The Autonomy of Music

In the preface to volume 4 of the Oxford History of Western Music Richard Taruskin outlines the way his treatment is going to be different from those of the past: In common with its companions in thi…

The Art of Time

I just started the second volume of Taruskin's massive Oxford History of Western Music and he reprints the introduction to the whole series at the beginning which I re-read because it is a fairl…

Renaissance Serendipity

Is this a propos or what? The day after I put up a post explaining why the idea of "Renaissance" music should be, on the advice of Richard Taruskin, laid to rest, the New York Times puts u…

"Renaissance" Music?

One of the most radical things about Richard Taruskin's Oxford History of Western Music is the titles of the volumes. The first is Music from the Earliest Notations to the Sixteenth Century . To…

World of Music

As a bit of a footnote to our recent discussion: I decided to re-read Taruskin's Oxford History and the introduction, titled "The History of What?" is a brilliant discussion of the meth…

The Most Bizarre Musical Category: "Classical"

The most embarrassing moment, for some composers at least, is when they have to answer the question: "what kind of music do you write?" It is embarrassing for so many reasons: first, becaus…