A Short History of Music: Third American Edition, Revised – Alfred Einstein

This is a fine book, though a little old. Alfred Einstein (1880 – 1952) was a musicologist from Germany active in the first half of the 20th century. With titles such as “The Golden Age of the Madrigal,” “Romantik in der Musik,” “Gluck,” “Mozart,” “Beispielsammlung zur älteren Musikgeschichte,” the title reviewed here, and many others, this man had a prodigious output. He “is perhaps best known as the editor of the first thorough revision of the Köchel catalog: the third edition, published in 1936” (Internet Archive Wayback Machine). That is a huge achievement in and of itself, but such is the mind of the musicologist to keep at it until the last breath it seems. (Slonimsky was like that.)

The original title of the book is “Geschichte der Musik” which was a group translation by such luminaries as Eric Blom, A.H. Fox Strangways, Edward J. Dent, William Glock and J.A. Westrup among others. “Group” meaning “collaborators” some of whom “have contributed a few and others many pages” (Einstein, Note on the Translation)

Needless to say, the work is highly scholarly for what was available at the time (1930s for the original publication, 1947 for this the third American edition). This is born out by the many phrases qualifying statements such as “may . . . have produced (5)” or “Attempts have been made to determine . . . without any certainty” (5). I have not read all of the editions in translation nor of the original German. Therefore I am only speaking about this one edition. One can take a look at the contents to see that it speaks to the average music lover of the time. Primitive music, middle ages, the Renaissance, what is called “Modern Times” meaning Haydn, Mozart, Beethoven, the Romantic era, Wagner, Brahms, and Bruckner among other topics. The “average” music lover of the time was assumed to be well versed in how to read music as well, because there are any number of fine musical examples in the latter half of the book, reduced for piano, or piano and instrument or voice.

The reason this book is here is one small sentence in the first chapter, “Primitive Music.” On page 4, the author (translator) says, “At the same time man may have acquired practice in the use of notes of definite pitch for signals in war, since they differ markedly from the ill-defined tones of speech in virtue of their distinctness” (Einstein).

And so it goes. Have to go now. 9/5/19.

Adding the following Works Cited list on 9/11/2019.

Works Cited

Einstein, Alfred. A Short History of Music. Dorset Press, New York, 1947.

The above is the third American edition, revised, coming after the second American Edition, revised and enlarge, with 29 musical examples added, October 31, 1938, and that one coming after the first publishing of the book on 2 January, 1937.