The most engaging and accessible brief survey of Western music history, at the best value on the market. Based on A History of Western Music, by J. Peter Burkholder, Donald Jay Grout, and Claude V. Palisca, Concise History of Western Music, Fourth Edition, offers authoritative coverage of the essential works and genres in Western music history. By setting musical events into a memorable historical and cultural context, Concise History of Western Music provides a history students will read and remember. FEATURES A central repertory of musical works Concise History of Western Music deepens students' understanding of a central repertory of works and the forces that shaped them. The text provides detailed coverage of every work on the companion 6-CD set, and enriches the historical and cultural context for key events, individuals, and musical genres. Balanced coverage of genres and eras The Fourth Edition expands coverage of instrumental music throughout the book, reexamines the end of the Baroque period, includes more large-scale chamber and orchestral repertoire, and moves nineteenth century opera between the early and late romantics to streamline chronology. Twentieth century chapters are now divided to provide a broader cross-section of genres and styles, introduce new repertoire, and integrate American music more chronologically. Cultural context connects the music to the history Part Introductions (six in all) provide overviews of the major political, artistic, and intellectual trends in each historical period; Arts and Ideas boxes within introduce important figures in literature, science, philosophy, and the arts. Concise contextual overviews and summaries frame each chapter, while Music in Context and Innovations boxes set musical developments within the broader context of Western history and culture. Timelines and four-color maps locate musical events in a specific time and place. Outstanding pedagogy promotes student learning Outstanding pedagogical features help students to highlight and synthesize essential information: chapter outlines provide an overview of the key topics, composers, and works featured in the chapter; composer biography boxes highlight the lives of key composers; Innovation boxes focus on key musical innovations that have fundamentally changed how we create, disseminate, and consume music; and Music in Performance sidebars make students aware of the problems and issues inherent in interpreting a musical work, and suggest possible reconstructions based on contemporaneous evidence.