Skip to main content.

The Book of Musical Knowledge

Gelesen von LibriVox Volunteers

This book has been planned with a view to placing before the general reader the main facts that will enable him to appreciate music intelligently. One often hears the remark, "I’m fond of music, but I don’t understand it." The present work has been written with the idea of enabling the non-musician to comprehend the real meaning of the tonal art, and to familiarize himself with the value of the great composers’ works, the use of the instruments, the various musical forms, and a number of subjects of similar importance.

At the same time, certain other technical topics have been included. While these have been presented in such a way as to be understood by the non-musician, they have been given with sufficient thoroughness to make the work useful also as a textbook. It is therefore fitted to the needs of students and teachers, as well as amateurs. An effort has been made to condense the chief points of a general musical education into a single volume. While this book should prove of interest to the average reader, a course of study has been added, which will make it suitable for use in high schools or colleges also, or in any institution that aims to give a course in the understanding of music. - Summary by Preface

NOTE: As with all historical texts, the language used in this volume should be interpreted within the context of the entire work and the cultural context of its publication. (23 hr 42 min)

Chapters

Primitive and Savage Music

23:52

Read by Gillian Hendrie

Greece and Rome

24:51

Read by LadyBirdD

Early Christian Music

19:36

Read by LuellaMargaret

The Minstrel Knights

23:11

Read by Ben Ellis

The Schools of Counterpoint

31:08

Read by Beeswaxcandle

The Harmonic Style

19:40

Read by Ben Ellis

Bach

25:54

Read by Andrew Mauls Byron

Handel

18:03

Read by tshoes76

Gluck

15:59

Read by John Leloup

Haydn

17:19

Read by Julie Anne Thompson

Mozart

23:55

Read by tshoes76

Beethoven

32:58

Read by Jane Park

Schubert

22:16

Read by jenno

Weber and Romanticism

17:09

Read by Gillian Hendrie

Mendelssohn

19:50

Read by John Leloup

Schumann

20:55

Read by Chuck Lavazzi

Chopin

22:00

Read by Jane Park

Italian Opera

32:15

Read by Chuck Lavazzi

Cherubini and French Opera

23:38

Read by Chuck Lavazzi

Berlioz and Other Frenchmen

22:37

Read by Jennifer Wilson

Liszt and his Circle

24:49

Read by Jane Park

From Glinka to Tschaikovsky

29:00

Read by Olga10K

Wagner and his Reforms

36:11

Read by Michael Fassio

Brahms and the Symphonists

23:19

Read by LadyBirdD

Grieg and the Northern Countries

22:57

Read by Julie Anne Thompson

Strauss and Recent Germans

35:48

Read by John Leloup

Franck and Modern France

27:40

Read by Chuck Lavazzi

The Russian School

26:01

Read by Douglas Wood

Other European Nations

53:39

Read by Julie Anne Thompson

America

44:55

Read by Douglas Wood

Melody and Appreciation

20:06

Read by Jane Park

Figures and Phrases

19:02

Read by Jane Park

The Song-Forms

16:09

Read by Jennifer Wilson

The Rondos

12:57

Read by PaulGrancio

The Sonata-Allegro Form

14:36

Read by Andrew Mauls Byron

Other Sonata Movements

11:17

Read by Julie Anne Thompson

The Orchestral Forms

12:05

Read by Douglas Wood

Dances and Piano Styles

24:04

Read by Douglas Wood

The Vocal Forms

14:47

Read by Cathy S.

The Contrapunctual Forms

24:22

Read by Lori Arsenault

The Piano and its Predecessors

20:04

Read by Louis Hehman

The Organ

19:17

Read by Adrian Stephens

The Voice

19:13

Read by Tim Rowe

The Violin

21:55

Read by Julie Anne Thompson

Other Bowed Instruments

17:04

Read by Douglas Wood

Pluck-String Instruments

16:02

Read by LuellaMargaret

Flute and Piccolo

17:08

Read by ShrimpPhish

Oboe and English Horn

16:23

Read by Lori Arsenault

The Bassoons

14:11

Read by ShrimpPhish

The Clarinets

13:25

Read by Mythili

Horns, Trumpets and Cornets

15:46

Read by Gillian Hendrie

Trombones and Tubas

11:46

Read by Douglas Wood

Instruments of Percussion

15:55

Read by dporter3744

Some Famous Pianists

24:53

Read by Louis Hehman

Some Famous Singers

24:29

Read by jenno

Violinists and Violin Music

18:14

Read by Arnav Darnal

Orchestration

11:59

Read by CaptainWedlly

Conducting

16:23

Read by Cathy S.

Acoustics

36:08

Read by Andrew Mauls Byron

How to Read Music Part 1

1:00:44

Read by lightcrystal

How to Read Music Part 2

20:56

Read by lightcrystal

Appendix: Important Music Terms

39:38

Read by AliceStein