes concise biographical profiles of more than 200 composers and informative summaries of the major compositions in all genres, from chamber works to operatic epics. For novices and experts alike, the fully updated fifth edition features contemporary composer Helmut Lachenmann and Widor, the 19th century organ composer of 'Toccata' wedding fame, as well as dozens more works added for existing composers.
You'll find a new 'Top 10's' section with accessible introductory listings including the Top 10 operas and the Top 10 symphonies plus new essay boxes on topics such as "Baroque - a style or a period?" and "The clarinet comes of age". The Rough Guide to Classical Music features fresh and incisive reviews of hundreds of CDs, selecting the very best of the latest recordings and reissues as well as more than 150 illustrations of composers and performers, including a rare archive of photos. |
What The Press Say
This primer, now revised and expanded, is bursting with essential facts, neat asides and useful specialist features. Crisply, energetically written, with improved layout. - Classic FM magazine A WELCOME BEACON FOR THOSE ADRIFT AMONG THE AISLES OF CLASSICAL CDS…AND REFRESHINGLY NOT AFRAID TO MAKE OFFBEAT RECOMMENDATIONS - Billboard An excellent guide, spanning a thousand years of classical music, and the kind of companion that any music lover will want to keep near their CD collection as a reference work. - Musical Opinion Magazine Bottom line: the Rough Guide is perhaps the best general guide to mainstream classical music and selected recordings: recommended for all public libraries. - Library Journal Winning formula of pithy, biographical profiles, supplemented by succinct summaries of major works and micro-reviews of recommended recordings. . .refreshingly un-dictionary-like embrace of anecdote, opinion (occasionally provocative) and outright speculation. . .Still one of the best and most companionable guides around. - BBC Music Magazine |