Historical Anthology of Music, Volume I: Oriental, Medieval, and Renaissance Music: Revised Edition

Willi Apel and Archibald Davidson put together the two-volume "Historical Anthology of Music" with such intelligence, taste, and care that it is still a definitive resource after fifty years in print. This volume begins with some fragments of ancient Oriental and Greek music and then moves to medieval music and that of the Renaissance. The examples are quite diverse, and while there are samples of the ancient notation, most of the pieces are provided in modern notation for ease of understanding by students. There is a nice balance of instrumental and vocal music, of sacred and secular music, and of various geographical locals and different times over the centuries. There is commentary on the pieces in the back along with translations of the texts into English. The book has a nice large format and is wonderfully easy to read.