Overview
Roots of the Classical identifies and traces to their sources the patterns that make Western classical music unique, setting out the fundamental laws of melody and harmony, and sketching the development of tonality between the fifteenth and eighteenth centuries. The author then focuses on the years 1770-1910, treating the Western music of this period - folk, popular, and classical - as a single, organically developing, interconnected unit in which the popular idiom was constantly feeding into 'serious' music, showing how the same patterns underlay music of all kinds.
Full Product Details
Author: Peter Van der Merwe (, Natal Society Library, Pietermaritzburg, South Africa)
Publisher: Oxford University Press
Imprint: Oxford University Press
Dimensions:
Width: 16.50cm
, Height: 3.60cm
, Length: 24.20cm
Weight: 0.986kg
ISBN: 9780198166474
ISBN 10: 0198166478
Pages: 576
Publication Date: 09 December 2004
Audience:
Professional and scholarly
,
Professional & Vocational
Format: Hardback
Publisher's Status: Active
Availability: To order
Stock availability from the supplier is unknown. We will order it for you and ship this item to you once it is received by us.
Reviews
'...a marvellously stimulating new book.' Martin Kettle, The Guardian ...looks beyond the traditional sources, examining the importance of styles from alternative repertoires such as children's song and dances of Central Europe. The Strengths of this book are the breadth of Van de Merwe's examples and his perspective, which is relatively free of the value judgements placed on the selected repertoires. Choice ...a marvellously stimulating and important book: a masterpiece of canny observation, a miracle of effective organization, a model of colourful, pungent writing, and an ear-opener that should be read and pondered by all scholars and musicians who deal with music of the eighteenth, nineteenth, and twentieth centuries in any and all of it genres. Music and Letters, Vol. 88, No. 1
'...a marvellously stimulating new book.' Martin Kettle, The Guardian ...looks beyond the traditional sources, examining the importance of styles from alternative repertoires such as children's song and dances of Central Europe. The Strengths of this book are the breadth of Van de Merwe's examples and his perspective, which is relatively free of the value judgements placed on the selected repertoires. Choice ...a marvellously stimulating and important book: a masterpiece of canny observation, a miracle of effective organization, a model of colourful, pungent writing, and an ear-opener that should be read and pondered by all scholars and musicians who deal with music of the eighteenth, nineteenth, and twentieth centuries in any and all of it genres. Music and Letters, Vol. 88, No. 1
Author Information
Peter Van der Merwe spent two years at the South African College of Music in Cape Town but is largely self-taught. He is now working as a qualified librarian. He published his first book, 'Origins of the Popular Style' with OUP in 1989.
