The Concise Oxford History of Music

This is one of the very best books written in English on the history of music. It is not the easist book, but the writing is very good and sparkles in comparison to many of its genre. The book is written as a series of little stories that are presented more or less in chronological order. If you are interested in the history of Western music, it is a "must have." There are more fascinating details per page about music history in this book than any other book of its type, and there are quite a few pages. A great read for any serious student of music or professional musician. It can be used as a sort of mini-encyclopedia as you can for example just refer to the articles on Beethoven or Mozart--but there is much more. A minor criticism is that some of the language needs to be updated. A gem.

This book offers musical knowledge for musicians and people that are totally without any knowledge for history of music. It gives you an objective view of music and it will not bore you with information about composers (when he was born... bla bla bla). It is strictly dedicated on music and nothing else. From the first knowned moment of music in history to the 20th century neo-classical music.This is definitely a History of music textbook and I recommend it for everyone that wants to explore the history of music.