Understanding Music:There is nowadays more music in our lives than at any previous time in history. Music surrounds us as we buy food or clothes, drive our cars, sit in parks, or jog down the street. Much of this is our own choice: we have radios in our cars, portable cassette players on our belts. Some of it may be unwanted: our neighbor's stereo, for example, or a "boom box" on the beach. Some of it we actually do not notice. There is so much noise in our daily environment that the music playing in elevators or stores sometimes simply merges with the surroundings.In addition to the sheerquantityof music around us, there is a wider range of music available than ever before. We can listen to jazz, reggae, Vivaldi, Beethoven, or country ballads. Twentieth-century technology has presented us with an unparalleled wealth of musical possibilities. The very idea that a one-hundred-member symphony orchestra can be heard with crystal clarity and rich resonance in our own bedrooms would have startled most of the composers in this book.The consequences of this situation are (like the consequences of most technological advances) both good and bad. It is a wonderful thing to be able to go to a record store and buy a recording of a piece of music composed hundreds of years ago or thousands of miles away. But the ubiquitous nature of music today has also had negative consequences on the role that music plays in our society. For most of our history music was rare: it therefore had more importance in people's lives. The composition and performance of music required deliberation and effort. Whether it was the commissioning of a symphony by an aristocratic patron or the playing of a country dance by peasants, music was performed with care and listened to with attention—it was never without significance.The result of all this is that we have lost the art of listening.Music is the only one of the three great arts—literature, the visual arts, and music—that can be absorbed without attention, passively. Music can surround us while we concentrate on other things; it can even be there in the background, entirely unnoticed.This is not true of painting. To appreciate a painting we have to give it some of our attention. We have to study the forms and colors, the balance and proportions of its overall design. We may admire its style and technique, its humor, vigor, or despair. A good painting shows us objects or people orlifein a new light. A great painting affects us profoundly and leaves us changed. Few people have seen Picasso'sGuernicaand not been deeply moved.Literature has the same demands and the same rewards. We must pay attention to a book or a play. They cannot merely fill the room while we vacuum or accompany us while we jog or shop. And the effort of attention is repaid. A good book resonates in our own lives; a great book changes us forever.Music, too, is the expression of the deepest part of our souls. It expresses what words and paintings cannot. And for true understanding, music requires careful attention and the engagement of the intellect, just as painting and literature do.But even careful listening is not enough. Music is the expression of people in society. And, like the other arts, music is formed in a historical and social context. In the eighteenth century, for example, European music was the reflection of a hierarchical and orderly society, influenced by the ideals of the Enlightenment. Much eighteenth-century music, therefore, is carefully ordered and balanced, organized in a framework of fixed and widely accepted formal patterns. How can we truly understand this music if we do not know the forms used by composers of the time? It would be like reading Hawthorne'sThe Scarlet Letterwithout understanding the attitude of seventeenth-century New England puritans towards adultery; or reading Shakespeare without knowing the meaning of blank verse.Like literature, music has its rules of grammar and its rhetorical effects. Without understanding the grammar and rhetoric of music, we experience it as a pleasant sensation and little else. By learning about the social context and the structural language of music, we can experience it to its fullest. We can hear the passion of Beethoven, the brilliance of Bach, the wit and genius of Mozart. We can understand how a jazz musician can weave compelling improvisations, seemingly out of thin air. We can engage with music at its deepest level. And like a great painting or a great book, it will change us forever. It will fill our lives with beauty and joy. It will deepen our understanding of what it means to be human.It is with this philosophy in mind that I have come to writeUnderstanding Music.I believe today's college students taking music appreciation courses want to learn "how" to listen to music—how tohearmusic, if you will—as more than just a combination of sound and melody. To this end, I have tried to write a book that will be sensitive to the needs of today's students, a book that will guide them carefully and methodically through the art of listening itself, as well as one that will teach them the power of music as a form of human communication, and in doing so will transform the student from a passive recipient to an active participant. Unique in its design, approach, and content,Understanding Musicoffers students a global approach, an explanation of the richness and diversity of the European tradition, a focus on listening, a thoughtful selection of works for study, a discussion of patrons and audiences, careful consideration of the role of women in creating music, and an enlightening treatment of the history of popular music. Listening to music is one of the great pleasures of human existence. I believe strongly that it is our vital task to demonstrate to our students that with a little effort, knowledge, and concentration, that pleasure can be immeasurably enriched.SPECIAL FEATURES OF UNDERSTANDING MUSICFULL COLORNEW!Understanding Musicis now published in full color. This not only makes the book highly attractive to read, it also provides many opportunities for greater clarity of explanation and presentation. The Listening Guides are easier to follow, charts and maps are more lucid, and the various elements of design on the page (marginal quotes, teaching tips, picture captions, explanatory boxes, etc.) are more clearly distinguished.ANNOTATED INSTRUCTOR'S EDITION (AIE)The AIE provides a wealth of helpful teaching tips, suggestions for classroom exercises, parallel pieces, historical comments, etc., printed in the margins of the text. The annotations appear only in the Instructor's Edition of the book and are of tremendous help in shortening preparation time and enlivening classroom presentations.END-OF-CHAPTER STYLE SUMMARIESNEW!An important innovation for the Third Edition has been the inclusion of Style Summaries at the end of each chapter. These focus on the essence of musical style for each historical period. The Style Summaries also contain boxes that list the musical elements central to each style.FOCUS ON LISTENINGUnderstanding Musichas a complete and independent chapter on the Art of Listening. This chapter stresses the importance of active listening as a vital commitment on the part of the students. It guides them moment by moment through five short works, each of which illuminates different musical elements, techniques, and vocabulary for the listening experience. These activities lay a solid foundation for the students' listening work throughout the remainder of the book. The Fundamentals chapter and the Listening chapter are carefully coordinated to provide a supportive framework for the listening experience.TIMED LISTENING GUIDESThe Listening Guides are clear, easy to follow, and illuminating. Form and structure, texture, instrumentation, and musical motives are explained, and special moments, such as surprising gestures, unexpected key changes, or departures from conventional form are highlighted. Each Listening Guide is supplied with exact timings and CD track numbers to identify important structural points within each work. (See following page.)NEW SELECTIONS OF WORKS FOR STUDYIn addition to the highly successful collection of works from the previous edition, new works, new listening guides, and new performances have been incorporated for the Third Edition. These include the African mbira, the plainchant Kyrie, the Palestrina motet, the Bach organ Prelude and Fugue, the scene from Handel'sGiulio Cesare,Beethoven's early piano variations, and Penderecki'sThrenody for the Victims of Hiroshima.CULTURAL AND SOCIAL CONTEXTMusic does not occur in a vacuum. Throughout the book, music is presented in the context of its social and historical milieu. In addition, each chapter contains a special box that discusses the changing role of patrons and audiences in the history of music.SERIOUS CONSIDERATION OF MUSIC AS A WORLDWIDE PHENOMENOMThe book opens with a short chapter on "Music Around the World." The main focus of the book is on music of the European tradition, but this focus is both explained and put into context by a look at music as a global phenomenon.PROPER CONSIDERATION OF POPULAR MUSICPopular music is treated not just as a token but as a cultural phenomenon in its own right. The history of popular music is surveyed from its beginning until the present, and due weight is given to musical, cultural, and commercial considerations.FLEXIBILITYThis book lends itself to great flexibility. It has been used effectively in courses of one quarter, one semester, and two semesters. Sample syllabi for all these applications are given in the Instructor's Resource Manual.SUPPLEMENTARY MATERIAL FOR INSTRUCTORS AND STUDENTSRECORDING PACKAGESThe recordings that accompany the book come in two available packages: 1) AStudent Collectionof three CDs that contains most of the important works covered in the text. 2) AComplete Collectionof seven CDs containing all the works analyzed in the text. All the CDs are tracked not just for the beginnings of works or movements but also at internal points, so that instructors and students can instantly find important moments within a piece.EXPANDED REPERTOIRE CUSTOM COMPACT DISCNEW!TheUnderstanding Musicrecording program has been enhanced by the addition of a new CD that can be customized to the preferences of the individual instructor. With dozens of works of recorded music from which to choose, instructors can tailor theUnderstanding Musiclistening experience to their unique specifications. When packaged with the text the CD is FREE. Certain limitations do apply. Contact your local Prentice Hall representative for more details.COMPANION VIDEOTAPENEW!Produced byFilms for the Humanitiesexclusively for the third edition ofUnderstanding Music,and narrated by the author, this two-and-a-half-hour video compendium presents a wealth of short film extracts for classroom use. Each film clip illustrates and illuminates a particular topic from the text. Margin notes found throughout the Annotated Instructor's Edition alert the instructor to the availability of each video item. A complete table of contents and descriptions of each item are provided with the tape. This Companion Videotape is available only to instructors who have adoptedUnderstanding Musicfor their classes.BONUS DISKA uniqueBonus Disk for Instructorsbrings spark to the classroom. It contains Peter Schickele's "sports narration" of the Beethoven Fifth Symphony, alternate performances and additional movements of works on the main recordings sets, comic extracts, a piece to demonstrate unusual meters, some popular versions of classical works, demonstrations of early instruments, and other items for lively moments in the classroom.COMPANION WEBSITE (WWW.PRENHALL.COM/YUDKIN)TheUnderstanding MusicCompanion Website greatly enhances students' understanding. Through a variety of on-line multiple choice and essay questions, critical listening exercises that use RealAudio(tm)to deliver sound and music, and links to pertinent websites around the world, students are able to reinforce their comprehension of key concepts from the book. For the Third Edition, the website has been updated and revised, and the section on Music Fundamentals has been expanded to include an interactive tutorial.CD-ROMThe book is accompanied by a CD-ROM that scrolls and highlights all the Listening Guides on the Student CD Collectionas the music is being played.This presents the closest approximation to a private tutor that any student could desire. Quizzes that follow each listening guide help to reinforce listening skills; additional composer biographies are included; and there is an interactive glossary of musical terms. The CDROM is packaged, at no additional charge, with both the Student and Complete CD collections.OTHER TEACHING AND LEARNING RESOURCESTo facilitate the teaching and learning processes,Understanding Musicis also accompanied by an Instructor's Resource Manual, filled with helpful items, including tests; a Student Study Guide; and Computerized Testing Files, available for Windows and Macintosh.
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