doesn’t need to completely understand

each and every idea he puts forth to

get significant benefit to one’s tech- The New
w Consumer
C Refer
ferrence
ence
nique. —Reviewed by James Litzelman,
NCTM, Catholic University of America to Buying a Piano
Explorations 1: A Musical History
Overview, Explorations 2: Music Twice-yearly
wice- ,
History from Middle Ages to Classical
and Explorations 3: Music History information-packed
from 19th Century to Present, by publication
Janet Lopinski, Joe Ringhofer and replaces the
Peteris Zarins. Frederick Harris Music,
2010. www.frederickharrismusic.com; Annual
158–160 pp., $44.95 each. Supplement to
The Explorations music history series
is comprised of three volumes which, THE
THE
though originally formulated to aid
students in their preparation for the PIANO
PIANO
RCM and National Music Certificate
History examinations, will be of
immense help to any music student of
BOOK
BOOK
any age in their study of music history.
The first volume serves as an introduc-
tion to musical terms and materials and
presents an overview of baroque, classi-
cal, romantic and modern musical eras WWW.PIANOBUYER.COM
WWW.P IANOBUYER.COM
through period-specific terminology
while highlighting genres through
selected works of major composers
(three composers and works each for
baroque and Classical periods, four for
romantic and modern). Perhaps better
seen as a guide and workbook than a
textbook, Explorations 1: A Musical
History Overview presents a variety of
activities for the student to accomplish,
from writing definitions in his or her
own words to finding both perform-
ances and specific artists online and
making guided commentary. Though

OSU
ation:
i
Music
Center
g Arts
-4077
-8994
te.edu

AMERICAN MUSIC TEACHER 55

much information is presented, the
book’s continual emphasis on going to
either the Internet or an outside music
history class, in combination with
questions drawn from specific (and
required) listening examples, keeps the
focus squarely on the student’s own
progress through the musical material.
Explorations 2: Music History from
Middle Ages to Classical and
Explorations 3: Music History from 19th
Century to Present delineate the devel-
opment of western classical music
through its genres and forms within
and between periods. These two vol-
umes provide much more information
and all of it on a deeper level than does
Explorations 1: A Musical History
Overview, with a smaller percentage of
the pages dedicated to student written
work and more on presentation of
material. Verbal presentation of ideas
and facts are given in prose or lists as
deemed practical for understanding,
and the examples chosen for each genre
and form are presented in musical and
historical context. As in any music his-
tory book (text or other), for every
selected example there are hundreds of
Automatic
56
equally good selections not chosen; such as Sonata Forms, so they can see
here the authors give recommendations just how masterfully musical examples
for further study both in words (rec- can be integrated into a text in order to
ommended resources) and music (rec- make compelling points. Not only does
ommended listening materials) within this new volume contain intriguing new
each chapter as well as in dedicated analyses of familiar scores, but it also
appendices. takes the bold step of including a bit of
This series of music history philosophical discussion, namely on the
Explorations is an exciting approach to notion of musical “sentiment.”
the study of music history, a text and
workbook containing the presentation
of ideas, periods and composers togeth-
er with guided field trips through cho-
sen musical examples. This is an ideal
introduction(and beyond!) of music
history for any student of music from
mid-teen years through adult.
—Reviewed by Ruth Morrow, NCTM,
Wichita Falls, Texas
8 Music and Sentiment, by Charles
Rosen. Yale University Press, 2010.
yalepress.yale.edu; 160 pp., $24.00.
Expectations run high when a book
by pianist Charles Rosen appears. His
command of both words and music is
exceptional, and I have often referred
college students to Rosen’s classic books,
ol
ol Recommended by:
Bechstein
Blüthner
B lüthner
Bösendorfer
FFazioli
azioli
Hailun
Kawai
Pearl
Pearl River
Petrof
Petrof
Sauter
Sauter
Schimmel
Seiler
Steingraeber
Yamaha
www.pianolifesaver.com
800.438.1524
DECEMBER/JANUARY 2010/2011
Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission.