Youn Ling wrote:

>Can anyone recommand books on Music History? I would like to have a
>comprehensive, authoritative and detailed one.  It's the best to have
>critique in it.  I've tried to search in Amazon.com but there are so many.
>That makes me so confused.  Thanks for your help.
>
>I've found two books from Amazon.com.  One is "Evening with the Orchestra"
>by Berlioz.  The other is "Vintage Guide to Classical Music" by Jan
>Swafford.  Any ideas about these books?

Neither of the above is a book on music history.  The Swafford is a good
book for those who would like to know more about the classical repertoire,
and build a CD collection accordingly.  The Berlioz is a 19th-century book
of essays and reviews by one of the foremost composers of the first half of
the 19th century.  Interesting reading but I don't think it's what you
want.

The classic one-volume history of music is Lang's Music in Western
Civilization.  Although written in 1941 or thereabouts and therefore leaves
out almost the entire 20th century, it is to music history somewhat like
what Gibbon was to Rome.  It's not easy reading though.  My favorite
textbook which covers the span of music history is Grout and Palisca's
History of Western Music.  It is more detailed about the music than Lang,
which puts music in the context of the broader culture.

If you want a global emphasis you will have to look elsewhere.  I'm not
sure there is a truly comprehensive one-volume survey of world music that
compares with the above works.

Chris Bonds