"Student's Guide to Music History is a concise account, written for the intelligent lay reader, of classical music's development from the early Middle Ages onwards. Beginning with a discussion of Hildegard von Bingen, a twelfth-century German nun and composer, and the origins of plain chant, Stove's narrative recounts the rise (and ever-increasing complexity) of harmony during the medieval world, the differences between secular and sacred music, the glories of the contrapuntal style, and the origins of opera. Stove then relates the achievements of the high baroque period, the very different idioms that prevailed during the late eighteenth century, and the emergence of Romanticism, with its emphasis upon the artist-hero. With the late nineteenth century came a growing emphasis on musical patriotism, writes Stove, especially in Spain, Hungary, Russia, Bohemia, Norway, Denmark, Finland, and the United Stares. A final section discusses the trends that have characterized music since 1945. As a brief orientation to the history and contours of classical music, A Student's Guide to Music History is an unparalleled resource."--BOOK JACKET. Distributed by Syndetic Solutions, Inc.

Stove (an Australian organist and composer) has amassed an enormous amount of material in this small volume. Summarizing and simplifying known material (but not claiming to present new research), the author offers a sentence, and sometimes a paragraph, about many of the leading composers from the 12th through the 20th centuries, beginning with Hildegard of Bingen and continuing through contemporary minimalist composers. The historical material is generally accurate, but the material about the 19th and 20th centuries is less inclusive, more subjective, and in places opinionated. Stove's style is entertaining, a decided plus for a book of history, and wherever possible he includes humorous episodes/trivia often omitted in the more scholarly works on music history. Interspersed throughout are brief biographical sketches of several of the more famous composers. The reader will find the brief glossary of music forms and the bibliography most helpful. Summing Up: Recommended. Lower-division undergraduates and general readers. General Readers; Lower-division Undergraduates. Reviewed by R. Pitts. From: Syndetics Solutions, Inc. Distributed by Syndetic Solutions, Inc.