Product Description

This stimulating Very Short Introduction to music invites us to really think about music and the values and qualities we ascribe to it. The world teems with different kinds of music-traditional, folk, classical, jazz, rock, pop-and each type of music tends to come with its own way of thinking. Drawing on a wealth of accessible examples ranging from Beethoven to Chinese zither music, Nicholas Cook attempts to provide a framework for thinking about all music. By examining the personal, social, and cultural values that music embodies, the book reveals the shortcomings of traditional conceptions of music, and sketches a more inclusive approach emphasizing the role of performers and listeners.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #84289 in Books
• Published on: 2000-01-01
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 152 pages

About the Author
Nicholas Cook is Professor of Music and Dean of Arts at the University of Southampton. He has also taught in Hong Kong, Australia, and the USA.

Customer Reviews

An original introduction to music in our time
This little book makes you think from page 1. It is brilliantly written and full of controversial ideas about music and musicians. Don't be put off by its small size, as it is packed with interesting suggestions and ideas. It should make you think about the meaning, importance and future of music.
A must.

Generates almost as much fog as it clears
This book starts well, with a lively journey around musical styles, including a brief visit to the promised Chinese zither music. Cook correctly embraces far more than Western art music in his analysis.

However, it drops into a rather protracted midsection on composition- and reception-based models ... "we need both" ... you don't say! And then you're soon into an extraordinary chapter on Music and Gender, or more specifically, the sex act. So Beethoven's masculine style is aggressive thrusting, and Schubert's more feminine offering is gay. This is exactly the kind of highfalutin agenda-laden balderdash which fixes a great divide between the intelligentsia and ordinary folk, both middle and working class. Not ideal for A Very Short Introduction!

I would also question his summarising point that music is "not a phenomenon of the natural world but a human construction". Your average songbird may question this, not to mention any human who happens him/herself to be a phenomenon of the natural world. Hmm. Have another think for the second edition.

I hoped for something on melody, harmony, rhythm, around the world. And there was some, but other things predominated. An interesting book, but ultimately frustrating.

Light but masterful control of music theory and history
One of the most enjoyable books I've read on any topic recently. A splendidly unaffected treatment of the development of music and music theory, with a sustained and powerful but non-aggressive critique of many traditional approaches to the teaching and interpretation of music in the west.