Book Description
". . . Barbara Owen has succeeded admirably in distilling three centuries of organ registration practice into a volume less than three hundred pages long. . . . Anyone with an interest in the history of the organ and its music . . . will not want to ignore this book." --Sixteenth Century Journal
"It is rare to find a book that combines such careful scholarship with a practical focus that makes it accessible to performing musicians as well as research specialists."--Notes
"An excellent volume from historical, musical style and interpretive standpoints. Highly recommended for all large academic and professional music collections."-- Choice
Barbara Owen has prepared the first work to present in a single book the registrational practices of organists from c.1550 to 1800. The four parts of the book move from the Renaissance through the Early, High, and Late Baroque. Each part starts with a brief description of the political and religious climate of the period and the way such factors affected the compositions and the organ-building of the time.
Customer Reviews:
Great Practical Guide with Historical Background.......2005-10-18
Barbara Owen succeeds in condensing more than 200 years of registration practice in a working volume. The book is organized by time period and nationality, allowing the reader to assimilate the trends of each of the organ "schools." Each chapter is prefaced by a list of the relevant composers, as well as stop lists of representative organs. Perhaps Owen's signal accomplishment is a combination of historical awareness with the practical needs of the performance. For instance, after giving the background on the Italian voce umana stop, she suggests that one can replicate the sound on a mechanical action organ by coupling two 8' principals, with one detuned (half drawn). Overall, a practical reference for the performance of 16th, 17th, and 18th-century organ music.
Average customer rating:
- Object of attraction
- Indeed, the greatest atlas
- A nice book
- Info about B&N edition
- Fantastic Art Book!
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Atlas Major
Peter Van Der Krogt , and
Peter Van Der Krogt
Manufacturer: Taschen
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ASIN: 3822831255 |
Book Description
"The greatest and finest atlas ever published." -Koeman I, Bl 56 The finest and most comprehensive baroque atlas was Joan Blaeu's exceptional Atlas Maior, completed in 1665. The original 11-volume Latin edition, containing 596 maps, put Blaeu ahead of his staunch competitor, mapmaker Johannes Janssonius, whose rivalry inspired Blaeu to produce a grandiose edition of the largest and most complete atlas to date. Covering Arctica, Europe, Africa, Asia, and America, Blaeu's Atlas Maior was a remarkable achievement and remains to this day one of history's finest examples of mapmaking. This reprint is made from the National Library of Vienna's complete, colored, gold-heightened copy, thus assuring the best possible detail and quality. The book's introduction, by the University of Utrecht's Peter van der Krogt, discusses the historical and cultural context and significance of the atlas; Krogt also provides detailed descriptions of the maps, allowing modern readers to fully appreciate Blaeu's masterwork.
Customer Reviews:
Object of attraction.......2007-05-15
This sits on my coffee table and is a great companion to watching any sort of historical documentary on TV etc. Also makes for good cocktail party reading/conversation.
I've seen an original copy of this in the NYPL and this printing is true to form, with insightful tidibits and good translations extras.
The Bleau Atlas Major is the most beatiful and prolific atlases ever made.
Indeed, the greatest atlas.......2007-05-12
Johan Blaauw's incredibly large atlas - a marvel of cartography -, in a glorious edition by Taschen. The combination of full page reprints and overviews with commentary makes for one of the most luscious books I ever saw. Mesmerizing!
A nice book.......2007-04-12
I bought the Barnes and Noble edition and save 80%. That being said the B&N version is smaller and harder to read. It is also 100 pages shorter, which is why I gave it only 4 stars. Nevertheless I found the book fascinating. But the maps were so interesting I felt a little cheated not getting the other 100 pages. I guess I'll go to this book store where they have a big one displayed compare it to mine. Also the full $100+ volume is so big the box it comes in has a handle to carry it!
Info about B&N edition.......2007-03-29
I echo previous reviewers in saying this is a great book.
For those wondering about a Barnes & Noble reprint of this atlas and its relationship to this edition:
(1) The B&N edition is reduced in size quite a bit (13.5 x 9 inches versus 18 x 12 inches) making the text of some maps much too small to read.
(2) The B&N edition is missing roughly 100 pages from the map section (about 25%). The layout for the remaining pages is pretty much identical to the original.
(3) The B&N edition only contains the introduction in English; the original, larger edition has a multilingual intro. The captions of the maps in both editions are multilingual.
That said, the B&N edition is roughly 1/5 of the price, so if you're not using this as a serious reference book, it's worthwhile considering the cheaper alternative. The B&N edition is still a great "coffee table book" (in fact, a more reasonable one given its smaller--though still quite massive--size and weight).
Fantastic Art Book!.......2007-03-15
The quality of the pics of this book is wonderful. Several images just need a frame to decorate your wall.
You will spend hours looking any detail of the book. It makes a wonderful gift or addition to a collection. Highly recommended.
This is wonderful a coffee Table book. Buy it now!
Book Description
An Italian village on a hilltop near the Adriatic coast, a decaying palazzo facing the sea, and in the basement, cobwebbed and dusty, lit by a single bulb, an archive unknown to scholars. Here, a young graduate student from Rome, Francesca Cappelletti, makes a discovery that inspires a search for a work of art of incalculable value, a painting lost for almost two centuries.
The artist was Caravaggio, a master of the Italian Baroque. He was a genius, a revolutionary painter, and a man beset by personal demons. Four hundred years ago, he drank and brawled in the taverns and streets of Rome, moving from one rooming house to another, constantly in and out of jail, all the while painting works of transcendent emotional and visual power. He rose from obscurity to fame and wealth, but success didn’t alter his violent temperament. His rage finally led him to commit murder, forcing him to flee Rome a hunted man. He died young, alone, and under strange circumstances.
Caravaggio scholars estimate that between sixty and eighty of his works are in existence today. Many others–no one knows the precise number–have been lost to time. Somewhere, surely, a masterpiece lies forgotten in a storeroom, or in a small parish church, or hanging above a fireplace, mistaken for a mere copy.
Prizewinning author Jonathan Harr embarks on an spellbinding journey to discover the long-lost painting known as The Taking of Christ–its mysterious fate and the circumstances of its disappearance have captivated Caravaggio devotees for years. After Francesca Cappelletti stumbles across a clue in that dusty archive, she tracks the painting across a continent and hundreds of years of history. But it is not until she meets Sergio Benedetti, an art restorer working in Ireland, that she finally manages to assemble all the pieces of the puzzle.
Told with consummate skill by the writer of the bestselling, award-winning A Civil Action,
The Lost Painting is a remarkable synthesis of history and detective story. The fascinating details of Caravaggio’s strange, turbulent career and the astonishing beauty of his work come to life in these pages. Harr’s account is not unlike a Caravaggio painting: vivid, deftly wrought, and enthralling.
". . . Jonathan Harr has gone to the trouble of writing what will probably be a bestseller . . . rich and wonderful. . .in truth, the book reads better than a thriller because, unlike a lot of best-selling nonfiction authors who write in a more or less novelistic vein (Harr's previous book, A Civil Action, was made into a John Travolta movie), Harr doesn't plump up hi tale. He almost never foreshadows, doesn't implausibly reconstruct entire conversations and rarely throws in litanies of clearly conjectured or imagined details just for color's sake. . .if you're a sucker for Rome, and for dusk. . .[you'll] enjoy Harr's more clearly reported details about life in the city, as when--one of my favorite moments in the whole book--Francesca and another young colleague try to calm their nerves before a crucial meeting with a forbidding professor by eating gelato. And who wouldn't in Italy? The pleasures of travelogue here are incidental but not inconsiderable." --The New York Times Book Review
"Jonathan Harr has taken the story of the lost painting, and woven from it a deeply moving narrative about history, art and taste--and about the greed, envy, covetousness and professional jealousy of people who fall prey to obsession. It is as perfect a work of narrative nonfiction as you could ever hope to read." --The Economist
From the Hardcover edition.
Customer Reviews:
The Lost Painting.......2007-10-17
Wonderful book. I had no idea that there is a subculture loving Caravagio. The writing was excellent and kept the reader enthralled in the mystery of finding a lost masterpiece. In our book group it was rated as a "must read" by everyone.
excellent historical account--unecesary dragging .......2007-09-25
I love Art History. I did not love this book. While the story is historically accurate, I felt I was being dragged through a load of gravel to get to the end. I wanted to quit reading after the first 25 pages--I put the book down at least 6 times over three months, and picked up more riveting books--real page turners. I was waiting for Haar to disclose some juicy secrets about the painting's discovery: didn't happen. But, I had to finish the book--it's my nature and I was afraid I might miss something. (I do admit at the end the restoration process was interesting.) I think I would have preferred to just read the original Art History Journals regarding this stunning story--The Missing Masterpiece:discovery, restoration, and salvation from bad restoration.
Interesting look at Caravaggio fever .......2007-07-28
I read this book after seeing the Caravaggio painting that is its subject at the Dublin Museum of Fine Art. I'm glad things happened in that order as the exhaustive detail in this narrative-style work can be a little off-putting in the first third or so of the book. There is so much time spent on a related lead-in research project on Caravaggio, that the reader is often left wondering where the story is leading.
The spectacular painting, "The Taking of Christ," speaks for itself in the viewing, but also explains why the art world is so obsessive about Caravaggio's work and ultimately justifies the circuitous route author Harr takes in telling the story of the painting's rediscovery after hundreds of years.. The artist was such a genius and produced such remarkable paintings that anyone who enjoys beautiful things can become an ardent admirer without much effort. The great tragedy of Caravaggio's life was its frequent derailing by violent relationships with friends, rivals, and authorities (the result of bipolar illness?), with its interruption of production as well as the subsequent destruction of many of his works.
Harr has produced a competent and well-told story of the pursuit and discovery of one of Caravaggio's great masterpieces that should be intriguing to art afficionados, but which is also accessible and interesting to the layman.
Loved it.......2007-03-08
I loved this book, although I must admit up front that I have a master's degree in art history, and lived in Italy in grad school (and therefore very much drawn to books such as this one). My friends in my book group that are not art historians did not find it as irresistable as I did, but they all liked it very much.
Learning art.......2007-03-07
This book is a fast read that teaches a lot! I knew very little of art history and never even heard of Caravaggio. The characters bring to life a story that we would otherwise be bored with on the History Channel. I love the way that you learn so much but get a good story out of it.
Amazon.com
In Quicksilver, the first volume of the "Baroque Cycle," Neal Stephenson launches his most ambitious work to date. The novel, divided into three books, opens in 1713 with the ageless Enoch Root seeking Daniel Waterhouse on the campus of what passes for MIT in eighteenth-century Massachusetts. Daniel, Enoch's message conveys, is key to resolving an explosive scientific battle of preeminence between Isaac Newton and Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz over the development of calculus. As Daniel returns to London aboard the Minerva, readers are catapulted back half a century to recall his years at Cambridge with young Isaac. Daniel is a perfect historical witness. Privy to Robert Hooke's early drawings of microscope images and with associates among the English nobility, religious radicals, and the Royal Society, he also befriends Samuel Pepys, risks a cup of coffee, and enjoys a lecture on Belgian waffles and cleavage-—all before the year 1700.
In the second book, Stephenson introduces Jack Shaftoe and Eliza. "Half-Cocked" Jack (also know as the "King of the Vagabonds") recovers the English Eliza from a Turkish harem. Fleeing the siege of Vienna, the two journey across Europe driven by Eliza's lust for fame, fortune, and nobility. Gradually, their circle intertwines with that of Daniel in the third book of the novel.
The book courses with Stephenson's scholarship but is rarely bogged down in its historical detail. Stephenson is especially impressive in his ability to represent dialogue over the evolving worldview of seventeenth-century scientists and enliven the most abstruse explanation of theory. Though replete with science, the novel is as much about the complex struggles for political ascendancy and the workings of financial markets. Further, the novel's literary ambitions match its physical size. Stephenson narrates through epistolary chapters, fragments of plays and poems, journal entries, maps, drawings, genealogic tables, and copious contemporary epigrams. But, caught in this richness, the prose is occasionally neglected and wants editing. Further, anticipating a cycle, the book does not provide a satisfying conclusion to its 900 pages. These are minor quibbles, though. Stephenson has matched ambition to execution, and his faithful, durable readers will be both entertained and richly rewarded with a practicum in Baroque science, cypher, culture, and politics. --Patrick O'Kelley
Book Description
Quicksilver is the story of Daniel Waterhouse, fearless thinker and conflicted Puritan, pursuing knowledge in the company of the greatest minds of Baroque-era Europe, in a chaotic world where reason wars with the bloody ambitions of the mighty, and where catastrophe, natural or otherwise, can alter the political landscape overnight.
It is a chronicle of the breathtaking exploits of "Half-Cocked Jack" Shaftoe -- London street urchin turned swashbuckling adventurer and legendary King of the Vagabonds -- risking life and limb for fortune and love while slowly maddening from the pox.
And it is the tale of Eliza, rescued by Jack from a Turkish harem to become spy, confidante, and pawn of royals in order to reinvent Europe through the newborn power of finance.
A gloriously rich, entertaining, and endlessly inventive novel that brings a remarkable age and its momentous events to vivid life,
Quicksilver is an extraordinary achievement from one of the most original and important literary talents of our time.
And it's just the beginning ...
Download Description
"A plethora of e-book extras, not found in any print edition, including: 1) INTERVIEW: Neal Stephenson shares intimate details and insight behind the making of Quicksilver; 2) QUICKSILVER METAWEB INTRODUCTION: Stephenson's take on his creation of a web-based network that may someday rival the internet; 3) QUICKSILVER DRAMATIS PERSONAE BY TYPE: a complete and concise list of characters grouped by character type
The long-awaited first volume of The Baroque Cycle comes to e-book at last (with loads of extras to boot)! Set against the backdrop of the late 17th and early 18th centuries, Quicksilver tells the intertwining tales of 3 unforgettable main characters (descendants of characters from Cryptonomicon) as they traverse a landscape populated by mad alchemists, Barbary pirates, and bawdy courtiers, as well as historical figures including Ben Franklin, William of Orange, Louis XIV, and many others. This breathtaking story ranges from the American colonies to the Tower of London to the glittering palace at Versailles, and all manner of places in between - and plays out during a singular nexus point in history, when rationality triumphed over mysticism, monarchy was overthrown, markets become free, and religious tolerance gained ground over harsh oppression.
Neal Stephenson's Quicksilver is here. A monumental literary feat that follows the author's critically acclaimed New York Times bestseller Cryptonomicon, it is history, adventure, science, truth, invention, sex, absurdity, piracy, madness, death, and alchemy. It sweeps across continents and decades with the power of a roaring tornado, upending kings, armies, religious beliefs, and all expectations.
Customer Reviews:
Does not quite live up to the sum of its parts-but I think I'll finish the cycle.......2007-10-08
As an undertaking, Quicksilver is an intriguing work. Book one is an examination of the life and times of such luminaries as Newton, Hooke, and Liebniz, I found it to be fascinating. The quest for understanding as seen through the eyes of the fictional Daniel Waterhouse takes the reader through an era of optics, physics, biology (and the ugliness of vivisection) with a gusto and verve that carries the reader quickly through the section. The insight into these great thinkers shows Stephenson as a master of incorporating, history, science, and drama into a fine mix.
Things bog down a bit when the picaresque of the next book, starring Jack with the "oh, so accurate" nickname, and Eliza, who Jack has saved from enslavement in Turkey, who will be the prime mover of the third section, and follows them across Europe. Both characters are pleasant and likeable but as they move from adventure to adventure it started to become a bit predictable and made me long for the philosophical arguments of the first book. This all leads to an inevitable end which is at least intriguing in the originality of how Jack's travels finally end.
It's the third section with its political intrigue between William of Orange and Louis the XIV that really lowered the rating for me. Its interminable slowness of letters with secret codes and court intrigues wore me out, and I found I really didn't care what was going to happen to Eliza; a condition no lead character should ever be in.
Still there is enough here to make me want to see what happens next, so I'll muddle through and hope the other books are the equal to the first section of this one.
The Foundation Series for the new millenium.......2007-09-04
Isaac Asimov's Foundation Trilogy/Series is considered one of the great science-fiction collections ever written, forming the basis of countless derivative and inspired works over the past fifty years. The Baroque Cycle will not, unfortunately, inspire fifty years of copycats, for a unique reason: it would be far too difficult to undertake with even moderate effort. This is a nine-book/ three-volume masterpiece of historical fiction that really has no peer in my experience (and please comment if you find any!)
As an aside, I could, at length, review each of the nine books and prattle on endlessly about this or that, but that's far too many reviews for what I intend to say about the Cycle as a whole. My comments apply to all books equally.
The cycle begins in the mid 17th century and spans the adulthood of one Daniel Waterhouse, a fictional contemporary of Isaac Newton. Of course, it also traces the life of one Jack Shaftoe, a fictional hero with his roots in every pirate story ever written or filmed. And then there's the mysterious Enoch Root, popping up again from the Cryptonomicon to move things along as the deux ex machina of certain story elements.
The number of interleaved story lines would be an impressive enough feat of writing, but the historical references were simply amazing. The sheer amount of research Mr. Stephenson invested for the Cycle must have been enormous. In short, Mr. Stephenson describes London before, during, and after the Great Fire of 1666 politically, sociologically, geographically, architecturally, and economically; he performs the same rigor of place-setting with Hanover and present-day Germany, Paris and present-day France, diverse parts of Egypt, Algeria, India, Mexico, South America, and Boston. This is the kind of book series that would inspire high-school students to PAY ATTENTION. For, if the students really do their homework and have a teacher partnered with them to put the book details into their proper context, you could quite possible craft an entire school year around the nine books, such is the depth and breadth of scholastic research involved in putting together such a series. It's no small achievement or idle boast: Mr. Stephenson has in some way taken his education and put it to its greatest use, as an inspiration to students.
All of this would be for naught if the stories weren't truly excellent at their core, and they are. You could boil down the Shaftoe story line to "pirate story" but that sells it short after the first book -- and there are eight more to go. What starts as a pirate story quickly become something of a precursor to spycraft and terrorism/counter-terrorism in the 17th and 18th centuries: currency manipulation, political scandals, and assassinations. I haven't even mentioned Isaac Newton versus Gottfried Leibniz in the battle for Calculus, or Isaac Newton's Alchemy, the reconstruction of London post-fire, the gold trade, the silver trade, piracy in the Atlantic and Pacific, the timber economy, the commodities exchange of northern Europe, the court at Versailles, and so on. I'm astonished as I write this.
This is well-worth the time invested to read, as a Cycle. If Mr. Stephenson ever posted his complete bibliography, or if some doctoral student ever decided to craft that two-semester, eight-course class tracing the book's scholarship, I would be among the first to delve deeply into it and re-learn my forgotten history, mathematics, and economics. Simply, this is one of the finest fiction series ever written.
-Fred
The best book(s) I have ever read.......2007-08-02
Even though it took six months to read through Quicksilver, Confusion and The System of the World, it was a joyous and enlightening six monthes. I am now almost finished with Cryptonomicon, which is really like a sequel to the Baroque Cycle.
Quicksilver is really just as good as the others. It is so great that I am probably going to re read the entire cycle and just make it a Neal Stephenson year.
I think these books are better than Cryptonomicon, I think they are genius. I think it is related to the fact he wrote the books in long hand and perhaps that makes the work better.
Who knows? But I just wanted to put it down how much I loved all of these books
Neal knows how to do it.......2007-06-06
I read the reviews before I started this one since I wanted to see if it would be worth the time. I was a little worried by some of the reviews, but actually found that it exceeded my expectations. Stephenson keeps it interesting, despite what people have said about the letter-writing and political intrigue going on in the second half of the book.
I have started reading The Confusion (The Baroque Cycle, Vol. 2), and actually had to put it down. From the reviews, it sounded like most people liked The Confusion better, but so far, I have to say I like Quicksilver better (I'm only about half way through The Confusion, though).
As with all of Stephenson's books, this one is exceptionally well written, with an epic storyline and the great descriptions I got used to in Cryptonomicon. I can't believe that Stephenson wrote the whole thing by hand before typing it up (or having someone type it for him).
A missed opportunity.......2007-06-02
One can understand the wish of the author to provide the framework showing the primitive circumstances within which the great minds of western civilisation had to live and work. The book suffers however from an overabundance of superfluous detail ( some of which as far my country is concerned is factually incorrect)and in parts almost becomes a tourist guide to 17th century Europe. In other parts it falls into "best-sellerish" plots, and thereby misses the opportunity to demonstrate how these great minds actually arrived at the discovereis that in many instances changed history.I will certainly not puchase volumes two and three. For those interested in Leibniz I can recommend "the courtier and the Heretic" by Matthew Steward (Norton)
Book Description
In the year 1689, a cabal of Barbary galley slaves -- including one Jack Shaftoe, aka King of the Vagabonds, aka Half-Cocked Jack -- devises a daring plan to win freedom and fortune. A great adventure ensues -- a perilous race for an enormous prize of silver ... nay, gold ... nay, legendary gold.
In Europe, the exquisite and resourceful Eliza, Countess de la Zeur, is stripped of her immense personal fortune by France's most dashing privateer. Penniless and at risk from those who desire either her or her head (or both), she is caught up in a web of international intrigue, even as she desperately seeks the return of her most precious possession.
Meanwhile, Newton and Leibniz continue to propound their grand theories as their infamous rivalry intensifies, stubborn alchemy does battle with the natural sciences, dastardly plots are set in motion ... and Daniel Waterhouse seeks passage to the Massachusetts colony in hopes of escaping the madness into which his world has descended.
This P.S. edition features an extra 16 pages of insights into the book, including author interviews, recommended reading, and more.
Download Description
"
Continuing the epic adventure begun in the bestselling QUICKSILVER! It is the late 1600s on the high seas. A group of Barbary galley slaves plot amongst themselves as they ply the oars of a pirate ship. These ten men -- unfortunates from around the world impressed into servitude -- have heard whispers of an enormous cache of Spanish gold. Together, they hatch a daring scheme: escape their chains, seize a ship, and discover the gold. Meanwhile, on the other side of the world . . . The beautiful Eliza, toast of Versailles and spy extraordinaire, attempts to return to London with her baby, a child whose paternity remains a mystery. But, as she makes her way home from the Continent, her ship is stopped by a French privateer -- and she is returned to the Sun King's court. And so Eliza is thrown back into a web of international intrigue, and finds herself contending with all manner of characters, including cryptographers, poisoners, Jesuits, financial manipulators, and the stray pirate or two.
In the year 1689, a cabal of Barbary galley slaves -- including one Jack Shaftoe, a.k.a. King of the Vagabonds, a.k.a. Half-Cocked Jack, lately and miraculously cured of the pox -- devises a daring plan to win freedom and fortune. A great adventure ensues, rife with battles, chases, hairbreadth escapes, swashbuckling, bloodletting, and danger -- a perilous race for an enormous prize of silver ... nay, gold ... nay, legendary gold that will place the intrepid band at odds with the mighty and the mad, with alchemists, Jesuits, great navies, pirate queens, and vengeful despots across vast oceans and around the globe.
Customer Reviews:
The Foundation Series for the new millenium.......2007-09-04
Isaac Asimov's Foundation Trilogy/Series is considered one of the great science-fiction collections ever written, forming the basis of countless derivative and inspired works over the past fifty years. The Baroque Cycle will not, unfortunately, inspire fifty years of copycats, for a unique reason: it would be far too difficult to undertake with even moderate effort. This is a nine-book/ three-volume masterpiece of historical fiction that really has no peer in my experience (and please comment if you find any!)
As an aside, I could, at length, review each of the nine books and prattle on endlessly about this or that, but that's far too many reviews for what I intend to say about the Cycle as a whole. My comments apply to all books equally.
The cycle begins in the mid 17th century and spans the adulthood of one Daniel Waterhouse, a fictional contemporary of Isaac Newton. Of course, it also traces the life of one Jack Shaftoe, a fictional hero with his roots in every pirate story ever written or filmed. And then there's the mysterious Enoch Root, popping up again from the Cryptonomicon to move things along as the deux ex machina of certain story elements.
The number of interleaved story lines would be an impressive enough feat of writing, but the historical references were simply amazing. The sheer amount of research Mr. Stephenson invested for the Cycle must have been enormous. In short, Mr. Stephenson describes London before, during, and after the Great Fire of 1666 politically, sociologically, geographically, architecturally, and economically; he performs the same rigor of place-setting with Hanover and present-day Germany, Paris and present-day France, diverse parts of Egypt, Algeria, India, Mexico, South America, and Boston. This is the kind of book series that would inspire high-school students to PAY ATTENTION. For, if the students really do their homework and have a teacher partnered with them to put the book details into their proper context, you could quite possible craft an entire school year around the nine books, such is the depth and breadth of scholastic research involved in putting together such a series. It's no small achievement or idle boast: Mr. Stephenson has in some way taken his education and put it to its greatest use, as an inspiration to students.
All of this would be for naught if the stories weren't truly excellent at their core, and they are. You could boil down the Shaftoe story line to "pirate story" but that sells it short after the first book -- and there are eight more to go. What starts as a pirate story quickly become something of a precursor to spycraft and terrorism/counter-terrorism in the 17th and 18th centuries: currency manipulation, political scandals, and assassinations. I haven't even mentioned Isaac Newton versus Gottfried Leibniz in the battle for Calculus, or Isaac Newton's Alchemy, the reconstruction of London post-fire, the gold trade, the silver trade, piracy in the Atlantic and Pacific, the timber economy, the commodities exchange of northern Europe, the court at Versailles, and so on. I'm astonished as I write this.
This is well-worth the time invested to read, as a Cycle. If Mr. Stephenson ever posted his complete bibliography, or if some doctoral student ever decided to craft that two-semester, eight-course class tracing the book's scholarship, I would be among the first to delve deeply into it and re-learn my forgotten history, mathematics, and economics. Simply, this is one of the finest fiction series ever written.
-Fred
con-fused.......2007-05-14
Stephenson's unique style continues with The Confusion. Two stories are con-fused in this volume: One of Jack Shaftoe and his adventuring cabal, and the other of Eliza and her economic and political machinations. From the first book Jack Shaftoe was one of my favorite characters while Eliza was one of my least favorite, therefore I truly enojyed one half of this volume while only somewhat enjoying the other half.
pirates and action.......2007-05-07
The second book is a fun read as the majority of the characters are already established, bbut the action slows down from the first book. Per the usual "second of a trilogy" book the main characters are sent out away from each other, obviously in preparation for the grand coming together in the third book. If you liked the first one, keep reading. If not, you won't appreciate the second book( and you will not want to read the third). To be honest, I like the Shaftoe characters (Cryptomonical was better balanced) and could have used more of Jack, but the second is a set up for the third so keep reading.
Every Bit as Good as the First Book.......2007-03-22
THE CONFUSION can be every bit as confusing as QUICKSILVER but it is no less delightful. It ever manages that rare feat among trilogies of being a middle book every bit as good as the first. That the first was outstanding means that this is no small accomplishment.
In the grand scheme of things, this can be read as a pirate adventure or, actually, two of them. The first pirate ended the first book being taken prisoner by Barbary pirates. It is now some years later and Jack is still a galley slave but some chums have cooked up a get rich scheme that is not quite as quick as it could be. It involves a diverse cast of characters and, before it is over, Jack has circumnavigated the globes, been a king and had many, many more adventures. Each of them entertaining.
The second pirate is a more sedentary kind. She is a financier and investor who manipulates the English, Dutch, French and Germans with ease. In the process she manages to raise herself from an escaped harem slave to a multinational duchess.
These two have a history from the first book but their paths have diverged since then. Even so, the duchess is never far from the mind of the adventurer. He loves her dearly and she loves him...sort of.
It is a great story that can stand on its own but which is so much better when read after the first book. The baroque plotting and story line are refreshing instead of tedious. This is a masterwork.
He lost me.......2006-12-13
It's rare that I put a book down, however that's what I've done with this series. After reading the first book and somewhat liking it, then reading most of this second book I realized I didn't find all of the storylines interesting. The pirating parts were a blast, good action, interesting planning by Shaftoe et al, but then it's back to Eliza and dreadfully boring political schemes to make money. It was disappointing because she was the best part of the first book!
Perhaps I'll pick it up again when my reading backlog has emptied out, but for now, it's not a big enough satisfaction payoff for time invested. Which is disappointing because before this series Stephenson was tops.
Book Description
A respected art historian examines over thirty key monuments of the Baroque period, from stylistic, biographical, social, and culturalpoints of view
The most important works of art and the artists who created them of the Baroque period and style from about 1600 to 1750 are described and analyzed clearly and thoroughly from various points of view. The book covers Mannerist precursors, Baroque painting, sculpture and architecture in Rome, Velázquez in Spain, French Baroque, Flemish Baroque, Dutch painting in the seventeenth century, and Late Baroque and Rococo. Artists included are Cellini, Veronese, Vignola, Alberti, Bramante, Bernini, Borromini, Caravaggio, Gentileschi, Caracci, Velázquez, Poussin, Le Vau, Rubens, Van Dyck, Rembrandt, Ruisdael, Claesz, Vermeer, Wren, Watteau, Neumann, and Chardin. Includes a glossary, a bibliography of works cited, and suggested readings.
Book Description
The Norton Recorded Anthology of Western Music includes professional recordings (many brand new) of all works in the anthology on two six-CD sets, of which this is volume 1.
Customer Reviews:
Great and accurate........2007-03-11
I received these cds well on time, and upon discovering they were the wrong cd set the return also took place quickly.
The Standard.......2000-08-17
If you're a music student at almost any major school (I just finished my undergraduate at Indiana University, for example) you'll most likely need to take a course that uses these CD's as part of its history survey. For that purpose, this set is an excellent collection. These, with their companion Norton Anthology of Western Music, and in conjunction with Grout/Palisca's History of Western Music, make for a thorough survey of the roots and history of Western music. Both the History and the Anthology use these CD's, and make constant references to them. (At least, up until 1750, after which you'll need the second volume)
Having said that, however, i'm afraid that these CD's are limited to their intended purpose. Obviously, there would be absolutely no way to have a comprehensive collection of music and text be affordable to an average college student. As it is, the Grout, Norton, and CD's total about $200 total. However, for that cost they provide an extremely good survey of Western music. A student can follow historical developments through the music, and learn an enormous amount from these CD's. They provide a fairly good cross-section of different styles of major composers, and even a few examples of lesser known composers. One is far less likely to criticize the music of the twentieth century, for example, if one finds that Gesualdo (of the late 16th century) was writing music that was MUCH stranger than anything before the turn of the twentieth century.
For someone outside of the music school (who will most likely be required to buy these anyway), these are also an excellent (and comparatively affordable) way to survey the mainstream and less-mainstream trends in Western music. The recordings are all relatively high-quality, often using historical instruments and interpretations (something important to a student of musical history) and providing a good introduction to classical music.
For that reason, then, i recommend these to the casual listener as a good introduction to Western music. If you seek a "greatest hits" album, these are not that; go buy those Time-Life things they advertise on television. This is rather a serious collection of music from as many different styles as allowable while still maintaining some depth. The only thing that keeps the fifth star empty is the lack (by necessity, though i must admit) of a more wide-ranging selection of music. Despite that, they are still an excellent buy. The casual listener of classical music should find these to be a valuable introduction to the well known, and also the more obscure realms of early music.
Book Description
England, 1714. London has long been home to a secret war between the brilliant, enigmatic Master of the Mint and closet alchemist, Isaac Newton, and his archnemesis, the insidious counterfeiter Jack the Coiner. Hostilities are suddenly moving to a new and more volatile level as Half-Cocked Jack hatches a daring plan, aiming for the total corruption of Britain's newborn monetary system.
Enter Daniel Waterhouse: Aging Puritan and Natural Philosopher, Daniel has been on a long and harrowing quest to help mend the rift between adversarial geniuses. As Daniel combs city and country for clues to the identity of the blackguard who is attempting to blow up Natural Philosophers, political factions jockey for position while awaiting the impending death of the ailing queen, and the "holy grail" of alchemy, the key to life eternal, tantalizes and continues to elude Isaac Newton.
As Newton, Waterhouse, and Shaftoe each circle closer to the object of Daniel's quest, everything that was will be changed forever ...
This P.S. edition features an extra 16 pages of insights into the book, including author interviews, recommended reading, and more.
Download Description
"
'Tis done.
The world is a most confused and unsteady place -- especially London, center of finance, innovation, and conspiracy -- in the year 1714, when Daniel Waterhouse makes his less-than-triumphant return to England's shores. Aging Puritan and Natural Philosopher, confidant of the high and mighty and contemporary of the most brilliant minds of the age, he has braved the merciless sea and an assault by the infamous pirate Blackbeard to help mend the rift between two adversarial geniuses at a princess's behest. But while much has changed outwardly, the duplicity and danger that once drove Daniel to the American Colonies is still coin of the British realm.
No sooner has Daniel set foot on his homeland when he is embroiled in a dark conflict that has been raging in the shadows for decades. It is a secret war between the brilliant, enigmatic Master of the Mint and closet alchemist Isaac Newton and his archnemesis, the insidious counterfeiter Jack the Coiner, a.k.a. Jack Shaftoe, King of the Vagabonds. Hostilities are suddenly moving to a new and more volatile level, as Half-Cocked Jack plots a daring assault on the Tower itself, aiming for nothing less than the total corruption of Britain's newborn monetary system.
Unbeknownst to all, it is love that set the Coiner on his traitorous course; the desperate need to protect the woman of his heart -- the remarkable Eliza, Duchess of Arcachon-Qwghlm -- from those who would destroy her should he fail. Meanwhile, Daniel Waterhouse and his Clubb of unlikely cronies comb city and country for clues to the identity of the blackguard who is attempting to blow up Natural Philosophers with Infernal Devices -- as political factions jockey for position while awaiting the impending death of the ailing queen; as the ""holy grail"" of alchemy, the key to life eternal, tantalizes and continues to elude Isaac Newton, yet is closer than he ever imagined; as the greatest technological innovation in history slowly takes shape in Waterhouse's manufactory.
Everything that was will be changed forever ...
The System of the World is the concluding volume in Neal Stephenson's Baroque Cycle, begun with
Quicksilver and continued in
The Confusion.
"
Customer Reviews:
High praise for the whole series........2007-09-08
The System of the World is the third in Stephenson's massive Baroque Cycle, and worth every minute that I spent reading. The entire series is something that I would enthusiastically recommend. It's fun, in the biggest sense of the world. Thought provoking, clever, occasionally laugh-out-loud funny. Not bad for what can only be described as rather dense historical fiction.
I wouldn't want to or attempt to write a plot summary, but suffice to say that this book continues the series preoccupation with economics, currency, logic and alchemy. I know that some didn't like the extensive descriptions of London in this volume, but I really enjoyed that part-- great to be a virtual tourist.
I have to say that the ending was a bit much (the bit with Sir Isaac at the Trial of the Pyx), but my that point I was almost willing to forgive Stephenson anything.
Highly recommended.
This is the Foundation Series for the new millenium.......2007-09-04
Isaac Asimov's Foundation Trilogy/Series is considered one of the great science-fiction collections ever written, forming the basis of countless derivative and inspired works over the past fifty years. The Baroque Cycle will not, unfortunately, inspire fifty years of copycats, for a unique reason: it would be far too difficult to undertake with even moderate effort. This is a nine-book/ three-volume masterpiece of historical fiction that really has no peer in my experience (and please comment if you find any!)
As an aside, I could, at length, review each of the nine books and prattle on endlessly about this or that, but that's far too many reviews for what I intend to say about the Cycle as a whole. My comments apply to all books equally.
The cycle begins in the mid 17th century and spans the adulthood of one Daniel Waterhouse, a fictional contemporary of Isaac Newton. Of course, it also traces the life of one Jack Shaftoe, a fictional hero with his roots in every pirate story ever written or filmed. And then there's the mysterious Enoch Root, popping up again from the Cryptonomicon to move things along as the deux ex machina of certain story elements.
The number of interleaved story lines would be an impressive enough feat of writing, but the historical references were simply amazing. The sheer amount of research Mr. Stephenson invested for the Cycle must have been enormous. In short, Mr. Stephenson describes London before, during, and after the Great Fire of 1666 politically, sociologically, geographically, architecturally, and economically; he performs the same rigor of place-setting with Hanover and present-day Germany, Paris and present-day France, diverse parts of Egypt, Algeria, India, Mexico, South America, and Boston. This is the kind of book series that would inspire high-school students to PAY ATTENTION. For, if the students really do their homework and have a teacher partnered with them to put the book details into their proper context, you could quite possible craft an entire school year around the nine books, such is the depth and breadth of scholastic research involved in putting together such a series. It's no small achievement or idle boast: Mr. Stephenson has in some way taken his education and put it to its greatest use, as an inspiration to students.
All of this would be for naught if the stories weren't truly excellent at their core, and they are. You could boil down the Shaftoe story line to "pirate story" but that sells it short after the first book -- and there are eight more to go. What starts as a pirate story quickly become something of a precursor to spycraft and terrorism/counter-terrorism in the 17th and 18th centuries: currency manipulation, political scandals, and assassinations. I haven't even mentioned Isaac Newton versus Gottfried Leibniz in the battle for Calculus, or Isaac Newton's Alchemy, the reconstruction of London post-fire, the gold trade, the silver trade, piracy in the Atlantic and Pacific, the timber economy, the commodities exchange of northern Europe, the court at Versailles, and so on. I'm astonished as I write this.
This is well-worth the time invested to read, as a Cycle. If Mr. Stephenson ever posted his complete bibliography, or if some doctoral student ever decided to craft that two-semester, eight-course class tracing the book's scholarship, I would be among the first to delve deeply into it and re-learn my forgotten history, mathematics, and economics. Simply, this is one of the finest fiction series ever written.
-Fred
A Brilliant Conclusion.......2007-04-25
I have thoroughly enjoyed each of the three volumes of the BAROQUE CYLCLE. Even the middle volume did not suffer from the normal "middle of the trilogy blues". This volume, though is the trump card. It too is a masterpiece.
In volume one, the reader was treated to a series of narratives that bounced back and forth between the latter 1600s and the early 1700s. The same principle character, Daniel Waterhouse, appeared sometimes as a young man in England and sometimes as an old man in New England. After the first third, we are left hanging with Daniel on the way back to England and nothing more is heard of this story line until volume 3. Most Frustrating!
The wait was worth it though. All of the many threads are tied together nicely and the individual stories come together to make a whole greater than the sum of the parts . (And the parts are very good indeed!) It is, dare I say it, like a masterful baroque organ fugue.
Jack Shaftoe, the King of the Vagabonds, has been given a mission by Louis XIV of France. He is to destroy the English system of currency set up by Isaac Newton, the greatest genius ever. Louis's hold on him is through the one woman who Jack really loves. Jack may not be well educated but his daring and cunning make him a formidable adversary.
Daniel Waterhouse has been called back to England by the heiress to the English throne. He is to patch up relations between Isaac Newton and Wilhelm Liebnitz, the two greatest minds in an age filled with them. He becomes sidetracked by a plot on his life. The solution to that plot sets him to scheming against those who most trust him.
The story seems deceptively simple but it is not. It abounds with unexpected twists and turns, lots of humor and even more trivia for those who are fascinated by the period. Those who do not like such details would be better served with another book but for me, this entire series was delightful!
A new system of the world emerges.......2007-04-12
Book Three of the Baroque Cycle brings to the series to a very dramatic close. I think this book represents some of Stephenson's finest work along with Cryptonomicon and Snow Crash. Reading the Baroque Cycle is difficult work, particularly the first book which mostly sets up the characters, but after reading TSotW, I found I finally understood why Stephenson wrote the series the way he did.
The series really is about the emergence of Europe from a barbaric and superstitious age to the beginnings of Enlightenment. The book mentions near the very end about a new System of the World, and what this is referring to is a new way of understanding the world; a new system of thought.
The book is pretty fast-paced as it brings many things to a close. Jack Shaftoe's part in the series is really some of the most exciting parts, but the efforts of Sir Isaac to capture him are quite fun to read as well. More so than earlier books in the series, you really get a sense of Stephenson's flair for adventure.
I have to say that reading this book makes the whole Cycle worth the time. I learned a great deal about pre-Enlightenment Europe through this series, and had a good read at the same time.
Too sprawling.......2007-03-13
I am a huge fan of Stephenson's earlier books and started the Baroque Cycle with great hopes. While all of Stephenson's books require a bit of dilligence to get through due to their intricate descriptions and complex plots, I have always felt that the payoff at the end of the books was enormously satisfying. In the case of the Baroque Cycle however, I felt that ultimately what should have been two great books was stretched (or more to the point, not edited tightly enough) into three books. There are elements of the plot in the System of the World which are entirely new to trilogy and these come at the expense of existing characters and story line which are left somewhat abruptly or unsatisfyingly. I feel that there was so much about this period that Stephenson wanted to describe and write about that he ultimately lost sight of the cohesiveness of the story.
Amazon.com
In 1992 a young art student uncovered a clue in an obscure Italian archive that led to the discovery of Caravaggio's original The Taking of the Christ, a painting that had been presumed lost for over 200 years. How this clue--a single entry in an old listing of family possessions--led to a residence in Ireland and the subsequent restoration of this Italian Baroque masterpiece is the subject of this brisk and enthralling detective story. The Lost Painting reads more like a historical novel than art history, as Harr smoothly weaves several narratives together to bring the story alive. Though he does not provide an in-depth examination of the painting itself--the book is not aimed specifically at art experts--Harr does include many details for lay readers about restoration, the various methods used to track artwork through history, how originals are distinguished from copies, and an inside view of the art world, past and present. He also discusses various forensic approaches, including X ray, infrared reflectography, chemical analysis of the paints and canvas, and other modern techniques. But most of the book is focused on more primitive methods, including dogged research through dusty archives and meticulous attention to detail.
This entertaining book boasts an engaging cast of characters, all of whom are inflicted with the "Caravaggio disease," including some of the foremost Caravaggio scholars in the world, persistent students, obsessive restorers, and most of all, the artist himself. Mercurial, supremely gifted, and prone to violence, Caravaggio lived like an outlaw and a pauper most of his troubled life. Yet even when he attained wealth and fame--and briefly, respectability--he was still hounded by the law (for murder) and numerous vengeful enemies. Harr does an admirable job of bringing the man alive in these pages while keeping his long-lost painting at the center of the action. --Shawn Carkonen
Book Description
An Italian village on a hilltop near the Adriatic coast, a decaying palazzo facing the sea, and in the basement, cobwebbed and dusty, lit by a single bulb, an archive unknown to scholars. Here, a young graduate student from Rome, Francesca Cappelletti, makes a discovery that inspires a search for a work of art of incalculable value, a painting lost for almost two centuries.
The artist was Caravaggio, a master of the Italian Baroque. He was a genius, a revolutionary painter, and a man beset by personal demons. Four hundred years ago, he drank and brawled in the taverns and streets of Rome, moving from one rooming house to another, constantly in and out of jail, all the while painting works of transcendent emotional and visual power. He rose from obscurity to fame and wealth, but success didn’t alter his violent temperament. His rage finally led him to commit murder, forcing him to flee Rome a hunted man. He died young, alone, and under strange circumstances.
Caravaggio scholars estimate that between sixty and eighty of his works are in existence today. Many others–no one knows the precise number–have been lost to time. Somewhere, surely, a masterpiece lies forgotten in a storeroom, or in a small parish church, or hanging above a fireplace, mistaken for a mere copy.
Prizewinning author Jonathan Harr embarks on an spellbinding journey to discover the long-lost painting known as The Taking of Christ–its mysterious fate and the circumstances of its disappearance have captivated Caravaggio devotees for years. After Francesca Cappelletti stumbles across a clue in that dusty archive, she tracks the painting across a continent and hundreds of years of history. But it is not until she meets Sergio Benedetti, an art restorer working in Ireland, that she finally manages to assemble all the pieces of the puzzle.
Told with consummate skill by the writer of the bestselling, award-winning A Civil Action,
The Lost Painting is a remarkable synthesis of history and detective story. The fascinating details of Caravaggio’s strange, turbulent career and the astonishing beauty of his work come to life in these pages. Harr’s account is not unlike a Caravaggio painting: vivid, deftly wrought, and enthralling.
". . . Jonathan Harr has gone to the trouble of writing what will probably be a bestseller . . . rich and wonderful. . .in truth, the book reads better than a thriller because, unlike a lot of best-selling nonfiction authors who write in a more or less novelistic vein (Harr's previous book, A Civil Action, was made into a John Travolta movie), Harr doesn't plump up hi tale. He almost never foreshadows, doesn't implausibly reconstruct entire conversations and rarely throws in litanies of clearly conjectured or imagined details just for color's sake. . .if you're a sucker for Rome, and for dusk. . .[you'll] enjoy Harr's more clearly reported details about life in the city, as when--one of my favorite moments in the whole book--Francesca and another young colleague try to calm their nerves before a crucial meeting with a forbidding professor by eating gelato. And who wouldn't in Italy? The pleasures of travelogue here are incidental but not inconsiderable." --The New York Times Book Review
"Jonathan Harr has taken the story of the lost painting, and woven from it a deeply moving narrative about history, art and taste--and about the greed, envy, covetousness and professional jealousy of people who fall prey to obsession. It is as perfect a work of narrative nonfiction as you could ever hope to read." --The Economist
Customer Reviews:
Intriguing Art Mystery.......2007-08-25
As an earlier reviewer noted, many scholars acknowledge that there probably are several missing Caravaggio masterpieces lying about forgotten and neglected.
And, indeed, just as I began reading this book, a November 2006 news report announced that a painting owned by Queen Elizabeth II had been revealed to be a lost work by the Italian master Caravaggio.
The picture, which has been in the Royal Family's possession for about 400 years, had been dismissed as a copy, being obscured by varnish and dirt. It had been left in a storeroom at Hampton Court for decades until experts from the Royal Collection set about restoring the piece. After they spent six years studying the painting, they announced that is "The Calling Of Saints Peter and Andrew", a genuine Caravaggio and one of only 50 surviving canvases by the 17th century artist.
Reports estimated the painting, which was first bought by Charles I, sold and then reacquired by Charles II, could be worth more than £50 million --$100 million at current exchange rates!
Reads like a mystery........2007-07-04
I wasn't sure if this was fact or fiction. It reads like a mystery story. It grabs you, and keeps you intrigued throughout. It's a kick to learn that it's all true! Great read!
interesting and mysterious.......2007-01-09
I love historical fiction and this book was just marvelous. Mr. Harr does an excellent job of describing the landscapes of Italy and Great Britain, plus he seemelessly weaves art history instruction into the story. A must read for art fans!
Should have been good, but it wasn't........2007-01-03
This was a disappointment. The hunt for a lost Caravaggio, the digging about in archives, the scientific test to see "is it really?", should be fascinating. But it's not. And I cannot stand non-fiction writers who think they have to make their books read like fiction. Where is the critical analysis? Where is the index? Where are the footnotes? Non-fiction needs references. You cannot expect me to believe what you are writing unless you tell me where you got the information. A bibliography and acknowledgements don't cut it.
I'm seeing this more and more in non-fiction and it drives me right up the wall.
And who the heck had the idea of publishing a book about a Caravaggio painting with NO, I repeat NO, illustrations?
Art History made interesting.......2006-12-13
I admit that I am no art history scholar nor am I interested in becoming one. Before reading this book I had no idea who Caravaggio was and why I should care about him. This book opened up the exciting world of art history for me. It follows various scholars, and art restorers in the search for a lost painting by Caravaggio.
It is a fascinating look at how art historians follow the trails of paintings, how they study them and the world in which they live. It also gives you an inside look at art restoration and how difficult and consuming it can be. The book is an excellent snapshot of the art history world and if you would like a taste of it I think this is the book for you. The book jumps around a lot but it is a quick and entertaining read.
Book Description
The ideal companion to A History of Western Music, Seventh Edition, the two-volume Norton Anthology of Western Music, Fifth Edition, includes 172 historically significant scores, 71 of them new to this edition, with a strengthened emphasis on twentieth-century music. Revised and enlivened commentaries closely examine the scores to clarify their historical significance, and professional recordings of all works in the anthology are included on CDs, many in dynamic new performances.
Customer Reviews:
Excellent.......2007-01-09
This book was sent out the day after I bought it, and was in the stated condition. Excellent service, would buy from this seller again.
meh -it's a textbook.......2006-11-11
It was a textbook required for a class. It's a very scholarly book and if you have an interest in ancient-baroque music this has very good examples of that music.
Too Much Information, Too Little Space.......2004-09-02
As is typical with surveys of music written before 1800, this volume devotes way too little time and space to a period of music history spanning almost 2000 years, and yet volume two deovtes roughly the same amount of space to two hundred years of music history (ca. 1800-present). One gets the impression that a series of relatively inconsequential composers filled in the blanks until Bach and Handel, and that's grossly unfair not only to the composers of those works (and the works themselves), but also to those who wish to learn something about music written before Mozart, Beethoven, Verdi and Puccini.
If you're looking to learn something about music written before 1800, stay away from these kinds of surveys and point yourself in the direction of books focused more on particular subject areas -- for example, James Anthony's book on French Baroque music and Gary Tomlinson's book "Monteverdi and the End of the Renaissance" provide lucid breakdowns for those new to these genres, as well as those who already have some background in the subject matter.
There are a few books that are even more general than those I mentioned above but that still provide a clear outline of music from paricular eras. For example, Richard Hoppin's "Medieval Music" and the accompanying "Anthology of Medieval Music" is a fine place to begin a study of this period. Alan Atlas' "Renaissance Music: Music in Western Europe, 1400-1600", and Howard Mayer Brown's "Music in the Renaissance" (2nd Edition) are excellent surveys of the music of that period. For Baroque music, Claude Palisca's "Baroque Music" (3rd Edition) is a good primer, as is Manfred F. Bukofzer's "Music in the Baroque Era, from Monteverdi to Bach." Also advised is reading primary sources, since they often give the reader an idea of the intentions of the composers and are a great aid in understanding the motives behind historically-informed performances of this repetoire. For this, look to Oliver Strunk's "Source Readings in Music History: The Baroque Era."
(By the way, all of these books can be found on Amazon.com)
A comprehensive anthology of scores.......2001-11-24
This is the first volume of the Norton Anthology of Western Music Third Edition). It covers Music of the Ancient, Medieval, Renaissance and Baroque periods, while the second volume deals with Music from the Classical, Romantic Contemporary and Modern Periods. The book offers a selection of scores (86 in total) from several composers and it spans over a period of more than two millennia (earliest score from 408 B.C., latest from 1752 A.D.). The scores that are included are representative of most composers that made an impact through these two millennia (at least according to the editors): Leonin, Perotin, Machaut, Landini, Dunstable, Duffay, Ockeghem, Des Prez, Willaert, Gesualdo, Monteverdi, Dowland, Byrd, Palestrina, Luis de Victoria, Orlando di Lasso, Caccini, Peri, Gabrielli, Schutz, Froberger, Frescobaldi, Scarlati, Purcell, Buxtehude, Lully, Couperin, Corelli, Vivaldi, Rameau, J.S. Bach and G. F. Handel. In this volume, 60 eponymous composers (and several anonymous) are included. The only noticeable absence on a first reading of the index is perhaps that of Boccherini. However, given the restrictions of space that are inherent to any written medium, the Anthology still manages to remain quite comprehensive. On the other hand, very few, if any, comments or analyses of the scores are offered for each of the pieces (always following the music). Pieces that involve vocals (i.e. excerpts from operas, cantatas, masses) are supplemented with an English translation, besides the original text. The scores themselves are 'full' scores and not piano reductions. Naturally, this causes some scores that involve richer orchestration (i.e. the excerpt from Bach's B Minor Mass "Et expecto resurrectionem") to be printed in small fonts, which in turn may take its toll in the readability of the music. However, since most pieces of the period involve smaller orchestras, the problem is not as much of a deal as it is with volume two. Additionally, if one always remembers the restrictions of space that accompany any written medium, it is clear that it is a decision to be made- it's either small fonts or fewer scores.
Two notes of warning: first, the book, much like volume two, is not accompanied by any music. It contains simply the printed scores. A good choice for supplementing the two volume set, is Hannig's Concise History of Western Music with its 4 CD set. Although the CD set does not contain all music of the two volumes, it does contain a good portion of it and has a user friendly, easy to understand cross-reference system with the two volumes. Second note of warning: as any anthology, this one, too, is merely a representative sample. It is not a 'Greatest Hits' collection-for example you won't find Pachelbel's "Canon in D", Vivaldi's "Four Seasons", Bach's Brandemberg Concertos or his Passions or Handel's "Messiah" in it. Only one complete score of a larger scale piece is included, that of Bach's cantata "Wachet auf, ruft uns die Stimme" (BWV 140). Otherwise, the anthology consists of excerpts of larger pieces (whole movements or introductions for example), and shorter complete pieces (i.e. Bach's Praeludium et Fuga in A minor, BWV 543), that from the editors perspective present a more or less complete landscape of Music up to where Vol. 2 picks up from (Late Baroque/Early Classical). Naturally, omissions are inevitable, especially when one looks for balance. The four stars (and not five) are mainly because of the choice of scores at some points, at the choice (or omission) of composers at others, and, mainly, for the lack of more comprehensive commentaries and analyses of the pieces.
A thorough survey of western music from written sources........1999-04-29
Editors Palisca and Grout present a thorough survey of western music from written sources, with a welcome emphasis on lesser-known works. They include neumes and other ancient methods of notation. Entirely scholarly and accompanied by beautifully executed recordings of each piece, this book is a must for every student of musicology, and a boon to anyone interested in ancient music.
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