Music in Transition: A Study of Tonal Expansion and Atonality, 1900-1920

Jim Samson's analysis of the period between 1900 and 1920 would make an ideal textbook for a college course on this subject; to take full advantage of his sweeping analyses it would be necessary for the reader to drag out dozens of works from the period running through each in depth and then comparing one's own results with his results. Thus, a detriment to enjoying the book fully is the lack of actual musical scires. His analysis in streams of chords without the original score is less than fully satisfying. But obviously the book gives a magnificent overview of the period.