A Concise History of Western Music.(Book review)

A Concise History of Western Music, by Paul Griffiths. Cambridge University Press (32 Avenue of the Americas, New York, NY 10013), 2006. 348pp. $35.

It is often said that one should not judge a book by its cover, but Paul Griffiths's new book is certainly an exception. The beautiful angels and musicians that grace the colorful jacket perfectly foreshadow the book's marvelously engaging contents. This book is an ideal introduction to Western music for high school students, amateur musicians and university students. Unlike many of the more traditional music history texts that are often dull and filled with so many details that one becomes overwhelmed after reading a few pages, Griffiths's book is easy and enjoyable to read from beginning to end. He avoids arcane language and technical jargon, undoubtedly as a result of his 30 years as a music critic in New York and London.

Griffiths's ideas are penetrating and thought-provoking. He has the ability to make composers come alive: Machaut, Beethoven and Stockhausen spring forth as human beings instead of remaining as mere names. Griffiths helps the reader visualize the past, as is illustrated by the book's opening lines: "Someone, sitting in a cave, punctures holes in a bone, raises it, and i blows.... Breath becomes sound, and time, ...