A History of Baroque Music

Given the availability of numerous sophisticated surveys on Baroque music history, this reviewer was astonished that this tome exceeded expectations regarding scope and focus. In an effort to offer a discussion that goes beyond the standard canon of thought, Buelow (emer., Indiana Univ.) explores the works of Iberian, Eastern European, Latin American, and indeed even Caribbean composers. The book is replete with extensive score excerpts and analysis, and the chapters are subdivided into sections treating genre, composer, and technical development—an arrangement that makes this sizeable volume painless to navigate. Some of the most complex issues confronting the author are the paradigm shifts away from the knotty theoretical and philosophical concerns of the Renaissance establishment. Buelow excels in handling this, offering a chapter about this transition that even the uninitiated will be able to comprehend. His portrayal of the cross—cultural ramifications resulting from the contemporary political condition brings with it needed context for tracing musical developments as they occur across the Continent. Though the seemingly obligatory Bach and Handel chapters are somewhat overextended, this is a solid addition to the literature. Summing Up: Essential. Upper—division undergraduates through faculty and professionals. —J. Rubin, University of Minnesot

-- Duluth * 2005jun CHOI