Symphony Orchestra and Its Instruments

by Sven Kruckenberg

A book for both beginners and experts. Discusses what can properly be called a symphony orchestra and narrates the dramatic 400-year history of orchestras in the Western world. We follow the development of the conductors profession and learn how an orchestra is led — or misled — in practice. Finally the vast range of instruments that make orchestral sounds is explored. This book will expand the horizons of all those who listen to classical music and its close relations. It devotes as much attention to techniques of composing and conducting music, playing and making instruments, as to their impact on audiences — and on culture in general. Illustrated.

Genres: Music

236 pages, Hardcover

Published September 12, 1993

Reviews

[P.J. MacNamara · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have a weakness for non-fiction books, most particularly big ones with lots of beautiful photographs and compartmentalised reading. I love to flick through and read a few paragraphs here and there, learn lots of interesting things without getting too bogged down in the detail. And of course I'm interested in music of all kinds. So this was right up my street and I loved it. If you're a professional musician working in an orchestra you probably knew everything this book could tell you when you were 15 years old, but for the rest of us it's a fascinating insight into a world we barely know anything about.

For such a great music lover, in my life I have bought surprisingly few books about music, and most of those I did buy I haven't got anymore. I had a massive clear-out in 2008 because I was desperately running out of storage space and this is one of about 300 books that went to a local charity shop all those years ago. Hopefully somebody bought it and loved it as much as I did.

[Calista · Rating 3 out of 5]

more like an encyclopedia of instruments. Not exciting, but informative.