TITLE: Musical Instruments Through the Ages
Author: Compendium. Edited By Anthony Baines
Publisher: Pelican. 1961. 1st Ed.
This book lists ancient to contemporary musical instruments and gives both history and technical information. Many illustrations, both drawings and photographs help to clarify the text. Coverage is international; it includes not only instruments limited to one region, but also has longer articles for countries/continents, which discuss the kind of instruments developed there.
CONTENTS
LIST OF PLATES 7
LIST OF TEST FIGURES 13
EDITORIAL PREFACE AND ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS 17
- The Primitive Musical Instruments – KLAUS P. WACHSMANN 23
- The Organ – CECIL CLUTTON 55
- The Clavichord – THURSTON DART 68
- The Harpsichord, Spinet and Virginal – RAYMOND RUSSELL 74
- The Piano Forte – CECIL CLUTTON 88
- The Violin Group – 103
I. The Violin – DAVID D. BOYDEN
II. The Viola – KENNETH SKEAPING
III. The Violoncello – CHRISTOPHER BUNTING
IV. The Double Bass – ERIC HALFPENNY - The Fretted Instruments – 157
I. The Lute – MICHAEL W. PRYNNE
II. The Guitar and Other Fretted Instruments – ALBERT BIRCH
III. The Viols – THURSTON DART - The Modern Development of the Hart – ALBERT BIRCH 191
- Ancient and Folk Backgrounds – ANTHONY BAINES 200
- The Woodwind – JAMES A. MACGILLIVRAY 237
- The Older Brass Instruments: Cornett, Trombone, and Trumpet – CHRISTOPHER W. MONK 277
- The Horn, and the Later Brass – R. MORLEY PEGGE 295
- Free-Reed Instruments – JAMES HOWARTH 318
- The Orchestral Instruments of Percussion – JAMES BLADES 327
Glossary of Technical and Acoustic Terms 351
Bibliography 359
Index 365
Editions:
(arranged by year)
Title: Musical Instruments Through the Ages
Year: 1961
Edition: First
Publisher: Pelican
Binding: Paperback
Pages: 384
Place of Publication: Harmondsworth, Middlesex
Notes: The book has 14 essays, a glossary of technical and statistical terms, a bibliography and an index, and there are 32 pages of black and white photographs and drawings, as well as a number of figures in the text along with musical annotation. Size: 12mo (standard paperback).
Notes: (From the back cover)
What is (or was) a crumhorn? Which comes first, the composer or the instrument he writes for? How is a drum-roll played? The answers to these and many other questions about the performance of music are to be found in this book.
Today music, via the record-player, TV, and radio, is becoming more and more of a technical business. Consequently the musical instruments themselves are receiving much more attention; the acoustics of the studio and the modern concert hall demand a higher standard of instrumental perfection than was dreamt of fifty years ago.
One of the ways in which this improvement in manufacturing techniques has come about has been through the historical study of old instruments- a Stradivarius violin, for example, or a primitive African drum-head. Much pioneer work here has been done by the Galpin Society, to which all the contributors to this book belong. From them we learn that the modern development of music is based on a close study of the past.
“This is a uniquely valuable book, packed with information, curious learning and wide knowledge of classical modern music.” The Times Literary Supplement
Title: Musical Instruments Through the Ages
Year: 1963
Edition: Reprint
Publisher: Pelican
Binding: Paperback
Size: 7 X 4.5
Pages: 384
Place of Publication: Harmondsworth, Middlesex
Notes: Back cover is a facsimile of the 1961 first edition.
Title: Musical Instruments Through the Ages
Year: 1966
Edition: Reprint
Publisher: Walker Publishing Company, Inc.,
Binding: Hardcover
Pages: 344
Place of Publication: New York
Notes: (Quotes from the back cover)
“The most entertainingly comprehensive history of musical instruments since Virdung’s Musica Getutscht of 1511…” Manchester Guardian
“You will find almost everything you need to know about musical instruments old and new, Western and non-Western, in this generously illustrated volume written by a team of experts and edited with consumnate care by Anthony Baines. As a one-volume reference work it is unrivaled for clarity of style, accuracy of information, and sheer organological interest no matter whether the reader is a student or a professional.” Denis Stevens, Professor of Music, Columbia University in the City of New York; President and Artistic Director Academia Monteverdiana
“This is a uniquely valuable book, packed with information, curious learning and wide knowledge of classical modern music.” The Times Literary Supplement
Title: Musical Instruments Through the Ages
Year: 1966
Edition: Reprint
Publisher: Faber & Faber
Binding: Hardcover
Place of Publication: London
Pages: 344
Title: Musical Instruments Through the Ages
Year: 1973
Edition: Reprint
Publisher: Pelican
Binding: Paperback
Place of Publication: Harmondsworth, Middlesex
Pages: 384
Notes: Back cover is a facsimile of the 1961 first edition.
Title: Musical Instruments Through the Ages
Year: 1976
Edition: Second Edition
Publisher: Walker Publishing Company, Inc.,
Binding: Hardcover
Place of Publication: New York
Pages: 352
Notes: Back cover includes quotes from the 1966 reprint and a Foreword by David Amram
“… the writing is not only brilliant from a scholarly point of view, but is also fun to read…Musical Instruments Through the Ages is an indispensable guide to what to look for and how to listen to sounds we have been totally unaware of until recently.” Foreword by David Amran
“The most entertainingly comprehensive history of musical instruments since Virdung’s Musica Getutscht of 1511…” Manchester Guardian
“You will find almost everything you need to know about musical instruments old and new, Western and non-Western, in this generously illustrated volume written by a team of experts and edited with consumnate care by Anthony Baines. As a one-volume reference work it is unrivaled for clarity of style, accuracy of information, and sheer organological interest no matter whether the reader is a student or a professional.” Denis Stevens, Professor of Music, Columbia University in the City of New York; President and Artistic Director Academia Monteverdiana
“This is a uniquely valuable book, packed with information, curious learning and wide knowledge of classical modern music.” The Times Literary Supplement
