Product Description

With nearly three million copies sold over eight editions, The Enjoyment of Music is the best-selling music appreciation text of all time. Spanning the Middle Ages through the twenty-first century, the text offers a thorough introduction to the elements of music, a broad overview of the history of musical styles, and fascinating cultural contexts and perspectives. The Ninth Edition of this classic text features a stunning new design, exciting new repertory, and an unmatched ancillary and media package.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #792321 in Books
• Published on: 2003-09
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Hardcover
• 697 pages

About the Author
The late Joseph Machlis was professor of music at Queens College of the City University of New York. Among his many publications are Introduction to Contemporary Music (Norton), several novels, and singing translations for many operas. Kristine Forney is professor of music at California State University, Long Beach, where she regularly teaches music appreciation and music history to undergraduate students. Her understanding of today's students and her highly regarded teaching abilities make her the ideal author for this appreciation-level textbook. She is also a respected scholar who has written extensively on music of the Renaissance, and is a contributor to the New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians.

Customer Reviews

A Solid Music Appreciation Textbook
I am currently using the new ninth edition of this textbook for a college music appreciation class. This text is great for people who want to learn about music history in Western society (Western Europe and some of America).

Beginning with a chapter on the elements and aspects of music, the book starts with Gregorian Chant (c. 400) and quickly moves through history all the way to 20th century music, including minimalism and Arvo Part.

The reading is clear and straightforward, and the pictures and charts make the reading more exciting than your typical bland textbook. There are some problems, however.

First, this book is not adequate for music majors. As another reviewer states, many great composers here are overlooked or briefly mentioned, especially those composers who were not on the leading edge of each movement (e.g. William Byrd, Sergei Rachmaninov, Gustav Holst, Bruckner, Wolf, and Prokofiev).

Another issue that some have with the book is its inclusion of women composers into history. I understand why they do it. Even today in society there are few women composers, and it is important to teach our young women that they can write great music. On the other hand, as a result of poor musical education and opportunities, compositions of women composers such as Jacquet de la Guerre and Barbara Strozzi pale in comparison with those of Mozart, Bach, and Beethoven. This emphasis of women composers is one that is constantly undergoing debate in the music world.

If you are looking for a Music Appreciation textbook, I would strongly consider this one as well as Roger Kamien's text. If you are not taking a class and just want to learn about music, you should consider getting the 8-CD set of musical excerpts. They go along with the listening guides in the book, and help illustrate the textbook's concepts.

Good, but older editions are better.....
I really appreciated the older editions of this book and thought the language was clear and understandable. I still think these aspects of the book are good, however, I am disappointed at the content. I agree with other reviewers who have suggested that the work should be broken into two books -- one on modern music and another on classic music. It just doesn't make any sense to skip major composers and I feel this one size fits all approach misses the mark in this regard.

On the other hand, the book is well-written and has been well-received over its many years and editions. Some reviewers point to an overly politically correct stance, which I believe has some validity. Including minor women composers at the expense of major male composers is not politically correct, it is an inexcusable error. On the other hand, excluding women's contribution to the musical literature completely or leaving out a major woman composer is also an error. I am guessing that a chapter on the cultural issues around women and music with an overview of women composers that are largely unknown or underrated would have better served the target audience.

Textbooks are EXTREMELY expensive and after so many editions, I think this one should be a homerun. Unfortunately, it is now good, but not great. If you don't like this one, you may want to try Music: An Appreciation w/ Multimedia Companion 4.5 CD-ROM. This is done by a concert pianist and does justice to the major composers.

While I am not currently a professional musician, I was for 11 years and I continue to take lessons from a concert pianist. I play a variety of instruments and I've been studying music since before I could read. As such, I think I am in a good position to evaluate the merits of this text. It is still very worthwhile, but I hope they do better in the next edition. Another book worth considering is What to Listen for in Music and Music, The Brain, And Ecstasy: How Music Captures Our Imagination. The former book, gives you an inside look at music through the eyes of a composer and the second is a wonderful and entertaining journey through understanding sound and how music produces pleasure from a psychological and biological viewpoint. Both books are very readable by non-musicians and laypersons without a background of any type. The second book is one that I read in two sittings.... AWESOME! I have reviewed both, if you want more details.

If you are also looking to understand some music theory, try Harmony and Theory: A Comprehensive Source for All Musicians (Essential Concepts (Musicians Institute).). This is a great short introduction to music theory and harmony as it relates to modern music. If you are musical at all, you will find that this covers a lot of ground in a short space.

One of the very best of its kind
I had read this book when I was a music student, and thought, at the time, it was one of the most interesting books ever assigned by any teacher. I am now a music teacher and have been recommending this book to the students who came to me asking for a good music appreciation book. To say everyone is happy with the book is to understate the fact. The book, indeed, speaks for itself!