The History of Classical Music

From Gregorian chants to Henryk Gorecki—the first living classical composer to get into the pop album charts—here is the fascinating story of over a thousand years of Western classical music and the composers who have sought to express the deepest of human feelings and emotions. Polyphony, sonata form, serial music, and more many musical expressions are explained, with the text illustrated by over 150 musical excerpts from some of the most highly praised recordings of recent years.