The Vintage Guide to Classical Music Review

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The Vintage Guide to Classical Music ReviewI spend a fair bit of time (well, perhaps *too* much time) participating in classical music discussion boards on the internet. A frequent question that arises from people new to classical music is that of a good reference book to acquaint them with the field. Generally, what these newbies ask for is, in my experience, too much to expect from a single book: typically, they are looking for both composer information (and how a particular composer fits into the canon of classical music) and recommendations for specific recordings of works of classical composers. While I have a few such books in my own library, these tend to date themselves quickly on the recommended-recordings side while remaining serviceable on the composer-description side. I have a better recommendation for those interested, which I provide in my concluding remarks. For now, I'll limit my comments to the composer-description (or, better, composer-contribution) side of the matter, and the strengths of Swafford's book.
My experience with such books goes back to Aaron Copland's 1957 "What to Listen for in Music." This classic played a large role in getting me on my own journey in classical music, but it is now quite out of date; it doesn't even touch on the most recent half-century. (William Schuman updated this book, but even that fell well short of the mark for those interested in contemporary music.)
This Swafford book is, I believe, the best of its kind for the purpose of setting out the "essential canon of classical music" and the composers (and their key works) who comprise it. To better understand why I think Swafford's book is best, perhaps I should begin with the fact that I have a few views, somewhat strongly held, regarding what such a book should contain if it is to encourage the classical music newcomer.
The first of these is that it should cover, in helpful detail, the entire tradition of western classical music from the Middle Ages to (more or less) the present day. To do less, by including less, is to downplay the role of historical development: an isolated composer, or period in music, lacks context to understand his, or its, place in the canon.
The second is that, like it or not, all composers are not equally "canonical" in the sense of being of equal importance from an historical perspective. If the writer is *too* inclusive by including a large number of composers of lesser stature, this will only serve to dilute the importance of the true "canonical" composers unless the effort is of encyclopaedic length.
The third is that temporal context, i.e., the societal and cultural milieu in which a composer has worked, is a key component to understanding what, how and why the composer has written what he (or she) has. A part of that understanding is how the composer acted within that milieu and reacted, or worked, according to the tradition and the materials available.
The fourth - and perhaps most important - is that the author's preferences and prejudices should not affect objectivity: there must be a sense of even-handedness indicating that, whether or not the author *likes* a specific composer, the composer is properly included on the merits.
With these views as a given, Swafford's book is easily the best of its kind. Swafford grasps the long arc of classical music beginning in the Middle Ages with chant (both monophony and polyphony, with worthwhile comments on Pérotin and then Machaut, the first clearly acknowledged contributors). The Baroque, Classical, Romantic and Twentieth-Century modernist periods then unfold logically as each successive period builds on its predecessor(s).
Each important composer is given approximately 8 to 12 pages for a satisfactorily detailed description of his importance and contributions, his relationship to his milieu and how he built on the tradition in place before him, and sufficient biographical information for us to see the human side of him. This is then followed by 2 or more pages that describe what his most important works were: what they are like, and why they are important. More than a few of these composer sections are inspired in their writing, with the ones on Beethoven, Berlioz, Debussy, Ives, Bartók and Stravinsky being particularly fine examples of Swafford's craft. And, while the emphasis is on instrumental and orchestral, rather than operatic, music, three primarily operatic composers (Monteverdi, Wagner and Verdi) share equal billing because the "long arc" would be incomplete without them.
Swafford's detailing of important composers ends in the 20th century with Shostakovich and Britten. But he includes briefer descriptions of many other 20th century composers (and their key works) at the end of this chapter. (He does likewise for the preceding music periods as well; no one of true historical importance is overlooked.)
The book is interspersed throughout with extended "sidebars" that discuss various classical music concepts (e.g., melody; consonance and dissonance; monophony, polyphony and homophony; sonata form; tonality and atonality) in simple terms. An afterword, "Music: An Approach to Defining the Indefinable," comes as close to an all-inclusive description of what music is, and its "ineffability," as any I've ever read. The book concludes with a summary of recommended works for building a classical library (actually, a compilation of the recommendations that Swafford had earlier made in the body of the text) and a glossary of technical terms in easily-understandable language.
Swafford's writing throughout is masterful, and he always seems to find the words that clarify, rather than obfuscate, without being didactic. This should come as no surprise to anyone who has read his superb biographies of Charles Ives and Johannes Brahms.
Since Swafford's recommendations for building a classical library don't include specific recordings (except in very rare instances for early music), I recommend that a classical music newcomer also acquire something like "The Penguin Guide to (Classical) Compact Discs." These two books, used together, should get you well on your way.
Highly recommended!
Bob ZeidlerThe Vintage Guide to Classical Music Overview

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