A General History of Music From the Earliest Ages to the Present Period [Paperback]

Burney's most famous work, based on research during two European tours, providing valuable insight into musical tastes of the time.Charles Burney (17261814), the music historian, is best remembered for his General History and the accounts of his tours in Europe during which he undertook research for the History. The work is elegantly written, offering a fascinating view of Burneys musical enthusiasms and a reflection of contemporary taste.Charles Burney (17261814), the music historian, is best remembered for his General History and the accounts of his tours in Europe during which he undertook research for the History. The work is elegantly written, offering a fascinating view of Burneys musical enthusiasms and a reflection of contemporary taste.Charles Burney (17261814), was the foremost music historian of his day. The General History, his most famous work, was published in four volumes between 1776 and 1789 and is still of great value today. Burney wanted to write something which would appeal to and inform the musician and the general reader. Research for the History was undertaken during two European tours, in 1770 and 1772, consulting original sources and meeting the great musicians of the time. The resultant work is engaging and elegantly written, offering the reader a fascinating view not only of Burney's own musical preferences and enthusiasms, but also a reflection of contemporary fashionable taste. All four volumes contain generous musical examples, quotations from original sources and an index. The fourth volume, published 1789, is an account of the birth and development of opera and the contemporary music scene in England.Essay on the euphony, or sweetness of languages, and their fitness for music; 1. Of the invention of recitative, and establishment of the musical drama, or opera, in Italy; 2. Rise and progress of the sacred musical drama, or oratorio; 3. Of the opera buffa, or comic-opera, and intermezzi, or musical interludes, during the seventeentl3ˆ